The reason you should use good drivetrain components!!

[El Campo]

I know it is not a 67-72 Chevy but I think it pertains to it anyways. Yesterday my 19 year old brother was moving his 4 wheel drive tractor down the road to a different job (the rest of my family does heavy machinery/dirt construction) and the rear end on the John Deere grenaded on him. He heard a bang and literally in 2 seconds the whole cab was surrounded by fire. Had to jump onto the FRONT tires and 5 feet onto the ground while tractor was still going 20+ MPH. Said it was a wonder didn't get burned as it was and was out of the cab within only a few seconds of fire starting. It appears when the rearend locked up the driveshaft broke the yoke off of the transmission and ripped hydraulic and diesel lines loose and even though there is no exhaust or anything close something was hot enough to instantly light fuel. Massive fire immediately erupted AND IT WAS ONLY WITH DIESEL! Imagine if this was gas. 100 thousand dollars up in smoke. I urge everyone to consider situations like this before they buy Chinese made ujoints or weak rearends etc. My brother is ok but if you were driving 60 mph with a seatbelt on you very well may not get out of cab fast enough. Sure, sometimes *&&* just happens no matter how well you are prepared but it is nice to tip the scale in your favor.

[Sillyoldman]

Glad he's alright. It looks like things went bad quickly.

[PanelDeland]

Stuff can go sideways quick.Glad your brother is OK.It's a shame to have your equipment go up in smoke like that.

[no1udknow]

Hydraulic diesel fires are no joke. When I was fresh out of high school, I was working as an alignment technician in my small home town. They were building a self storage facility across the street from our shop and using a water truck and a big scraper. I will never forget, I was working on a white 65 mustang with a straight 6. Had my head under the front left fender when I heard the boom, I looked up to see the scraper in flames including the cab. The operator stayed in long enough to dig the scraper into the ground to keep it from continuuing into the offices next door. I watched as he emerged from the cab on fire. I jumped down from the alignment rack and grabbed a fire extinguisher while yelling "call 911" as I ran across the street the water truck skid up and blasted him with water knocking him down and then headed for the tractor. He turned on the side blasters and hopped out and ran back to me and his coworker. The operator was badly burned, hair was gone, red flannel and jeans were melted to his skin he was screaming but I couldnt do anything but hold his hand which was badly burned. He passed away on the way to the hospital. The investigation said a hydraulic hose had burst and the fluid ignited after contact with the hot engine do to thw fact that under pressurs the fluid was already hot...... your brother is lucky, very lucky to be alive. It doesn't matter what the tractor is worth, his life is worth more.