"Pipe Plug" Fills Pulley Hole On Tractor

"Pipe Plug" Fills Pulley Hole On Tractor FARM SHOP Repairs 27-6-38 Gene Kuyrkendall, Canyon Lake, Texas, restored a 1948 Allis Chalmers WD 45 tractor and wanted to mount an aftermarket front-end loader on it. But to make the loader fit he had to remove a belt pulley on one side of the tractor that connects directly to the transmission. The pulley assembly was easy to remove by loosening a set screw in the pulley casting. After removing the pulley casting, he needed to plug the hole in the side of the tractor to keep transmission oil from leaking out. To solve the problem he had a machinist lathe a 4 1/2-in. long steel pipe to the same 3 1/4-in. diameter as the pulley casting. He drilled a hole through one side of the pipe and welded a circular steel plate onto the end of it. Then he inserted the pipe through the opening where the pulley casting had been, with the open end of the pipe extending inside the transmission. The same set screw that originally held the pulley unit in place was used to hold the "pipe plug" in place. To keep oil from leaking out between the circular plate and the tractor frame, he made a cotton twine "gasket". "The circular plate fits flat against the tractor frame so I had no trouble mounting the loader," says Kuyrkendall. "I checked a tractor manual and found there was a cover designed to go in when the belt pulley assembly was removed. I checked with three different dealers who supply used parts for Allis Chalmers tractors, but they all said no such part was available. So I had to make my own." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gene L. Kuyrkendall, 1416 Canyon Trace, Canyon Lake, Texas 78133 (ph 830 935-4349; email: krndall@gvt.com).

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