MF 40 feels like rear wheels are braking

Jaypat88

Member
I just purchased a MF40. Needed to drain and fill hydraulic fluid due to water contamination. Tractor was driving fine until I tried to go up a 40 degree paved hill. The tractor basically stopped in low gear. Engine sounded labored and had to turn tractor around because it did not have enough power to go up hill in low or high gear. When going down hill I could gradually slow down the tractor with brakes fully applied. Continued to drive on level ground and slowly began to loose speed while giving gas. When I depressed gas pedal I noticed that the tractor stopped fairly quick. I went in reverse thinking the brake are stuck. Then was able to move forward a little better but quickly started to slow down in high rpm. I basically had to stop and go for 600yrds to get it back to its parking place.

Any thoughts?
 

Wheel bearings might be the problem , jack the wheels up and turn by hand listening and feeling for binding and growling .
 
ivor from uk here and it could be same problem a neighbour had with his MF 590 about 8 years ago , it was severally neglected and the final reduction epicyclic hub on left side had run out of oil and give up
 
I'm not familiar with MF 40's, but if it has disc brakes, you could have the problem that I experienced with my MH 22. Had new brakes on it and after it sat for awhile in a shed, I took it on a cruise. I didn't get more than a mile from home when I experienced your problem. Brakes were locking up & had to have it trailered home. Tore things apart & there the problem was: mice or chipmunks had stored lots of those little nut shells in between the discs. Brakes couldn't release. I didn't have the rubber boots mounted on the brake rods. Never a problem since I installed the new boots!
 
So I checked the drive axle fluid and noticed no fluid and burnt smell plus the back of the plugs were black. Filled with fluid and went for a ride and all was good. I need to adjust brake pedals since they both travel far before brakes start working.
 
The instant reverse is very similar to a automatic transmission in a car, or truck. Either the torque converter, the pump, the clutch pack inside the transmission is going away, or it could be a combination of those things. The water that was in the transmission fluid could have damage the pump, which could have damaged the torque converter, or it could have burned the clutch pack up in the transmission. About the only way to tell what exactly is wrong would be to open it up, and look at everything. You would need some with experience on the instant reverse transmission to see what the problem is. Maybe cheaper to just swap it over a manual transmission with a clutch.
 
Its not in the transmission, it is an canister style filter that is in one of the lines going to the transmission cooler.
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