Later model front axle swap into a 126
 

One of my winter projects is going through the steering system of my 126 and bringing everything up to speed. There's a lot of wear and slop, and I'd like to turn the clock back and make things work like new. I ran across this thread in another forum:

http://cubfaq.com/supersteer.html

This looks like a great way to tighten up the turn radius and deal with some 'wear points'. Has anyone tried this swap? Any observations?

That article was mainly written for people wanting to beef up their axles for Front End Loaders (FEL).

That would make sense. The axle shown looks pretty stout. One concern I have, is when I look up those axles on ebay, the hole for the pivot pin looks HUGE. That's why I was wondering if anyone had tried this and what it really takes to make it happen.

Here's another, far cheaper and much simpler option for decreasing the turn radius:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dyVKN883MA

If the axle swap doesn't work out, I can always rebuild what I have and do a few simple (and cheap) mods to improve things. But I sure do like the way that swap turned out.

Sorry for the delayed response. I’m trying to find pictures of the swap I did on mine. The pin is the same size, no modification needed. From what I can remember the swap was pretty straight forward. I Used everything from the wf front end. I did have to modify the hole at the steering mount. The springs for the mule drive lever wouldn’t work with the wider front end.

I mow my yard with mine and it’s pretty steep in places. With the wider stance and the agg tires it can mow all the spots previous mowers couldn’t. Have to do some “ seat shifting” to make it happen, really need some weights.

Thanks, Nate, that's the info I needed. Straight forward is a GOOD thing! Your experience with your yard is EXACTLY what I'm facing. Living out in east Texas, I had a 102 that kept our one-acre yard mowed for years. Moving to the big city of Dallas meant a much smaller yard, so a simple push mower worked. (My brother-in-law got the 102.) Now, we're on half an acre on a hillside in NW Arkansas. Wider stance? Oh yeah, sign me up. Seat shifting? Man, I look like a motorcycle sidecar racer, hanging 3' out over the side with one leg draped over the seat. Great entertainment for my new neighbor. He pops a cold beer and watches the fun.