B9200HST 4WD struggles uphill

[Redjos80]

New here. Just purchased a well used B9200HST 4WD with a Woods backhoe. The tractor has helped me dig 200ft of French drains, pulled dozens of 30ft logs out of the woods but will not go up a hill to save its life. The FLE works fine and lifts heavy loads. The engine fires up every time on the first crank and never shows signs of weakness. When the tractor stops moving uphill, I heard a noticeable whining noise and believe it’s the transmission. I’ve service all fluids except the diffs. The transmission fluid was gray-ish and milky but no signs of metal or clutch material(I think it had water in it...).

For the life of me I can find the suction screen and have read that fixes a lot of my issues. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[85Hokie]

New here. Just purchased a well used B9200HST 4WD with a Woods backhoe. The tractor has helped me dig 200ft of French drains, pulled dozens of 30ft logs out of the woods but will not go up a hill to save its life. The FLE works fine and lifts heavy loads. The engine fires up every time on the first crank and never shows signs of weakness. When the tractor stops moving uphill, I heard a noticeable whining noise and believe it’s the transmission. I’ve service all fluids except the diffs. The transmission fluid was gray-ish and milky but no signs of metal or clutch material(I think it had water in it...).

For the life of me I can find the suction screen and have read that fixes a lot of my issues. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Dont have a manual off hand....but WHAT range are you in when going up hill?
My BX25D will laugh at going up a good grade in HIGH range, it has all that weight of FEL and BH.....

in LOW range ....still have the problem?

What cha place IN the HST for hydraulic oil?

 

[Redjos80]

Dont have a manual off hand....but WHAT range are you in when going up hill?
My BX25D will laugh at going up a good grade in HIGH range, it has all that weight of FEL and BH.....

in LOW range ....still have the problem?

What cha place IN the HST for hydraulic oil?

All ranges. It won’t even try to move on flat ground in high. Medium, it will move on flat ground but not at all on a hill. Low, it will go up a very slight hill but struggles. It will not go up a hill with any load.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Sounds like the Clutch is going out and not delivering power to the HST.

But you can also check the filter screen.

 

[Redjos80]

Wolfman, thanks for the quick reply and I found the suction screen immediately. I’ve ordered the service manual and hopefully this works. Any suggestions on diagnosing the clutch? I don’t have a problem swapping it out, I just want to be sure before I tear the tractor apart.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Do you have a PTO powered implement?
If you do turn it on and try and climb a grade if the implement stops with the tractor then it's 100% a dead clutch.

 

[Redjos80]

Great news!!! Found the suction screen and no metal or friction material. Bad news is the fluid is white and milky. Yes, I put crap hydraulic fluid in the transmission a couple weeks ago when I serviced it. However, the fluid it the transmission originally was gray and milky. My spider sense is telling me the transmission is probably shot. Any suggestions on where the best place to find a transmission would be? Thanks.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Have you tested the PTO?
And it could be a simple case of a bad suction line that is causing the hydraulic pump to turn the fluid milky, it will froth cheap fluid if any air get sucked in!

 

[Redjos80]

Wolfman,

I have not tested the PTO. I honestly don’t understand the test procedure. My position control lever is locked in the top position due to the previous owner’s installation of the BH(not professionally done..)

I’ll happily take any advice on tracking down “air leaks”. I’ve recently repaired a several leak on the hydraulic line going to the pump but changed the fluid with crap hydraulic fluid from TSC. It’s still milky and I have not put the tractor in the rain or kept it outside.

I called the dealer today and a HST is $3500***129326;. I really don’t want to spend that kind of money on a $7000 tractor. Thanks again.

 

[200mph]

Is it milky like water is in it or foaming with a bunch of air in it? Pour some out in a clear jar. If it clears up over time it is air.

You mentioned you changed the fluid a few weeks ago and it was grey and milky and now with new fluid it is milky again. Did you drain all the fluid from the tractor and changed the filter the first time? Perhaps there was some old fluid left in the sump.

I'd drain the fluid making certain to remove all drain plugs and install new filters. The TSC hydraulic fluid is not your problem. My neighbor has a B9200 that has many hours on it and that is all he uses in it. He's owned it since new.

If it is contaminated from water, you need to find where it is coming from.

The position control is not the PTO engagement. Position control is 3-pt lift mechanism. There is a lever to engage the PTO (Splined shaft in lower rear of tractor).

Wolfman suggested test has the following logic.
1. If going up hill and the Tractor is having difficulty and the PTO implement is running full speed suggests Hydrostatic unit is defective.

2. Up hill, tractor having difficulty and the PTO implement speed slows the clutch is defective (Hydrostatic unit might still be good).

I wouldn't mess with the clutch until you can keep the hydraulic fluid clean (not milky).

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

You do know the Three point control has nothing to to with the PTO (power take off)Shaft turning.

You will need something PTO powered like a mower or tiller, you would turn on the PTO so it spins, run the tractor up a hill if both the tractor speed and the PTO speed decrease then you have a bad clutch disk.

