Brando.001
New User
Almost a year ago I got a '55 850. It's the first tractor I've owned. I messed it up shortly after I got it... It's a weird shift pattern, maybe it was messed up before I got it?
Here's the story: I had the opportunity to trade for this 850, I absolutely love the way these tractors look. I bought parts for it before I officially owned it! New gauges, battery, over run clutch, tune up, muffler, gas cap, radiator cap carburetor, start button, 12v conversion, I dunno, whatever I thought it could need because I was excited to have something to "restore". I had drove it around a few times and started getting the feel of it. I wanted to load it up on the trailer and take it to the car wash to blow off some old dirt and oil. I noticed that I wasn't getting it into 1st and 2nd. Once I finally understood the shift pattern (which is pretty cool) I tried to find the middle point, push forward, pull back, and nothing. I tried and tried feeling for it, but it just wouldn't go in. Well, as I normally do, I ended up putting a lot of force on it, and got it into 1st! I figured it was because it hadn't ran in a while and just needed worked around a bit. I got it on the trailer, got it washed off, brought it home and realized it was not coming back out of gear. I then forced it back out into the neutral position (I know *cringe* *shake your head*) rolled it off the trailer. Now the shift lever is locked up, it will not move at all. I pulled the tractor to a place where I was able to take off the transmission cover and inspect it inside. I looked it over, drained the oil, shined a super bright flashlight in there and everything looks good, I dont see anything broken, but I must have something messed up. I gently used a pry bar to try and move the middle rod back, you can see marks on the upper and lower rods where they have been slid back and fourth, but the middle rod does not have those same marks. The tractor had sat for a few years before I got it, and I was not told there were any problems with the transmission, but then again, the guy I got it from didn't really use it and didn't know much about it because it had belonged to his dad who had passed away.
So it sat around all last summer as I had gotten busy, but now I am making it a priority, I now have the rear axle on jack stands and will open up the transmission plate and have another look at it soon when the weather cooperates. I had read online elsewhere to turn the motor by hand backwards to try and loosen it up if it's in a bind, so that's what i will attempt next time. Other than that I'm guessing I will have to split it and have the transmission taken apart to find the issue. I really don't want it to come to that though...
Does anyone have any advise on what to look for, or any tricks to get it freed up?
Here's the story: I had the opportunity to trade for this 850, I absolutely love the way these tractors look. I bought parts for it before I officially owned it! New gauges, battery, over run clutch, tune up, muffler, gas cap, radiator cap carburetor, start button, 12v conversion, I dunno, whatever I thought it could need because I was excited to have something to "restore". I had drove it around a few times and started getting the feel of it. I wanted to load it up on the trailer and take it to the car wash to blow off some old dirt and oil. I noticed that I wasn't getting it into 1st and 2nd. Once I finally understood the shift pattern (which is pretty cool) I tried to find the middle point, push forward, pull back, and nothing. I tried and tried feeling for it, but it just wouldn't go in. Well, as I normally do, I ended up putting a lot of force on it, and got it into 1st! I figured it was because it hadn't ran in a while and just needed worked around a bit. I got it on the trailer, got it washed off, brought it home and realized it was not coming back out of gear. I then forced it back out into the neutral position (I know *cringe* *shake your head*) rolled it off the trailer. Now the shift lever is locked up, it will not move at all. I pulled the tractor to a place where I was able to take off the transmission cover and inspect it inside. I looked it over, drained the oil, shined a super bright flashlight in there and everything looks good, I dont see anything broken, but I must have something messed up. I gently used a pry bar to try and move the middle rod back, you can see marks on the upper and lower rods where they have been slid back and fourth, but the middle rod does not have those same marks. The tractor had sat for a few years before I got it, and I was not told there were any problems with the transmission, but then again, the guy I got it from didn't really use it and didn't know much about it because it had belonged to his dad who had passed away.
So it sat around all last summer as I had gotten busy, but now I am making it a priority, I now have the rear axle on jack stands and will open up the transmission plate and have another look at it soon when the weather cooperates. I had read online elsewhere to turn the motor by hand backwards to try and loosen it up if it's in a bind, so that's what i will attempt next time. Other than that I'm guessing I will have to split it and have the transmission taken apart to find the issue. I really don't want it to come to that though...
Does anyone have any advise on what to look for, or any tricks to get it freed up?