Wedge Locks

Anyone know why IH went to the wedge locks on the 1066 and higher tractors?

Just wondering,

Allan

Just when wedge locks were introduced I'm not sure. All of the 856's around here have them. I'm guessing in 66 and 86 all 9s and larger have them around here. I think they were standard over 100 hp and optional below.

Yes Sir, I always used that cheater both while loosening and tightening too. That's a lot of iron to tie down.

And, the way that the axle is designed with that large "key" shape, it is just hard for me to imagine them snapping the bolts if they were tightened down right originally because proper torque should almost make the wheel/axle one assembly.

The thing that sparked my curiosity was this '76 966 that I bought. It has the same old 'clamp' type axles and no sign of any wedge at all.

Thanks,

Allan

Most of the clamp wheels that broke also broke because they were loose. My dad broke one on new 300 second day he had it.

On reading the manual here is another item you never hear mentioned at YT. I forget the exact wording but 1066 with duals was not to be used for max drawbar pull, the 2 or 3 lowest gears. I may not have that worded correctly, but you get the drift.

IH had wedge lock wheels starting with the 06 series, if I'm not mistaken. They didn't start using them on the 1066 tractors.

Now, if you're asking why they used them on the higher-horsepower tractors AT ALL, that's a good question. We've had nothing but trouble with the wedgelocks on the 1066. About once a year, we've had to jack the tractor up and slide the wheels back in. The wedges just suck right in until they're almost touching when you tighten them. Dad's tried building them up several times with the welder, and it didn't help. Last year, he pulled the wedges right out again, and wrapped the keyed side of the axle with thin sheet steel as a shim. Now the wedge locks tighten down long before they touch, and I don't think the wheels moved at all this year.

I had a 1486 with the wedgies. After I rebuilt the rear end, I had some issues with them coming loose when I dualed her up. A 1" impact on the wedge bolt took care of that and they never came loose again.