valuable rear hubs?

Authur..... ...you mean this???..... ..Hub - Rear Axle Hub 8N, NAA, Jubilee. With Studs. (Part No: 8N1171) $59.90

He must think you just fell off the turnip wagon. That must be his "shop rate" for replacement. ..... Dell

Sounds like you are talking about the original early ('39 & '40) 9N smooth centered hubs. They did not have the riveted ring in the center like you see on 95% or more of the 9N and 2N tractors today. They were smooth because they were butt welded to the axle shaft. However, this design was prone to breaking under load and that us why they went to the riveted ring design for extra strength. Because they only made these smooth hubs about a year, and because so many failed in the field, there are few survivors - that is what drives the cost up.

Here is a pic of my '39 9N - it had one smooth and one riveted hub when I got it. I finally found another smooth hub, but it cost me $275 for it.

HTH,
Dan

according to him, he gets $500 a hub, when he finds one. so far he found 4 i guess. i think i'll have to start combing the country side a little bit more. maybe i can get lucky also.

anyway, my brothers 2N makes a howling sound when in gear and driving. always had it since he bought it last year. it sounds like it is coming from the clutch area. no howling when the clutch is in so i assume it wouldn't be the throwout bearing. the motor was rebuilt a few years ago and sounds absolutely beautiful and has a nice slow idle.

one thing is that it has i think a 6 blade fan and my 8N has a four if i remember right. any thoughts on that?

Most likely, if it coming from towards the front of the tractor, it would be a input shaft or pilot bearing. If one of these are pitted, chances are all of your tranny bearings and cups are pitted and needs to be replaced. On a 9N/2N tracor, that is really pretty easy - I just got finished doing this on my '39 9N. One other thing, if it is an early 9N, the tranny had straight cut gears (not angled like almost all of them are). Straight cut gears make quite a bit more noise when turning - this is why they went to the angle cut gears.

HTH,
Dan