Now if the BH is still on the unit is it PTO powered or is it piped into the tractors hydraulics?
If it's PTO powered then the pump would slow right down when the tractor is trying to move.

One other thing to look into is that if he locked the Three point control up and it's not set up right the hydraulic system will go into relief bypass and that will cause all sorts of problems.

As far a fluid goes look at Mystik JT-5 it's very good fluid for a good price, and it exceeds what the tractor requires.

The suction side leak is noted by a soaked hose or fitting on the suction side of the pump, same pipe as the screen filter.
Did you change the spin on filter for the HST when you did the fluid change?
doesn't really matter as you need another new filter for the new fluid.
If you have any of the TSC fluid left, use it to flush as much of the water contaminated fluid out of the system.

 

[Redjos80]

200mph,

Thanks for the quick reply and help with understanding the PTO diagnosis.

I’ve opened all the drain plugs (two in rear axle and one at the mid PTO) and drained more milky fluid out. About 8oz of pure water cans out of the rear axle plug. This was after draining it two day ago and letting it sit. I’m positive there’s water in the system.

I keep the tractor indoors since I’ve owned it and haven’t pressure washed. I’m hoping a breather is clogged. I don’t have a diagram of the breather locations and hope you might. The service manual is on order and should arrive on Tuesday.

I plan to change the fluid and do the PTO test this afternoon. Thanks.

 

[200mph]

That’s a lot of water in a very short period of time. Hopefully it was just left over from last time.

Hope fresh clean fluid will resolve your issue.

 

[Redjos80]

Gentlemen,

I’ve picked up another 5gal jug of crap fluid to flush my zombie HST with. Yes, my BH is running off the PTO shaft. Yes, my position control lever is jacked up to the sky and I’m fearful that’s the real problem. I don’t understand why it’s locked up. I’ll flush the tranny tonight and hopefully the fluid doesn’t look like a milkshake in the morning. I’ll report back. Any suggestions on how to “properly set up the position control lever” for a PTO driven BH would be graciously accepted. Thanks

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Gentlemen,

I’ve picked up another 5gal jug of crap fluid to flush my zombie HST with. Yes, my BH is running off the PTO shaft. Yes, my position control lever is jacked up to the sky and I’m fearful that’s the real problem. I don’t understand why it’s locked up. I’ll flush the tranny tonight and hopefully the fluid doesn’t look like a milkshake in the morning. I’ll report back. Any suggestions on how to “properly set up the position control lever” for a PTO driven BH would be graciously accepted. Thanks

Is the BH a three point BH or a sub frame model?
Is it a Kubota BH? Model #?

 

[Redjos80]

It’s a woods backhoe and mounted to the subframe. There’s an aftermarket auxiliary PTO driven pump. I’ll post photos of the entire thing tonight. Thanks

 

[SDT]

New here. Just purchased a well used B9200HST 4WD with a Woods backhoe. The tractor has helped me dig 200ft of French drains, pulled dozens of 30ft logs out of the woods but will not go up a hill to save its life. The FLE works fine and lifts heavy loads. The engine fires up every time on the first crank and never shows signs of weakness. When the tractor stops moving uphill, I heard a noticeable whining noise and believe it’s the transmission. I’ve service all fluids except the diffs. The transmission fluid was gray-ish and milky but no signs of metal or clutch material(I think it had water in it...).

For the life of me I can find the suction screen and have read that fixes a lot of my issues. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hydrostatic transmissions are built to very close tolerances and are not tolerant of contaminated or improper oil, clogged filters, screens, etc. Such issues cause wear that is very expensive to repair, often cost prohibitive.

You can try thoroughly flushing/draining the oil, cleaning the strainer(s), changing the filter(s) and refilling with the correct oil. If you are lucky, the symptoms will improve but it may well be too late.

It's not the clutch.

SDT

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

It's not the clutch.

SDT

How can you definitively say that?
As a bad / damaged / slipping clutch will directly effect the HST.
I'm not saying it's not got a damaged or compromised HST unit, but it's much cheaper and easy to eliminate it being the clutch first.

 

[Redjos80]

Update #3:

Completely drained the entire hydraulic system all weekend. Added new fluid and the tractor appears to move a little better. I still can’t climb a hill of any grade in medium or high range. It will move faster on flat ground now.

The PTO driven BH pump does NOT stop when the tractor stops moving. I don’t believe the clutch is solely to blame.

I will check the transmission for milky fluid or water tomorrow evening.

I’m now focusing on finding a used HST or purchasing repair parts. I’m not afraid to get inside the magic box but want to ensure I have a good parts store. I called Coleman and they were suppose to send me HST parts diagram. No luck...

If you guys have any advice on the next step or where to find a good used tranny or a rebuild kit, I’m all ears. Thanks.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

If your going to get into the HST You're going to need to buy the WSM for that tractor.
P/N 97897-10131

https://www.colemanequip.com/search/97897-10131/