re: the axle center bearings, I assume you mean the tubes with the brass/bronze bushings in them? Do you have the TT 10 or TT 18 model? The latter came with the angle iron reinforcements which I thought was supposed to resolve the weak original design. Even so, I am upgrading those to beef it up more....my machinist is engineering the upgrade and should have them complete in a few weeks.
I picked up another early TT10 this week for parts, It was pretty rough with a horrible camofluage paint job, but it had the original flat yellow hood (which I needed) and five pretty darn good balloon tires. Even so, I still almost passed on it b/c of a wife that is unhappy with the shells that are laying around the yard waiting for fiberglass work.
Anyway, the point of this post is that after a year and a half of tearing apart these things, I finally got one that probably spent its entire life indoors and under shelter. Man, it was sooooo easy pulling the shafts off when the sprockets aren't rusted to the axles. I wish they all were like this one! I think my others all spent a decade or more outdoors at some point in their lives!
Last edited by simpleton7016; 06-19-2010 at 08:42 PM.
I took my newly restored, highly customized terra tiger for its maiden test drive tonight. I have 2 sprockets spinning on the axles. Aren't they keyed to the shafts? Do the keys shear often?
Your machine looks great....is that the original Allis Chalmers orange color? The seats sream "leisure" but it sounds like you are getting anything but!
From what I have read (not from experience, yet), the answer is yes. If the holes are warbled out (in either the shaft or the hub on the sprockets, then the constant torquing will snap sheer pins often. Some of the newer models (I think serial 5,000 and up) went to keyed shafts, but yours looks like one of the older yellow models.
I have scoured the archives and there are several options for you. First is to try installing bolts in place of sheer pins. It is critical that you purchase bolts long enough that the shoulder makes its way all the way throughthe entire assembly. You do not want any of the thread inside the sprocket. Also, it is hard for me to tell which grade of steel to use. Opinions seem split between grade 5 and grade 8. On the one hand, you do not want a bolt that keeps snapping, but on the other, you would rather have the bolt snap than the shaft.
Next, if the standard hardware store bolts are still sloppy in the holes, you can try to order slightly larger bolts from McMaster Carr or elsewhere. The key is that the bolts have to fit TIGHT in the holes...NO SLOP.
If however, your holes are beyond the point of no return, you will need to pull the axles and weld all the holes shut and redrill.. Trust me, if your axels are already spinning in the sprockets, those are the ones that will come out easy. For your sake, I hope it is the fronts! I have had to cut off too many axels and it breaks my heart each time I do.
With all the problems I have read with these axels, I opted to hire a machinist to simply make new axels, sprockets and 5 bolt hubs. It is expensive, but I think it will be worth it in the end.
Good luck.
This is what it looked like when I got it, well, other than all the junk I had to clean out of it.
I could not read the model/serial# label.
I originally painted it Allis orange but wasn't happy with how it looked, so I opted for a brighter color.
The seats are from the rear of a 1990 chevy tracker and are very comfy.
As far as machining, I've done way too much of that already. The main driven shaft is custom built....way too many parts were missing. Sooooo, I wish I could say I enjoyed restoring it but it was just way too time consuming. My intention now is to sell it once it is 100%. On the up side it was fun to drive, cool having handle bars instead of sticks. On the down side, I've got to get the reverse adjusted and working. I'm too old to enjoy pushing it back into the garage.
It's fixed:
Last edited by Mike; 04-24-2010 at 09:31 PM. Reason: fixed youtube link
You are having way too much fun to just be in your yard.
Nice job!
Hey buggyman,
Thats awesome!!! That motor once pushed an attex around, glad to see its still pushing an amphib.
Awesome reverse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lol
well, I decided that I would farm out my fiberglass work. As a full-time employed father of two small boys, I just don't have the time or experience to do a good job...much less paint. Enter the "barter" section on craigslist. I have an old allis chalmers garden tractor with a loader on it....roughly $2,500 value. It was taking up way too much space for the very limited use it gets. Add to that the fact that my wife is constantly nagging me about my tractors and the space they take up. So I placed an add to trade the loader for fiberglass work and paint on three Terra Tigers. Several guys expressed interest, but one guy stopped by and immediately gained my trust. It's weird how you can just sense someone is a straight shooter from the start.
Anyway, he kind of balked at the trade, but he saw my other Terra Tiger (the runner from earlier in this thread) that I had for sale for $1,500. He said he would do the fiberglass work and paint on all three Terra Tigers in trade for the running Terra Tiger and $750. Seemed like a good deal to me, so with a handshake, we are moving forward. I am really impressed with his work. He started with this camoflage tiger I picked up for parts a month ago. It was originally a TT10 serial # 1438 - one of the old yellow models. I am having him restore this to original. I already have the decals made. He filled holes, shored up the floor and exhaust area and fixed some other hidden repairs. I am very pleased with his craftsmanship so far. We found an "off the shelf" yellow marine paint that is a damn close match. I sould have this one back at my house in paint and ready for assembly next week. My machininst should have the axels ready in three weels....then I get to start reassembly with nice new and clean parts.
more pics
Looking good so far! I have a early 1970's Simplicity 3416H that had a recent engine rebuild, and I just rebuilt the bevel gear box. It has a snow plow, a very wide rear rototiller, and mowing deck and I must say that tractor is built like a tank, and just about as heavy as one too. I hardly ever use it, so it'll be going up for sale too.
"Looks like you have a problem with your 4 wheeler........you're missin' two wheels there"
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