My rock shaft woes

I've been trying to get the rock shaft working on my '49 A. I got a lot of help from Pete in MD to just get my pto pump working and now that it does...
First, it had one dummy plug and one hose coupler, and once I found that it wouldn't work that way, I bought another (actually two) dummy plugs. The picture will show what was there to begin with. Note that there is what looks like a ball bearing in the end of the dummy plug. The two that I bought are exactly the same but with no ball bearing. Using one with ball bearing and one without will let me raise the rock shaft, but not let it down. Using the two with no ball bearing does nothing. Which ones should be in there?
Thank you.

You are saying that using 2 Plugs with rear Hose coupling threads will not run a remote cylinder.?
2 "Dummy Plugs" will not operate a Remote, but will operate the Rock-Shaft.
I have NO idea about the "Ball Bearing"...??????

Ron.

Neither plug look like the correct plug to make your rockshaft work. go to Ebay and search for John Deere Dummy Plug. You will need a pair for the A B G 50 60 70

No, I'm saying that I am trying to get the rock shaft working and am uncertain which are the correct dummy plugs.

These, which you speak of, are exactly what I bought but when I use those, it doesn't work at all.

Joe,

The dummy plugs used for rockshaft operation have an opening on the side and an opening at the front end of the plug.

The plugs used for remote cylinder operation have an opening on the side and an opening at rear end of the plug where the hoses are hooked up. The front end of the plugs are closed off.

Pete

If you had 2 plugs like the upper one shown
in your picture, the rock shaft should work?
I don't know nothing about a Ball Bearing in
them. You have a early style Power troll Box.
If it were me I'd install the later style on
your tractor...

I'm going to take another look at it. Every bit of info that I've found tells me that I now do have the correct dummy plugs (not the ones shown in the pic) so there appears to be another issue. A flow diagram will show the fluid coming in the side holes of the dummy plug and exiting the hole in the end. The one plug that I have that has the ball bearing in it must be somebody elses dream. No fluid could exit the end of that plug.
Thank you.

Take a look at the diagram below.



Note the cap (Key 10) and the adapter nut (Key 24).

Agree with the statement by [b:654c4848f0]Pete in MD[/b:654c4848f0] that "[i:654c4848f0]The dummy plugs used for rockshaft operation have an opening on the side and an opening at the front end of the plug.[/i:654c4848f0]"

Take a look at the photos below of the cap "dummy plug" and the adapter nut from "Old John" Nancy's 48A.



The photo below shows the opening on the side.



The photo below shows the opening at the front end of the plug.



Hope this helps.

Sounds like you are correct..

Those are the woes of reversing 60 years of cobbling..as long as oil didn't run out, it must have been OK with him..

Hope the new Dummy Plugs get it working well..!

Let us know if it does..

Ron.

Thank you for posting the photo's. This is exactly what I have in there now, it's just that now it does nothing, so I have to do some more trouble shooting. I had the reservoir full, but I need to check that level again. The pump is working fine, the metering valve is set at two turns, The throttle valve was snapped off clean with the powertrol housing so for now I took it out and cut a screwdriver slot in the end so I can do SOME adjustment on it until I get a replacement. When I had the powertrol housing off, the piston and cylinder looked like new and it did go up once, but wouldn't come down. As said, now it does neither.

Ok, so I checked the powertrol oil level and it was low. I added about five cups (all that I had at this time) and it didn't come out the petcock. Sooooo, I check the gear case and that was overfull! So now I've got that to deal with before moving on. I know that I have seen threads on here in the past about this problem but didn't take note of where the oil is most likely leaking out of the powertrol box, and into the gear case.
It is now a possibility that the powertrol/rockshaft are in working order, I just can't tell yet because it is dumping into the gear case.

BTW, that was an actual 1/2" ball bearing in my other dummy plug. I rapped the end on a bronze hammer head and it fell out. Now I have three correct dummy plugs.

BTW....

You are trying to use it with the PTO in Gear??

Correct?? They won't do nothing without the PTO
Turning.....

Joe,
There are two places where powertrol oil can leak out of the powertrol into the rear/transmission.

Since you recently filled the powertrol and have been trying to cycle the rockshaft I think the oil is leaking past the gasket between the rockshaft cylinder and the front side of the rockshaft housing. To replace the gasket you need to take off the rockshaft housing to get to it. The gasket p/n is A623R, $6.83 from Deere.

The second place where powertrol oil can leak into the rear/transmission is the two rubber oil seals on the pto shaft where it goes through the front side of the rockshaft housing. They look like large garden hose washers. You should inspect/replace the seals while you have the rockshaft housing off. There's a snap ring on the pto shaft that has to be removed to get the pto shaft out. You'll see it when you remove the rockshaft housing. The seal p/n is A2436R, $6.60 each from Deere. You'll need 2 of them if you decide to replace. I recommend you replace them when you have the rockshaft housing off.

You'll probably need to replace the big gasket between rockshaft housing and the axle housing when you take the rockshaft housing off. The gasket p/n is A412R, about $44 from Deere. it's not hard to make you own and save some money.

Pete

Thanks Pete. I'll likely replace them all as that is sensible, though that will probably be a summer job. In the mean time, it looks like I might be buying a shop hoist.