L2850 lost forward/reverse

[Vagabond]

Accidentally had the parking brake on when I released the clutch, heard a very quiet noise and a bump and now I don't have any forward/reverse. Everything else seems fine, there's no rattles or grinding.

I'm assuming the clutch just got a haircut, and it was pretty worn down to begin with. I also noticed, when messing with it, that the PTO doesn't stop when the clutch is pushed all the way down (but the PTO will still engage and spin).

What are my next steps here? Clutch linkage adjustment? Clutch adjustment screw? Split the tractor and swap in a new clutch?

I did have something similar happen once before, it was like it was stuck out of gear, but some playing with the gear levers made it work again. I was able to get *some* motion by playing with the gear levers, but it was very slow and smelled like burning clutch.

Tractor is a 1987 L2850, gear drive, with a LA650 loader on it.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Have you worked the high / low in and out?

Your going to have to find out if it has a dual clutch or a single clutch, big difference between the two and that model was equipped with either.

Put the PTO in gear and with the tractor off go to the PTO and turn the shaft, first counter clock wise it shouldn't turn, turn clockwise, if it turns and clanks you have an overrunning clutch and you have a single disk clutch, if it doesn't turn you have a dual clutch.

If you split it to do a clutch, replace the pilot bushing/ bearing, Throw-out bearing, Pressure plate and clutch disks.
Do NOT turn the flywheel no mater what it looks like, use a piece of 100 grit sandpaper and scuff up the surface and run it.

If it's a dual clutch DO NOT adjust anything on it, they are set properly when they are rebuilt.
just install it and run it.

 

[Vagabond]

I just checked, looks like it's the dual clutch (PTO won't move when engaged in either direction).

I also checked the clutch pedal, the free play looks reasonable (maybe a bit too long).

Is the clutch adjustment procedure (where you adjust the 3 bolts on the clutch through the hole behind the loader mount) worth trying? Will that pull the 2 clutches closer together? Or should I plan for just splitting it?

 

[Vagabond]

I have definitely moved all the gear levers around, high/low, forward/reverse and changed between the gears themselves, nothing seems to get it to send any power to the wheels.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I just checked, looks like it's the dual clutch (PTO won't move when engaged in either direction).

I also checked the clutch pedal, the free play looks reasonable (maybe a bit too long).

Is the clutch adjustment procedure (where you adjust the 3 bolts on the clutch through the hole behind the loader mount) worth trying? Will that pull the 2 clutches closer together? Or should I plan for just splitting it?

You can follow the WSM on adjusting the clutch, but experience says your probably grasping at the short straw.
My experience is when they go there is no squeaking out more real useable time out of them.
Do a replacement and you'll be good for many a year.
At least you now know why they traded it in!

 

[Vagabond]

Is there a good place to get the parts? Looks like the kubota website lists everything as unavailable, messicks has everything, including the complete pressure plate assembly: https://www.messicks.com/catalogs/kubota/l2850dt/clutch/t04601-clutch-dc but I can also find kits like this: https://shop.agparts.plus/products/l2850-series-kubota-tractor-9-dual-stage-clutch-kit-assembly

Also, I'm assuming the clutch alignment tool is unobtainable, and I need some way to get both plates to align concentrically when assembling?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Is there a good place to get the parts? Looks like the kubota website lists everything as unavailable, messicks has everything, including the complete pressure plate assembly: https://www.messicks.com/catalogs/kubota/l2850dt/clutch/t04601-clutch-dc but I can also find kits like this: https://shop.agparts.plus/products/l2850-series-kubota-tractor-9-dual-stage-clutch-kit-assembly

Also, I'm assuming the clutch alignment tool is unobtainable, and I need some way to get both plates to align concentrically when assembling?

You don't want to get the clutch from Kubota, unless you really like spending way to much.
The second link is good:

The alinement tool for a dual clutch is about impossible to find, you can do it with a dowel.

I would suggest you get it split before you order the clutch just to make sure It does have a dual clutch.
I would hate for you to order it and I was wrong on it having a dual clutch.

 

[Vagabond]

Yeah, although I'd be kind of annoyed to have to split it and then wait 4-7 days for the parts to arrive. If I pull the inspection plate to see the adjustment bolts, I know I have the dual clutch, right?

Also, is there anything else worth doing while I'm in there? The rear main seal or anything like that? I would like to avoid having to do this a second time anytime soon.

 

[Vagabond]

UPDATE! I got it to move again!

There's a lever on the side of the transmission that doesn't seem to appear in the owner's manual, and the label is pretty much unreadable:

I moved the lever into the "rabbit" position and the tractor seems to move again. In the Snail position I get little or no movement (although if the tractor is rolling when you put the lever into the snail position, it stops rolling).

Anyone have any idea what this lever is supposed to do? It doesn't appear in this diagram:

I've also noticed my PTO controls are vertical, as opposed to the horizontal controls shown in the manual?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

You have a L9499 Option (creeper / crawler gear)

And your PTO lever direction is right for that model.
It changes from side to side and top to bottom depending on the sub model and options.

 

[Vagabond]

Ah, so the creeper is broken, or not properly engaging (it doesn't seem to drop into gear like the non-creeper position does). I don't particularly need it, so I'll just make sure to keep it in the rearmost position.

Is there any documentation on the creeper (or why it might not be working)?

 

[Vagabond]

Some percussive maintenance seems to have made it work. I can now go into the creeper gear (although maybe only in forward?)

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Ah, so the creeper is broken, or not properly engaging (it doesn't seem to drop into gear like the non-creeper position does). I don't particularly need it, so I'll just make sure to keep it in the rearmost position.

Is there any documentation on the creeper (or why it might not be working)?

There is not a lot of info on it, it's a simple set of gears.
You could pull the top cover to inspect the gear set.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

Ah, so the creeper is broken, or not properly engaging (it doesn't seem to drop into gear like the non-creeper position does). I don't particularly need it, so I'll just make sure to keep it in the rearmost position.

Is there any documentation on the creeper (or why it might not be working)?

Just a warning, most creepers are just to slow down the travel speed, for tilling, for example, not to increase pulling force. I think most have a warning in the manual.

 

[Vagabond]

Yeah, it seems fairly useless for my use cases, just wanted to understand it. I can see why it clearly had not been used in a long time.

Looks like I dodged the clutch replacement bullet (for now), although I probably should try to adjust the PTO clutch so it actually disengages.