I decided to do a little bush-hogging up back this afternoon on my '49 8N, since it was a picture perfect day here in Vermont. After a half hour of work, I went to put the tractor in reverse and when I let out the clutch, it stalled. I restarted it, let out the clutch in neutral, and went forward!!! I slowly drove the tractor into the barn and pulled off the top cover to check the shifting forks. I found that the shifter lever had ALOT of wear on it, causing improper movement of the forks. The bottom of the lever has two round sections, then above it, what should be a square section. The square section on my tractor is worn almost half way through. The forks in the tractor seem to have very little wear, which is good. I moved the forks manually into the neutral position and reassembled the top cover and can now shift properly. I would like to improve the situation so that I don't get caught like that again, and would like your opinion on what to do. I can think of three options:1) Buy a new shift lever, if they are still available.
2) Try to find a used one that is not so worn (any suggestions on where?).
3) Build up the square section with weld, then machine it back down to stock size. Please let me know your recommendations. Thanks! eric in vermont PS- the only indication of wear I had was that on occasion, the tractor would pop out of 1st gear, especially if I was going down hill. I learned to keep my hand on the lever.
|
