Tractor axles are different from car or truck axles as the housing is part of the chassis, with gears and brakes located within the frame for protection. Tractor axles have an independent braking system and are designed for torque, not speed. High-performance tractors replace the rear axle with those from semi trucks or log skidders for faster wheel speed.
A tractor axle differs from that of a car or heavy truck in that the axle housing is commonly part of the tractor chassis. There are very few tractors that use a separate axle housing in the construction of a tractor axle. Without a movable suspension system, a tractor does not require the independence of a separate axle housing in its design. The tractor axle usually passes through the rear of the tractor frame with all the gears and braking components located within the frame. This protects the components from dirt, mud, and other elements that commonly surround tractor use.
A car or heavy truck has the brake pads or discs located behind the wheels of the vehicle, while a tractor does not. Most tractor designs use an independent braking system, with the left and right brakes operated through separate and independent brake pedals mounted in the tractor operator’s cab or seating area. Brake shoes are located inside the tractor frame and are protected from the elements. If the tractor axle had the brakes outside the chassis, they could be subjected to dirt and mud, damaging them. The most difficult part of this type of tractor axle design is that the tractor chassis must be split in two to perform any maintenance on the brakes, axles, or gears.
A tractor axle shafts are extremely large and heavy to allow for the large amount of torque and pulling pressure that a tractor almost always has. The amount of leverage placed on the tractor axle by the very large diameter tires used on the rear of a tractor could easily twist a small diameter axle. Many tractors use double and triple tires on each side of the tractor axle, creating even more torque and twisting force on the axle.
The tractor axle is not designed for speed, so when a tractor is modified for use as a pull tractor, the rear axle is almost always replaced with the internals of a semi truck or log skidder. This allows the high performance tractor to create a much faster wheel speed and subsequently more momentum and inertia, which equates to longer pulls. While the actual axle shaft isn’t the issue in a high performance traction application, tractors don’t have enough gear sets to allow the rear tires to spin fast enough to be successful in the world of traction.
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