50 B Front end wear

I removed the front end from my 50 B last night and found lots of rust and wear around the bolt securing the front end to the tractor. As you can see from the pictures I clean the area around the bolt (it was packed full of rust and dirt). I noticed one small piece of metal that resembled some type of bushing that was maybe around the bolt at some point but I am not exactly sure. What are my options for repairing the warn parts/area (besides replacing the warn bolt)? What was originally contained within the cavity surrounding the bolt?

If it were mine I would weld a piece of pipe in square on center and then fit a bushing inside the pipe. that would beef up the center of the axle.

Edited by Dick L - 03 Nov 2010 at 8:11pm

I usually bore out the hole thru the axle and rebush it with a snug fit bushing (in the axle and for the new bolt) then install a new bolt.

Unless you custom make the bushings you will have little choice in bushing OD. Start with a bushing that will match your bolt size and then fit whatever you decide to fill the hole back to the bushing OD (outside diameter)  Your hole looks to me in the pictures to be larger than any standard bushing that would fit the bolt. That is why I would start with a bushing and then a thick wall pipe that the bushing would press into and then bore the axle for a press fit of the heavy wall pipe before welding in the pipe. It would make the axle stronger at the pivit point and keep from having uneven weld around the bushing. If the hole was not worn as much as it is I might just bore it for a bushing alone.