[Farmall] not exactly as planned

[John Hall]

My cousin bought a Super A this past summer (he's finally realizing not all 
tractors are green). He had no right hand brake. A quick inspection showed 
the keyway stuck in the drain/inspection hole in the top of the bull gear. 
Evidently the last guy to work on it didn't line the brake drum up and 
knocked the key out of the shaft when re-installing it. To tell you how long 
ago this was, the price was written on the outside of the brake band--  
$7.95. To make things more interesting it was in dad's old boss' 
handwriting.

 Anyway here is where our plans got changed. Normally it takes us less than 
an hour to change the band and seal. When the wheel came off with  one lick 
of the sledge hammer I figured this one was going to go pretty quickly. Next 
we pulled the bull gear--uneventful. Now it was time to pull the seal. We 
always use a chain with a bolt thru the last link. Then we stick a pry bar 
in the chain and just pop the seal right out. Takes about 2-5 minutes, until 
today. The first bolt snapped in half. Then we went to a larger bolt. We 
pulled, yanked,pryed and did everything else we could think of short of 
praying but that seal wasn't going to move. Eventually we collapsed the back 
wall of the seal where nothing would get a bite. I made a crude slide hammer 
and still couldn't get it to budge. In the process we damaged the seal 
enough that the rubber came out. I was able to get the slide hammer in its 
place and pull by the front lip. Finally it began to move and eventually 
came out. Either that seal was too big on the OD or it had too many coats of 
the sealer on the outside. The new seal drove in place with only a 
reasonable amount of force.

Oh well, you can't win them all! Could  have been worse though. I've talked 
to a couple of guys who had to do a brake job where the left side bull gear 
had been welded to the transmission!

John Hall