Tandem wheel assembly with reaction downforce center pivot

A tandem wheel assembly for a work vehicle having a chassis and wheels, the tandem wheel assembly comprising:

• a tandem wheel housing having an inboard wall and an outboard wall both defining, at least in part, an interior, the inboard wall and the outboard wall both defining a center opening extending along a pivot axis and wheel end openings extending along associated wheel axes;
• a pivot cage configured to fixedly mount to the chassis and disposed about the pivot axis at the center opening of the tandem wheel housing, the pivot cage having an annular body extending between an inboard end and an outboard end, the inboard wall and the outboard wall of the tandem wheel housing being pivotally mounted to the pivot cage at, respectively, the inboard end and the outboard end of the annular body;
• a center sprocket disposed within and rotatable with respect to the pivot cage;
• wheel end assemblies each disposed at one of the wheel end openings, each wheel end assembly having a wheel end sprocket, a wheel end gear train, and a wheel end hub, each wheel end sprocket being supported within the tandem wheel housing for rotation by at least one chain coupled to the center sprocket, each wheel end gear train being coupled for rotation by the associated wheel end sprocket and configured to effect a gear ratio change and rotate the associated wheel end hub about the associated wheel end axis;
• and
• reaction bars extending within the interior of the tandem wheel housing, each reaction bar being pivotally coupled at one end to the annular body of the pivot cage and at an opposite end to a component of the wheel end gear train.