656 draft control

I disassembled the draft control to replace the seals, including the position control eccentric (the shaft toward the right rear of the housing that has an o-ring on the inside and a snap ring on the outside). The whole job was a giant pain in the ***, especially the position control eccentric, because there is a snap ring inside the case on it that has to be removed & reinstalled that I couldn't even see around all the linkage parts.

Before I took it apart, I photographed the relationship of the draft control and hitch levers to the linkage inside, so I could get it right before I reassembled. So, I got it reassembled and started the tractor, and the hitch arms raised all the way up, and will not go down regardless of the position of a the levers. Very frustrating! This thing took many hours to repair and would take many more hours to get back apart.

Can anyone offer me advice on what is wrong? Could it be trapped air in the system? If so, where would I bleed it? I'm at my wit's end with all the time I have in this.

BTW, the common cure mentioned for curing leaks in the draft control housing is to remove the tall plug at the left front of the inside. I tried this about a year ago, and it still leaked badly. Running the tractor with the cover off, I could see that the oil could not drain fast enough through the hole where the plug was, so the oil level was still above the seals.

About the only help I can be is it is not trapped air. You have one of the linkages indexed wrong or on the wrong side of the pickup linkage for draft control. On the drainage part, the only time fluid comes into that housing is when lowering hitch or if hitch relief valves opens from excess load on hitch.

I think I have said before that working in that confined space is not easy. I will assume you took the entire cylinder and valve assembly out of the way to gain access to the linkages involved.

Thanks Pete. I took the entire thing apart, lifting the housing off the tractor and disassembling it on a bench. Good thing I did because two of the linkage pieces were broken...luckily I have a junker 656 to scavenge parts from. While I was in there I pulled the final drive cover and replaced the speedometer cable (it's a hydro). Guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

Tomorrow I'll pull the cylinder/valve assembly and go through the linkages again, comparing them to the parts diagram. I had the diagram beside me when I was doing the work, so I thought I got everything together properly. It would be nice if I had the service manual for the draft control (or just a few pages out of it showing the linkages assembled), but I have not been able to locate one.

Also, I had the cover off when I started the tractor, and the compartment immediately flooded with oil, almost overflowing. Definitely a lot more oil than when I observed it before disassembly. Makes me wonder about your comment about a relief valve popping and flooding the compartment.

man can I sympathize with you. I had to replace the speedometer cable on my hydro 86. You are right it's not an easy job.