L245DT 4wd repair

[thegrouse]

Good evening,

I have been lurking and reading but I have been unable to find any answers to my current tractor problem. My L245DT has lost the 4wd. I pulled the front end apart and found this.

I have located a used bevel case and two used bevel gears. I ordered new bearings, seals and snap rings for the case. The bevel gear does not want to slide off of the main axle coming from the differential. I have pulled the snap ring. The shaft may be a little gummed up from everything coming apart. Is there an easy way to get this off? I was going to see about renting a gear puller at autozone. Also I am not able to get the bottom bearing out of the bevel gear housing. This is the top bearing of the bottom case that is held in place by a snap ring. Is a puller needed? Once I get the new bearings can I tap these in or is a press needed? It is going to take awhile for the parts to get here so I have a week to plan.

I hope this is my only problem. The way it looks is if the right front side was stripped out the other tire will not turn because one side is spinning. Is this correct? I think that my right side being completely broke will take all the power from the front driveshaft and use it to spin the broken side. Can someone let me know if this is how the unit operates. Thanks in advance for all of the help.

 

[Bluegill]

Yes, if you lose one side on the front axle, the other side wont pull. No 4wd.

A puller will work on that gear. Not pressed on, but crudded up. All bearings can be tapped out and lightly tapped back in with a block of wood and hammer. No press needed.

I just went through the front end on our old L3750, larger, but same design.

Oh and I had a L245 2wd years ago. Nice little tractor that we could not kill, but we tried hard.

 

[thegrouse]

Thanks for help. I will rent a gear puller from autozone and jerk that bad boy off. Do I need to use a dial indicator to make sure the shaft is spinning true? I have some shims that came out of the axle and I was going to reuse them and go on down the road. The service manual shows using a dial indicator to line it all up

 

[Bluegill]

Thanks for help. I will rent a gear puller from autozone and jerk that bad boy off. Do I need to use a dial indicator to make sure the shaft is spinning true? I have some shims that came out of the axle and I was going to reuse them and go on down the road. The service manual shows using a dial indicator to line it all up

I didn't use a dial indicator, just replaced parts and put it back together. The tractor has been used pretty hard for 9 months since and no problems. Actually my brother has been logging full time with it.

 

[thegrouse]

Sounds great. I just got a puller and I can yank gear tonight

 

[thegrouse]

I was able to get the old bevel gear off. I am still waiting for the new one. I thought I would try to put the old one back on to get an idea of how hard it would be. When I was beating the gear back on I beat the shaft back into the housing so I cant get the bevel gear on. What can I do get the shaft back out?

 

[birddogger]

OK, you will need to make or have made a puller for this.
A 5/16 thick square of metal, a hole in the center that is a slip-fit over the shaft. Drill and tap two 1/4 inch holes opposite each other centered over the flat on the flange. Put that on the shaft, put that snap ring in place, screw 2 bolts into those holes. Place some thin metal so you don't gall the flange and give each screw a half turn alternately and ease the shaft back out. This is like an inverse gear puller.

After that, take a flat file and dress up those mushed-up ends of those splines; that's why it didn't want to come off, or go back on. That gear should go on without much more than a couple raps with the plastic handle of a screwdriver.

Then hope and pray you didn't booger up something in the differential.

 

[thegrouse]

Ok. I will give it a shot. How will i know if I messed up the differential?

 

[birddogger]

Once this wheel is back on; with the opposite wheel on the ground or chocked, put it 4WD spin this wheel if it spins or goes crunch crunch crunch is not so good.

 

[thegrouse]

I am able to turn the shaft now and the other side spins. It sounds like gears turning not and crunching sound. I am trying to make a puller. I am not sure if I can cut a perfect circle with a torxh

 

[thegrouse]

Ok I got my puller made.
It did not take too much pull to get the shaft to break free and slide out about an inch. No it seems the shaft has about an inch of travel in and out. Once the bevel gear is put in and the snap ring is set it will not be a problem. The problem is going to be keeping the axle in the out position while sliding the bevel gear on. Thoughts? Thanks for the idea on the puller

 

[thegrouse]

Sorry uploaded wrong photo. I meant to show the position in and out

 

[birddogger]

It sounds like gears turning not and crunching sound. I am trying to make a puller. I am not sure if I can cut a perfect circle with a torxh

Sounds promising at this stage, wait til the shaft gets pulled back tho.

That hole really should be drilled, you want it bearing evenly on the snap ring, then hope the snap ring can hold enough to pull the shaft. If it takes a 6-pak of MGD and a visit to a machine shop it may be worth the wait.

 

[thegrouse]

As mentioned above the bevel gear should slide on easy. I spent a little time using the file on the axle splines The only file I had was the one in my gerber multi tool. I cleaned up the shaft and I was able to slide the old gear back on and install the snap ring. Tomorrow I should be getting the new gears and case. The rest of the parts will arrive towards the end of the week. At least now I feel confident it will all go back ok. Thanks for all the help. I will post up as the new parts come in and they get installed

 

[thegrouse]

The side I am repairing now was leaking when I bought the tractor. I changed out the seals and oil collar in February. I should have changed the bearings while I was in there. Lesson learned because even used these parts are expensive. The left side has a small leak now. The shaft feels tight. I am going to clean out the gunk on the other side and see how it looks and go from there.

 

[birddogger]

YAY! Glad that's taken care of.

Now remember, big hammers are for dents in fenders and driving tent-pegs.

 

[thegrouse]

Old habits are tough to break

 

[thegrouse]

Well I got my parts in tonight and began getting it all back together. I was putting on the bottom piece of the outside bevel gear. I was tightening it up evenly when it decided to snap a wing off.
This caused a time out in the repair. I put some jb weld on it tonight and I hope it holds. I will reassemble tomorrow time permitting

 

[Bluegill]

Bummer.

Need to be very careful with cast iron pieces and get things good and seated before tightening. I don't think JB will help here, but will likely be alright without that ear.

 

[thegrouse]

Well I got it finished. The jb weld did not hold up after a few smacks with the mallet.
I put the cracked piece on anyway and used the jb weld to seal the crack.
Here is a photo of the old and new bearing. This is the top one on the shaft
It is hard to say which bearing failed first. I cleaned all sorts of broken pieces out of the bevel gear. I changed the oil collar and seal on the other side as well. You can see it is well worn
Here is a pic of the old bevel gear and the new one I put on
Thanks for the help with the project. I hope the photos help someone down the road.