D Transmission Level?

How do you check the oil level in a D's transmission? The book says to of course, but I cannot find where there's a cock to open to let it drip out when it's full, and I can't seem to find an indication of one in the book. All I can see is that there's supposed to be 6 1/2" of oil and something like seven gallons. Are we supposed to stick a tape measure in there? Pour it out into cups and measure it? (!)

I drove my D out of the shop today. I want to say thanks to everyone who gave advice on the fan shaft and bearing. I'm very impressed by the knowledge and experience that's on this forum. All of you made it a whole lot easier for me. The new bearing went in beautifully, and the shaft is nice and tight now. And you know what? The D has a new sound: the hum of the fan I hadn't heard before! It also runs cooler. I'm guessing the fan had been loose for awhile and was derelict in its duty.

Joel

Basically put a yard stick in it LOL

On top of your transmission center on the cover is a plug with a square hole. Take it out with a ratchet, stick something in to measure.

Brandon

Info that shall save you a lot of $$$$$$$'s

Bob..

Wow, Bob. Thank you very, very much. I've saved your picture.

I bought this D last spring with the intention of using it to plow and disc, run the generator for the elevator and cut wood. So far all it's done is run the generator and make two trips to the woods. (I had a good stack of wood from last year.) I'm trying to go through it bit by bit and use it lightly until I trust it come time to plow. I'm really glad the fan came off cutting wood and not while plowing or in frantic haying time. I need to add the live hydraulic pump and make an hydraulic reservoir under the platform, so that'll be a good time to check the drive chains. Right now I have to make ironwork in my shop for money and trust the D to bring wood in to keep me warm. Hopefully it can do that without another catastrophe. I'll check the transmission level today though. It seemed like it was making a lot of noise yesterday climbing a small hill at idle. Does a D's transmission normally make gear noise? The only other ones I've been around were posing quietly at a show.

Thank you again, Bob. I really appreciate the help you've been with this.

Well, I suppose a tractor that expected you to manually control its temperature with a shutter would expect you to provide a measuring stick. I like it! Keep it simple and make the
Russians happy; that approach got Deere through the Depression, after all.

Speaking of temperature: do you have any suggestion for getting the wing-nut knob lose that controls the shutter? I've got the shutters and the links to that point free, but it's frozen
stiff and has been broken off by some previous mechanic. (Probably another blacksmith with a hammer!)

I haven't had to deal with that knob, all I can suggest is penetrating oil, my favorite is Kroil, and heat. I love using heat from a torch (a cutting torch type of heat not little handheld propane) to get stuck things loose.

Noisy transmission? Yeah they can be decently noisy, it also depends what oil you have in it, the manuals call for some pretty thick stuff and usually single weight. Modern 80w90 is actually on the thinner side for what they call for and might make it a little noisier.

Here's a video of my DI plowing, you can hear the transmission growl if you listen. I will admit the tractor had a long life of abuse so...normal? Dunno but it's like it even with the chains adjusted when we had the axles out. It also has a more modern gear lube in it and is geared twice as fast as a green D
<A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AySTFNoyVQk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AySTFNoyVQk</A>

here's a couple of a normal D and the growl isn't really apparent
<A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SIOYOekwnw">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SIOYOekwnw</A>
<A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouO6z3falaY">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouO6z3falaY</A>

Yeah who knows how long you were running with a bad fan.

I was going down the road with the shutters just cracked open (going to a parade) when I heard a subtle "tink....tink"

Heard it a couple more times and stopped to get off and look, engine idling....and saw the fan fly loose. Started leaking antifreeze. I was still within sight of home, so I opened the shutters, and drove home, never even got too hot and it was 180 already

That was about the only good thing that happened, that I was able to drive it home

Brandon