Front axle question on my old wards

It looked to me like there was no movement [ pivit ] in the front axle, so I went ahead with my front bumper project and fastened my tubing under the axle with two 1/2 x 6" bolts up through the axle assembly........now [ after seeing the axle out of Brianator's build] I see that these axles are slotted and would move if the bolts were loosened up........?? I don't think my axel has EVER moved ...........

So my question.......Do I leave the 6" bolts thru the axle or try to fasten my tubing with two short bolts through the bottom of the axle housing??......I don't plan on running thru a mud hole....I just want to put a snow blade on it and push snow [when we get some!]

And why are the holes in frame ??

Mine didn't move either because of the corrosion built up in there. If you want the axle to pivot you need to remove the front plate to clean and grease everything. If you still want to use that location for your bumper mount and want the axle to pivot I would suggest to get new 1/2" bolts that are a bit longer to accommodate your bumper AND and extra nut and washer per side. If you put the bolt in from the backside, put a nut on, then your bumper and another nut (jamb nut style) it should work fine after some dickering around to get the nuts setup and locked together.

If you don't want the axle to pivot then leave it as is! Lol

***Edit*** if those bolts are actually tightened it will lock the axle, that's why they have locknuts (so you can dial in the tension). Mine even with the bolts loose didn't want to move freely.

I knew it looked like it was built to move, but when I saw the bolts on each side of the pivot point, I just figured maybe they made the same axle set up for more than one type of mower and these were set for a ridgid axle.........I didn't notice that the nuts were lock nuts on the bolts.........??

I might remove my bolts and see if i can free up the front and get some lube in the there ......to prevent corrosion if nothing else....and to check to see if there is any rust that needs to be delt with..........we don't have much of a rust problem here,....but I don't know the history on that machine, ??  

I'm curious to see it works the way it was designed to work.......Thanks for the lesson today  

The newer Craftsman machines have a similar axle setup. I hope to put grease fittings (one on each side of the pivot point at least) in the front plate so I can put some lube in there more easily.

I got it freed up with ease with a little blaster, I can hear the dirt working in there, but i don't think there is any rust problem......I have about 3 inches of movement to the outside at the wheel level....I think I will get it clean and find a way to get some good lube to it and use it...........the biggest reason that I can see to have a little articulation in the front would be that it would give a little more traction to the back when not on the level...........am I right on this or not???..

I'm going to have to refigure how i want to attach my bumper, in order to have the axel free.......I'm thinking that I'll cut a plate out and  weld it on the frame in between the hood brackets and then weld on whatever I need to bolt the bumper to....I plan on attaching a blade, but I have'nt found one yet........so I need to built it so i can remove the bumper and attach the blade.......

I'm only assuming they're locking nuts, mine were so covered in grime I couldn't see them but they felt like lockers and it only makes sense to me they would be or else they'd rattle out eventually. I'll double check that to be sure. If you've already fabbed up your mount you can indeed still use it as I described above but I can sketch out a drawing later this evening to clarify. You could also use the lower grille mounting brackets as a second mount point (as seen behind the red triangle in the pic). I'm outta time for now I just got home and now have to get ready to go, a friend in need is a pest right!? Lol.

thanks for the time........don't waste too much on me.........I think I'll weld two plates on each side of the pivit point from the top bend to the bottom bend and just weld horizontal across top and bottom.......nothing vertical.....sometimes a weld can do more harm than good..... then any verical that i need to do can be welded to to my plate without warping any of the frame......

I'll have to look at those nuts a little closer ....they certainly aren't a normal nut, but they came loose very easy......so if they work loose...I guess a real locknut and
washer might work.....

The nuts were just nuts with lock washer??.........I like the movement up there and I'm gonna get it all cleaned up [ probably with pressure washer]  and lube it up again and find some good lock nuts.

I took a chance on ordering a carb and came out with a good one, got it running good and about the third time I started it,  the damn starter sprocket blew up, this is a new starter!!.......I took the old beat up gear off of my old starter, it will probably outlast a box of new ones........I ordered 6 or 8 new gears,

I'm still scratchin my head on my bumper/blade brackets...I'll get it figured out....that's the fun of it.......