L175 PTO Failure and Fix

I thought I would start this thread to cover my L175 PTO failure and subsequent fix. The tear down is going well. I have pulled the steering wheel, dash board, the fuel tank. I was a motorcycle mechanic back in my college days and the old adage was "if you have to ride the bike the tank will be dry and if you have to pull the tank it will be full." My Kubota tank was full. Lifting it over the steering shaft was a real chore.





I was able to pull the shift fork plate by driving a very sharp putty knife between the gasket edge. I remembered the warning posted here and didn't beat on it with a hammer.



After getting the shifter and the shift fork plate out of the way I was able to see clearly. What didn't make a lot of sense in the book makes perfect sense when looking right at it. The first and fifth gear on the input shaft also drives the PTO and the teeth are stripped off it. Plus there are three or four teeth in first gear that are messed up as well.



I have been using the tractor for over 14 years. First and Fifth have always whined but it seems that the sound has gotten louder over the last year. It's hard to tell because it really is a noisy tractor.

Yep, It's all learning for me too. I took diesel technology for two years in high school. I have split a tractor but that was 42 years ago. I am going slow. I did buy a POS hydrolic crane/engine hoist from a buddy that will make things a lot easier and safer.

I have been trying to get as many pictures as I can but I have to peal off my greasy rubber gloves to get my phone out and snap a few shots. It's kind of tough and I forget. I will make sure I have plenty of picture of the transmission coming apart and going back together.

I am making progress but it is slow. I am taking my time, making notes on bags for bolts and stacking parts in an orderly fashion. It's funny but you don't expect problems from the small things. I had a hard time getting the r-clip out of the clutch pin. I finally had to break it off, file the edges to get it out and then drill the old clip out. It's kind of time consuming. I expected to have trouble with the rusted bolts on the exhaust but I have been soaking them in penetrating oil and a hit with the rattle gun and they came right off.

Note: I have been using my small and large impact drivers on this project. I am a motorcycle mechanic and I use them rarely and sparingly but with all these heavy bolts it has been a real blessing.

North Idaho Wolfman said:

Why are you taking off the exhaust?
You shouldn't have to touch anything on the motor to split it.

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I have a low exhaust and the book says to pull it. It was easy once I got the manifold nuts off. It is nice having it out of the way. I didn't really have to pull the feed and return hydraulic lines but It makes getting to the transmission so much easier and nicer.

I had planned to split the tractor today and that is just what I did. Once I got the peddles and the floor boards off, I tackled the hydraulic feed and return pipes. I don't know about the necessity of pulling these but it sure made for a cleaner work area around the transmission.



The crane/hoist came in really handy once I topped off the hydraulic jack oil. I was able to hoist the engine with the provided lifting eyes. I lifted it just enough to take the strain and later, when the tractor was split I lowered the section onto a jack stand.





Pulling the transmission housing from the rear end was another matter. It was glued on with a factory gasket and it was very stubborn. I moved the hoist to support the transmission.





I broke a good putty knife driving it between the halves. It's funny but the transmission itself is not very heavy. I was able to lift it without a problem.


It's out!

Where do my pictures keep going? I uploaded then to the gallery. I even tried optimizing them for the web and replacing my old ones and now the new ones are gone. Am I wasting my time?

You can see thumbnail images here:

http://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/album.php?albumid=576

The transmission is stripped and I am going to take it up to the car wash for a hot bath. The inside is mopped up and as oil free as I can get it but the rough texture of the casting make a pressure wash necessary to get all the slag out. There are lots of pieces of teeth in the bottom.



This is the hardest working gear in the whole tractor. This tiny gear has gone round millions of times both driving 5th gear (the gear I like to mow in) and the shredder. You can see in the picture that the teeth failed once and then what was left couldn't take the strain and ripped out.

I'll keep posting pictures even though I can't see them. Strange.

I got these pictures to make it clearer just how many parts are in the front gear box. . .



. . .and how they work together.

I have my parts on order and I would like to post an observation. The book says that the input shaft can be withdrawn without removing the top output shaft. I found this not to be the case. I had to withdraw the output shaft allowing me to remove both gear clusters. Only after these gear clusters were out of the way could the main shaft be removed.

I have my parts and I have begun the process of careful assembly.

The first problem came in the form of the PTO shift fork detent ball. Inside the shifting fork, that slides the PTO gear back for low speed and forward for high speed engagement is a spring loaded ball. The ball rides in cutouts on the shaft to keep the gear firmly engaged. The shaft has to be inserted in the case, then the fork has to be installed and the spring loaded ball has to be pushed in with something while being slid onto the shaft. This is not easy and in the confines of the transmission case is next to impossable.

My solution was to put the shift fork in my vice, depress the ball with a screwdriver and insert an 8mm deep socket into the off side of the shift fork (sorry, no pictures since I didn't know if it would work at the time.) I inserted the shift rod from the front of the trans mission and secured it, with just a few inches showing, using the locking bolt in the case. This allowed me to push the shift fork on the shaft without pushing the shaft back out of the transmission case.

I inserted the PTO drive gear into the shift fork and pushed the fork onto the shaft. The ball was held back by the socket long enough to be pushed into place and the socket was pushed out by the shaft. Easy!

I installed the PRO shaft but ended up pushing the front bearing out. That was OK. I turned the transmission up with the front facing up. I backed the PTO shaft with a block of wood, to keep from knocking it back out, and installed the front bearing with a deep socket. I then installed the snap ring and so that shaft was done.

I ran into a snag. I don't know what I was thinking when I looked at the reverse gear. At the time it looked worn but serviceable but on further inspection I determined that it was one shift away from ripping the rest of the teeth out of it. I found a replacement on eBay for $100 and I figure that was cheap insurance. I ordered it and I will wait. I really want to get this project done but i really don't want to go it again in a month.

Albert said:

Thanks for the post.
Very interesting, I have been thinking about pulling my L2000DT apart because of whining getting worse in 2nd gear.
You have given me more confidence to bite the bullet and do it.
How were all your bearings? my plan was to inspect and change bearings.

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All the bearings had seen better days. They were pretty gritty. They were pretty cheap to replace so I would change them all. To be honest, the gear whine that preceded the stripped gear went on for over 10 years but it did get more pronounced over this last summer. it's pretty bad when I notice the increase in volume since my hearing is pretty much shot.

You could probably pull the top off the transmission and look at the gears. You should be able to see the wear if any.

I do know one thing, I will be extremity careful in the future when shifting gears or going from forward to revers, to make sure the gears are not moving. That little clunk can tear things up.

100 td said:

Looking at the teeth/damage, it's possible that at some point in it's life it wasn't engaged properly/fully and may have strained/flexed the teeth enough to make it catch again and again on different occasions and not have full depth teeth contact.

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You are probably right and this is a cautionary tail for all tractor users to make positive shifts and to not try it while the gears are spinning.

Most motorcycles (late model Japanese) split horizontally. The transmission and the crank lays in the case and it is easy to see, work on and set up. I mostly do motorcycles.