'42 A Stuck in gear

Hey all,

Before I tear the top cover off the transmission (even though I am sure I will be), here is what I've got:

Took the tractor on a ride today, letting a friend drive it (first mistake, lol). I was very thorough in my instruction to her in how to operate the tractor, and she said no problem (she has driven a model A before). For the first half hour or so, everything ran fine. Stopped at a local eatery for lunch, and as far as I know it ran fine afterwards. We stopped at the neighbors, just prior to putting it away for the day. I went to jump on and the tractor gearshift lever was in neutral, but the tractor seemed to be stuck in low range, 3rd gear. I can move the L-H range lever, and it does move the tractor into high range. If I try to put the gear shift lever into 1-2 or 3-4, the tractor will not move and loads up (like the trans is frozen). I'm figuring that it is probably stuck in 5-6. My friend also informed me that she 'forgot', and had tried to shift the tractor on the fly once. BIG no-no.

So.. Question is - can I get this fixed without tearing the top cover off (not that it is all that difficult)? What is likely the problem? Shift lever popped out of shifting forks?

Forgot to mention, the tractor does the same when trying to put in reverse (loads up/acts like the trans is frozen in place).

Pull the top cover (it's not that big of deal) and re-align the shifters. I had a problem a couple of years ago with my 720 diesel (pony start) a lot more work to getting that top cover off. LOL

First question - How did you get it home if the trans was locked up???

Second - Does the neighbor have little kids?? I bet they were on the tractor playing - much like I used to do when I was little. Thought it was a wonderful thing to shift the gears from first through 8th or what ever! Some times my Dad would find it stuck in between gears, and have a time getting it to shift correctly!

That is the odd thing - it would only lock up if you put it in another gear. It is like the trans was stuck in 5-6. If you engaged the clutch, the tractor would go. When you try to put it in another gear, it would lock up and not move. Even with the gearshift leer in neutral, the tractor would still be 5-6 gear. You could still engage the clutch and move the tractor.

The neighbor does not have little kids that were playing on it. I'm thinking that when she tried to shift it on the fly it must have either jumped the gearshift lever out of the 5-6 forks, or something else.

Been a loooong time since I had that problem on my "44 and I don"t recall for sure which gears were involved but the HI/LO shifter, the 2/4 shifter and the 1/3 R shifters all three share a common shaft in that tractor & the only thing that keeps HI LO from messing with the 2/4 and the 1/3/R shifters is a lone cotter pin between the 2/4 and the hi lo.

If that pin shears or is missing, the hi lo shifter can move too far during a hasty shift from LO to HI bumping the 2/4 shifter. It can also hit the 1/3/R shifter because of the interlock pin that is to bump it out of reverse when going to hi range or out of hi range when going to reverse. He already goes 4 MPH in LO range Reverse!

You might be able to manipulate shifters & levers back into place. Been there & done that but when doing so I always considered myself more dumb lucky than thoughtful!

Hopefully it"s a hand start instead of a long hood. You may not have to take the cover clear off. May be able to just take the bolts out, lift it up a little & with a long screwdriver or a long skinny punch, get them all back into neutral. While it"s open THAT far, be sure to look for that cotter pin through the forward shifter shaft. Again, it"s been a long time but if I recall correctly, it"s between the hi lo shifter & the 2/4 shifter. Seems to me it"s easiest to spy when the tractor is in 2nd gear.

Hope that helps.

Al,

Thanks for the reply. I got after it today (and made a video of what I was looking at, just so it is out there in case anyone ever has the same issue). I am not sure what the heck happened, but it is like the gear shift lever "jumped out" of the 5/6 fork assembly. I checked over all the shafts, and all cotter pins are in place. The H/L range selector works fine, and 1-3, 2-4 both work fine.

I took the tractor out on the road again today and put about 2 miles or so on it, took it off the beaten path and climbed a few hills. Made sure to switch it through all gears, and all H/L ranges. Everything seems to be in working order. I am baffled as to how this could have happened but at least it was an easy fix.

Funny you mention whether it is a long hood or not - it originally was built as a slant dash A, but after I got my hands on it, I created a unstyled, electric start, 3 speed H/L range A. A few others have done similar projects on the forum here.. I sure do like the versatility of the tractor, though!
1942 John Deere A Transmission Troubleshooting

Was going to watch your video but it is marked as private.

It hasn't finished uploading yet. I would
think it should be ready in about twenty
minutes or so.