Strange 1650 front spindle setup.
 

Drug this parts Cub home today for the engine.
Tires were all flat so I put spares on to make it easier to move.
It has 3/4" spindles with these odd ball 1" sleeves and bearings for wheels that take 1" bearings. One was frozen to the sleeve which was stuck on the spindle.

You guys ever seen anything like this before on a cub of this era?
It's a Feb 1975 build.

Cobble Cub Craft it looks like to me.

I'd say somebody made a sleeve to run 1" wheels on 3/4" axles. No harm in continuing to run it that way with new bearings.

Looks like someone went to the trouble to build an adapter to use 1" bearings.
OR:
The spindle was worn and an adapter was made to repair it.
Either way nice job.:beerchug:
Much better than JBweld/ duct tape.

The sleeves were worn on both ends where the bearing race was spinning on the sleeve.
Once I got them off, the original 3/4" spindle was in fine shape.
The wheels themselves were in really great shape.
The bearings were the sealed on both end type and the one that I had to bust up was pretty dry inside too.
Maybe someone got new wheels not knowing they were not 3/4" and did the sleeve thing?? Anybody's guess at this point.

1" bearings are heavier duty than 3/4" using a blower , loader , blade they'll hold up better

I'd say somebody had wheels for a 1" spindle and they had 3/4 spindles.. so they made a sleeve?:bigthink: Kinda neat if you ask me...

Only issue with it is what you already found out. The sleeve was not hardened so the bearing likely wore it easily. The tolerances may not have been correct either. I think its worth the effort to do it if done correctly. I would think Jeff inPA would be able to make the sleeves. I can do it in my shop as well and now I know a guy to temper steel for me but I'm not in this business really. Not sure why the PO wouldn't just find a bearing number for 3/4 spindles and larger hub size I would imagine they exist.

If you want 1" spindles, I believe the ones from a 782 will fit.:bigthink: