PTO Shift Lever Stuck - 1951 8N

Orion231

Member
It seems something has happened that won't let me take the PTO out of gear. The lever seems to be locked or jammed. Anybody have any ideas of the cause? The PTO runs but I just can't get it out of gear with the tractor running or not.. It started getting hard to shift in and out right before it stuck.
 
What were you doing with the tractor
before/when the handle stopped working?
Maybe using a mower or other pto type
implement on it or just had the pto
engaged to use the 3 point?
It is quite easy to remove the round plate
where the pto handle goes into the
tractor.
You will want to drain down the oil in the
rear end first so you can see the sliding
coupler as it is below the oil level in
there.
With the cover/handle off reach in there
and see if you can slide the the splined
coupler fore and aft. It should slide
fairly easily. Inspect the handle and
dogleg that slides the coupler. Handle
should rotate easily. Any significant wear
on the end that engages the coupler?
It is a Very simple mechanism - no springs
or parts to jump out at you and get lost
so don't be afraid of it.
How about the pto on the back end of the
tractor. Any evidence of it leaking there?
Sometimes if the driveshaft on a mower is
too long it will force the pto too deep
into the tractor. The first thing that
occures is it leaks around the pto shaft.
Sometimes it can booger up the end of the
output shaft on the back end of the
transmission and the front end of the pto
so the sliding coupler does not slide
correctly.
I bought one - a later model - that
someone had boogered up that way but that
was an extreme case.
It is all very simple in there tho so open
that cover and have a look for us.
 

Thanks for the info. I had been running a brush hog on it with some pretty tough brush. The PTO seems to run fine and I haven't noticed any leaks. I work out of town so it will be this weekend before I can check the internals to see what is going on inside. Right now I have the wheels off to switch them left to right so should make it easier to pull the side plate with the wheel off. Are the parts that slide easy to replace?
 
Those parts are pretty bullet proof.
Don't know that I've ever heard of those
parts needing replaced.
Others here might have.
I did fail to mention in my first post
that you need to have the splines on both
shafts lined up to slide the coupler.
Twist the pto shaft a bit till they line
up. Can do that from in the hole.
 
I finally had a chance to pull the cover and lever. By hand I couldn't move the shaft either way. I wiggled the PTO shaft at the back of the tractor a bit trying to turn it. Went back with a pry bar and was able to move the shaft forward and back. So by prying it, I can shift it in and out. One way, sliding towards the back of the tractor goes easy. The other way sliding towards the front of the tractor it sort of "pops" forward and takes a little force to do it. Any ideas on what the problem might be and how easy to fix?
 
(quoted from post at 02:43:14 02/16/19) I finally had a chance to pull the cover and lever. By hand I couldn't move the shaft either way. I wiggled the PTO shaft at the back of the tractor a bit trying to turn it. Went back with a pry bar and was able to move the shaft forward and back. So by prying it, I can shift it in and out. One way, sliding towards the back of the tractor goes easy. The other way sliding towards the front of the tractor it sort of "pops" forward and takes a little force to do it. Any ideas on what the problem might be and how easy to fix?

Am I correct in thinking you are prying on the end of the shifter rail? I would guess the shifter collar is hanging up on the splines on the PTO shaft or possibly the bore in the shifter housing. Time to bite the bullet and split the tractor behind the transmission to get access to the mechanism. Alternatively you could try removing the PTO shaft from the rear. If it will slide out of the tractor inspect the splines for damage. Sometimes they get twisted from impact when mowing which causes the shifter collar to bind.

TOH
 

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