Tractor + ditch = broken axle

There is a wee problem with the tractor at the moment. I was going to rotary hoe a part of the farm and getting there involved going through a ditch. Not usually a problem with a 4 wheel drive tractor with agricultural tyres with superb tread. Except that this time the rotary hoe hit the bank I had just come down and the tractor got stuck.

Again, this is not normally a problem, a bit of sweat expended swinging a spade and we're away again. Not this time though. After I had done the needed digging I tried to drive forward out of the ditch when .... a small 'bang' and I lost drive to the front wheels. Of course I stopped what I was doing and investigated and when I used the front end loader bucket to lever the front of the tractor up off the ground .... the right front wheel fell off! Unprintable words spoken with some vigour and then into problem solving mode.

The tractor is still stuck in the ditch but the front bevel drive is disassembled and ready to take to the tractor fixing place. A plastic bucket is keeping dirt and moisture out of the axle until I can get the bevel drive fixed and then reassemble everything. In the picture you can see the two bits that should be one intact bevel drive firmly holding hands with itself. Looking at the broken shaft it looks like there might be a flaw in the metal. In the second picture you can see a little dark spot in the shiny metal on the left. That dark spot shouldn't be there. If that's indeed a flaw then the axle might have broken at almost any time.

Just what I wanted when I'm trying not to spend money. Ugh! Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be too expensive and hopefully the parts don't have to be flown in from Japan.

The really good news about this mishap is that the axle didn't break while I was mowing one of the more hilly paddocks. If it had broken then; the tractor would have rolled down the hill for sure and that doesn't usually end well for the tractor driver.

Very soon the sequel of me driving out of the ditch and rotary hoeing what needs hoeing and safely crossing the ditch again will be posted (I hope).