Hi all,
My question is: I believe I have a stuck center shifter rod at best, transmission damage at worst. I think this means I need to open the transmission and see what's up. Are there any special tricks to removing the hydraulic/3pt hitch unit from atop the transmission on a 1960 Oliver 550?
Background:
Oliver 550 has been jumping out of 1st gear for awhile now. On Sunday, I experienced a sudden loss of anything but 2nd and 5th gear. I couldn't get into any gear on the left and it *seemed* I could shift the neutral back and forth but couldn't get into anything other than 2 and 5. No reverse or anything left. It seemed like I could move the shift lever around a LOT but couldn't find any gears other than 2 and 5. It would feel like I got into other gears but the tractor didn't move. I am usually very adept at shifting this tractor, and I was really confounded as to what I was feeling. I managed to drive the tractor in 2 over to a parking location.
After searching the archives, I took the shift lever plate and boot off and observed the three rods were not lined up. I was able to move the right and left rods but I cannot budge the center rod. The center rod seems to be stuck in between the high and low positions but I'm not completely sure. I cannot seem to get the left and right rods aligned so that I could shift back and forth between them through the middle, but I can move the left rod if I insert the shift lever into it directly.
If I'm correct to this point, this means I need to open the transmission and find out why the center rod won't move, correct?
Are there any special tricks to removing the hydraulic unit? From the parts list I see there is a hydraulic pump on the underside and I don't want to destroy that in the process of getting the unit off. We also don't exactly see how the bolts behind the seat on the back of the cover/hydraulic unit can be removed without taking the entire spring assembly apart and removing it. Is that really necessary? To lift the unit, we don't have a come-along but we do have another tractor we can use to hoist the unit.
My question is: I believe I have a stuck center shifter rod at best, transmission damage at worst. I think this means I need to open the transmission and see what's up. Are there any special tricks to removing the hydraulic/3pt hitch unit from atop the transmission on a 1960 Oliver 550?
Background:
Oliver 550 has been jumping out of 1st gear for awhile now. On Sunday, I experienced a sudden loss of anything but 2nd and 5th gear. I couldn't get into any gear on the left and it *seemed* I could shift the neutral back and forth but couldn't get into anything other than 2 and 5. No reverse or anything left. It seemed like I could move the shift lever around a LOT but couldn't find any gears other than 2 and 5. It would feel like I got into other gears but the tractor didn't move. I am usually very adept at shifting this tractor, and I was really confounded as to what I was feeling. I managed to drive the tractor in 2 over to a parking location.
After searching the archives, I took the shift lever plate and boot off and observed the three rods were not lined up. I was able to move the right and left rods but I cannot budge the center rod. The center rod seems to be stuck in between the high and low positions but I'm not completely sure. I cannot seem to get the left and right rods aligned so that I could shift back and forth between them through the middle, but I can move the left rod if I insert the shift lever into it directly.
If I'm correct to this point, this means I need to open the transmission and find out why the center rod won't move, correct?
Are there any special tricks to removing the hydraulic unit? From the parts list I see there is a hydraulic pump on the underside and I don't want to destroy that in the process of getting the unit off. We also don't exactly see how the bolts behind the seat on the back of the cover/hydraulic unit can be removed without taking the entire spring assembly apart and removing it. Is that really necessary? To lift the unit, we don't have a come-along but we do have another tractor we can use to hoist the unit.