Colt Case Ingersoll Garden Tractors

The inner pipe's job is to spread the load over a greater surface area. Without the pipe, the edge of the thin sheetmetal would quickly wear egg-shaped, as has happened here after the weld failed.

With the pipe welded solidly to the sheet metal, the pressure of the shaft then pushes against the extended length of the pipe ID.

The pipe is acting as a large bushing.

Bob

On mine the pipe is a short piece in each side of the towers.
Keep the Peace
Harry

Thanks @thebuildist. My 648 just has the 3/4” pin running across the tractor. It sits in bushings at the towers. Makes me think this one hasn’t seen the loader work that @Eugen tractor has done.

Very interesting guys! The other 644 of mine doesn't have the tube all across, rather just bushing on each side of the tower. The tower is made of bent steel about 3/16" thick. Whoever used this loader, really abused it, in my opinion. I'm thinking t's hard to do this kind of damage from just soiIl or gravel loading work.

In any case, looking down where the arm/boom cylinder is connected to the base of the tower, I noticed something that will be useful. The pin holding the cylinder goes through a bushing welded to the tower base, but then there is a 1/4" plate with bushing welded on the inside of the tower, at about 2" distance from the exterior wall of the tower base, parallel to it. That plate also has a bushing. There is no reason why I could not weld a plate on the upper side too, there is room. That will reinforce the upper boom connection tremendously, and no more tubing all across. I'll post pictures when I get my phone back from the kids

Like this pin

All 3 of the 646 towers here are bushed.and welded inside the tower.A rod runs though the loader arms and tower. The rod is held in place by end caps, one with a role pin and the other with a removable pin. In ideal conditions the loader arms float on the rod. The loader arm should have a grease zero on the bottom side of the arm.
The rod can be brutal to remove from the tower as it aften seizes in.

Oh the matter is clearly settled. The tube I had across must've been a patch solution by the PO. My other 644, like the tractors of @JSinMO and @Harry and @Spike188 has bushing on the tower interior. Thank you guys, this is so helpful!

In the pictures I posted there are only bushings in the tower and are not a continuous pipe. The pin used to attach the loader arms is only supported on the two tower bushings and passes open air though the tower. The pin extends as one piece, loader arm through loader arm.

After seeing what the others tractors have with a sleeve welded in from factory . I would now say make a template to enlargen the hole and make round again both sides . Then make up 2 new oversized bushings and weld them in place restoring it back to the way the others are and that most likely was .

I also remember drilling holes and inserting zerk fittings into the loader arms and the bushings in the tower bushings. You just have to insert them into an area that you can access with a grease gun later. It's a big job repairing with a lot of attention to details. I have noticed my 644 lbh has a bent shaft also and I'm not in a hurry to replace it.

Keep the Peace
Harry