4440 brake grinding

KYpatriot

Member
Ok, maybe this is a dumb question but here goes. When I am using the brakes on my 2wd 4440 for differential steering in mud, anything more than a light press I get a grinding noise. Is that normal? Grinding or growling noises never seem like they should be normal.

Brakes appear to work fine and quietly otherwise, but obviously im not using the brakes while the tractor is pulling with the clutch out either.
 
It sounds like you could have a bearing going bad and it amplify's the noise when you are in that situation,, it is common for the left differential carrier bearing to fail,, I would pull the final drive and check it out now,, "If" it is that bearing it will eventually knock the teeth up on the ring gear,,and you don't want to go there....in the early stage of failure the inner surface of the race will start to peal or shell off, then when the rollers go over the rough spot under load it gives the kind of noise your describing..
 

Ok it only makes the noise when pushing hard on a single brake, basically when the wheel on that side stops. Havent noticed any other noises at any other time. Ill get the tech manual out and try to find what you are describing.

So this would need a split? I am in KY sounds like a bigger job than I would tackle any recs on someone to take it to?
 
When you remove the final drive it will let you see the differential carrier bearing, stick a pry bar into the diff. and see if you get any movement,,, you will be able to remove the bearing quill, but there is a square nut on the top bolt (#3) that will fall free, it would be tuff but not impossible to get the nut back in place with out removing the rockshaft.And yes 90% of the time it is the left bearing that fails on a sychro/Quad range..
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The 4020 has the same set up, but it seems to be more of an issue in 44's-46's,probably because more power is run past them,,also the pull is stronger on the left side of Sycro/Quad range because of the pinion twisting against that side, Deere came out with a kit that increased the size of the bearing for them. It is always a good thing to check when your into one, and I always replace these bearings when I repair the transmission.
 

Thank you very much, I am always amazed how helpful you and some others are on this site. Hopefully I will be able to return the favor somehow. How far is your shop from central KY?!?!

I really need this tractor right now, doing a lot of feeding so I was hoping to get away with waiting a little longer til grass is coming on but I understand its a risk. What kind of money is it to pay a shop to repair something like this? How much does it go up if the ring gear gets involved?

Thanks again, trying to figure out what to do here.
 
I'm in Central Ohio,,be glad to fix it for you,,but it's a long trip.. You will shed a tear if it ruins the ring gear...Takes about 3 hours to get the final drive off to look,,I take a lot of them off here just to look and know the brakes are good and inspect the bearings,, the ring/pinion change is a major job, I lump that job off at about $2500 labor,it includes servicing the top shaft and all the "while your in there" stuff...a Deere dealer would be easily twice that much.. a lot of money in parts when you service the top shaft, trans. pump,usually B&C range lower gears,bearings and gaskets,,it can get out of hand if there is a lot of wear on the unit..Here are some pics of the last 4440 that I changed the ring&pinion in..
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Dang now Im nervous. Im going to have someone else drive it and stand on the drawbar and see if I can hear anything just driving around. The only time I have heard any noise is when doing the hard left or right single braking for differential steering in mud. I was hoping it was just the brakes growling from being forced to slip under power. Guess i was wrong, glad I asked.

Looks like I am 3.5 hours from you. I could bring it up there with my dual tandem gooseneck, not sure how Ohio would treat that much weight on ky farm tags.

I may try to take a look in the final drive myself, is the bearing and race in question #4 and #5 in the diagram you posted?

Man this is bad timing as I dont have another tractor right now with a loader. This 4440 has 8200 hrs so it is probably due an overhaul as well although it doesnt seem to have much blowby at all.

If I can rent/borrow another tractor to feed cattle with a while Id like to talk to you about bringing it up is there a pm function or a way to get my contact info to you privately
 
I know how you feel about the possibility of it going real bad., and the brakes can give a noise like you hear,,,the one in the picture made a clicking noise in higher speeds for about a year before the guy had me look at it, the ring gear was rocking back and forth on it.. [email protected]
 
(quoted from post at 22:05:06 02/12/17) I know how you feel about the possibility of it going real bad., and the brakes can give a noise like you hear,,,the one in the picture made a clicking noise in higher speeds for about a year before the guy had me look at it, the ring gear was rocking back and forth on it.. [email protected]

Thank you sir I will email you my number.
 

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