Hi I'm a brand new tractor owner with my first major repair. I just bought used 1994 L4200DT with FST with 1800 hours from a local used equipment dealer without a warranty. I thought I tested it pretty good at the lot but when I hauled it home it was apparent that the front wheels did not pull in 4 wheel drive. After getting it unstuck I opened up the front drive shaft cover tube and noticed that the coupler between the prop shaft and the shaft coming back out of the front differential was not connected, the coupler was slid all the way back on the prop shaft, the roll pin was missing and the splines on that shaft (which I believe is called the spiral revel pinion shaft) are toast.
I called the dealer I bought it from and if I hauled it back (100 miles, and I need to rent a truck and trailer) they will weld the coupler on to the spiral revel pinion shaft to that it functions.
Is welding an acceptable fix? Or rather than several hundred dollars in transportation costs and two days to move it, leave it, and pick it back up a waste and I should just fix it myself?
I called two other dealers (new Kubota dealers with a service shop) and they both advised against welding because that shaft needs the slight degree of freedom the coupler has prevent wear on the transmission or front differential/shaft bearings. They said fix it right and it would be about $500 in parts and 8-20 hours in labor (something around $2000).
It seems like all the transport effort and cost is a waste and maybe I should just buy the parts and fix it myself. I bought a service manual and I am relatively mechanically inclined. Is this a task I can tackle as my first tractor repair? It seems like the labor suck is trial and error in setting the backlash between the pinion gear and the shaft I'm replacing. Anyone know of other major pitfalls.
Here are photos of the parts and some exerpts of the service manual to help:
I called the dealer I bought it from and if I hauled it back (100 miles, and I need to rent a truck and trailer) they will weld the coupler on to the spiral revel pinion shaft to that it functions.
Is welding an acceptable fix? Or rather than several hundred dollars in transportation costs and two days to move it, leave it, and pick it back up a waste and I should just fix it myself?
I called two other dealers (new Kubota dealers with a service shop) and they both advised against welding because that shaft needs the slight degree of freedom the coupler has prevent wear on the transmission or front differential/shaft bearings. They said fix it right and it would be about $500 in parts and 8-20 hours in labor (something around $2000).
It seems like all the transport effort and cost is a waste and maybe I should just buy the parts and fix it myself. I bought a service manual and I am relatively mechanically inclined. Is this a task I can tackle as my first tractor repair? It seems like the labor suck is trial and error in setting the backlash between the pinion gear and the shaft I'm replacing. Anyone know of other major pitfalls.
Here are photos of the parts and some exerpts of the service manual to help: