Tractor wheel repair

By the time I finished moving all my hay bales last week I found that the tractor's left front wheel was leaking oil.  That is different.  But then this is a four-wheel drive tractor and the front axle and hubs all have gear oil in them.  I waited until today to fix the wheel as I expected I would need a new seal and didn't want to have the tractor apart over the 4th of July holiday and the weekend.

The wheel was able to be rocked when the tire was off the ground.  When I went to take the lug nuts off I found they were easy to take off.  A few years ago when I took the other front wheel off due to a flat tire I broke a socket wrench trying to take those lugs nuts off since the nuts were on super tight.  I suspect the problem was the lugs nuts were not tight.

The o-ring seal looked to be intact.  But in putting the axle hub back on the seal was pinched and torn.  My neighbor Curtis welcomed the chance to come over and double-check the wheel and gears as his project wasn't going well and he needed a break from it as he was getting frustrated.  Since my o-ring seal was torn Curtis offered (wanted) to go get a new one for me.  He wanted an excuse to go for a ride on his motorcycle as it was a nice afternoon.  He didn't want to go back to the project he was working on.

The local shops on this side of town didn't have a seal that would work.  The hub was 8.5 inches in diameter and the largest o-ring seals they had was for an 8 inch hub.  So Curtis went to the John Deere dealer south of town and got a new seal.

I put everything back together and it appears to work.  I drove the tractor briefly around the yard.  I had put new gear oil in the hub.  It is not old and black like the old oil so it may be harder to see if the seal still leaks.  I'll keep an eye on it.

Inside the wheel hub.