Narrow front on Farmall A

Just broke steering box casting on an A Farmall. I assume this would be quite difficult and expensive to replace. I have an old junk BN for parts. Is it possible to put the narrow front from the BN on the A? I realize this would be more prone to rollover but I could also widen the A by putting the axle spacer from the left side of the BN onto the A. I use the A for mowing and slow speeds only and don't have any hills to worry about. Thanks for any ideas or help.

No problem at all, Though there is controversy, I believe the rollover issue is not on solid evidence, but on seat of pants feel. I like the idea of making a B out of it, but keep records of things changed and photos. This helps those who come after with the 57 variety unit. JimN

A few thoughts.

First, how bad a shape is the BN in. Would it be easier to swap the good motor and other parts over to the BN chassis? Then what you've got is a BN with a replacement motor. Pretty straightforward.

Somebody who knows for sure can chime in if this is wrong, but I think the bosses cast and tapped into the bottom of the A and the BN diff shaft housings are different (maybe on the left final drive on the A, too -- again not certain on my end). I'm thinking that if you swap the front of the BN onto the A, you might as well set up the rear to take BN implements, unless, of course, you have a lot of mounted implements for your A.

As far as the balance -- A tractor tips to the side when the center of gravity crosses outside an imaginary box whose sides are vertical from the geometric figure described by where the wheels hit the ground. On a narrow front, that "box" is triangular in shape and necessarily closer to the center of gravity that the four-sides of the "box" on a widefront. Not usually a problem for an operator paying attention on a conventional narrowfront. But with the A being offset, that center of gravity is closer to the left in the first place, and putting a narrow front on it will but the COG even closer to the side of the three-sided "box". If you do go that route, keeping the offset rear with the narrow front, do a little invetory of what you have around for wheels and weights between the two tractors. A lot of As (and maybe even yours) were shipped with a stamped steel wheel on the left and a heavier cast wheel on the right. I'd feel best (if it were mine in that setup) with just the stamped wheel on the left, and a cast wheel with one weight bolted onto a cast wheel on the right.

You can put the B steering sector on easy then by spacing the rear wheel tread you can make the rear wide enough. All you have to do on the left wheel is reverse the center section and place the rim in the outer position and you will be plenty wide no need to add the differential shaft and cast extension.

About floppin' the wheels so they're dished out . . . My neighbor has an A sittin' in his yard that we're goin' to be gettin' after this winter. Got it from his dad, who's had it sittin' around for who knows how long. The runnin' gear is set up with the wheels dished out, rims mounted to the outside with the offset so that it's as wide as an A can get. The way it's parked, a quick look out my back door wouldn't make you think there's any offset to it at all. If it was painted up, I'd think the neighbor was messin' with me and snuck my BN into his yard (not a stunt that I'd put past him to try).

You were one of the folks I was thinking of who would know about the bosses and how it might make a difference in mounting up implements. am I off base with that?

I think he'll do well to either weight the right side or extend the left to the extent he can with the wheel configuration if he opts for the narrow front on his A chassis.

The A doesent have the bosses uhnder the center as they are on the diff housing. So if you need the bosses you would need to change both diff housings to get them. So iff he were to change the left side from the BN he would only have the bosses on the left side and would need to change out the right side from his BN then he would have a BN. The A he now has with the mower would not be changed so his mower would still be mounted the same. He needs to just reverse the center section and kick the wheel out as his mount for the mower would not change. But if he puts the left rear diff housing he loses the way his mower mounts. Simple way is change the front steering sector and kick the left rear wheel out.