The front driven axle is the whole reason a County is a County. Where a standard Fordson Super Major puts its power through the back wheels alone, County Commercial Cars of Fleet, Hampshire, took the same skid unit and drove all four — four wheels of equal size, with drive taken forward from a transfer box at the rear by twin propshafts, one running along each side of the tractor to a bevel box on each front hub.
It is a simple, tough arrangement, and it is also the part of the machine most likely to have been worked hardest and greased least. Everything from here forward gets stripped and inspected rather than assumed good.
What gets checked first
- Play in the front hub bevel boxes, in both steering and drive.
- Condition of the propshaft universal joints and their sliding splines.
- Oil level and oil condition in each hub — water in the oil tells its own story.
- Seals at every shaft exit. A County that has stood outside will usually be weeping somewhere.
Notes
Parts for the County-specific driveline are a different sourcing problem from the Fordson running gear underneath it: the Super Major mechanicals are still well served by specialists, while the County pieces are a smaller world of used spares and specialist remanufacture. Anything that can be measured, drawn and reproduced will be put in this wiki with a model attached.
Related: county-super-4-fuel-lift-pump, county-super-4-steering-box.