[AT] WC transmission, dodged a bullet

[Indiana Robinson]

On Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 8:03 AM,  <william.neff.powell at comcast.net> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Just posted this on allischalmers.com so delete it if you have already read it on that site...
>
> Just thought I would re-post the content here.
>
> Started my 39 WC to pull my trailer around last week. I usually drive it every two to three months, sometimes more, sometimes less. Pretty cold this year in Southeast Pennsylvania. Saturday I had trouble getting it in reverse, drove it around a while and eventually it engaged... Finished my work and parked it in first.
>
> Yesterday it was colder, got on the WC to move the trailer again and I could not pull the lever out of first. Tried moving forward, load on engine, no movement. Pulled the lever near the seat that disconnects the rear and tried letting the clutch out, load on engine, not movement. Also PTO Shaft would not turn by hand. At that point I knew there was water in the transmission.
>
> Ran the tractor for about an hour with a cover on the radiator, got things warmed up but not in the transmission, still no movement. Got a small propane torch put it on low and had it torch the bottom drain plug for about and hour. PTO shaft would turn, shifter came out of first. Moved the tractor and drove it around a little bit and then took out the drain plug... Whoosh, about 1 gallon of water came flowing out. After the rush of water brown thick oil that looked like taffy slowly flowed out. After two hours the oil was still working its way out.
>
> I have heard about WC's busting the PTO gear box, and now I can see why. I don't think the water got in there through condensation, thought that can happen. The WC sits outside and is mostly tarped. Two years ago I did pull the PTO plug and it had beautiful gear lube, no water. I have recently replaced the rubber shifting boot and most of the water probably came in with the old one. But, I can see that water could run down the shift lever and trickle down through the reverse mechanism....
>
> If the temperature had gotten a little lower I believe something would have cracked. So, if you live in a cold environment and your WC stays outside, you may want to pull the plug and see what comes out...
>
> Regards, Will Powell
> Pottstown, PA
> _______________________________________________
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We had some extensive discussions about this on all tractors many
years ago. It is a shame that the housings were not built with a
simple bleed off valve at the low point where you could bleed off the
water on a regular basis after the tractor had been sitting for a
while. Unfortunately most drain plugs are located where any valve
installed there would be at risk of being broken off. In most cases I
don't believe that the lube that has gotten a little milky will do any
really serious harm to the tractor (or 60% of them would have fallen
apart by now) but that ice can wreak havoc.
I don't know if we currently have any chemical specialist on the
list... but I have wondered at times if a dab of some sort of product,
even maybe common antifreeze, might be able to avoid ice forming and
prevent rust without chemically destroying the lube???
I occasionally pull the drain plug on one for a few seconds to drain
out the water after one has sat long enough to separate. The trouble
is that simple plug can suddenly become the hardest thing on the
planet to operate and sometimes absolutely refuses to thread back in
to stop the lube from coming out. Its one of those jinx things like
saying out loud that something is running great.   :-)



-- 
--
"farmer"

"Good clean muck never hurt nobody!!!"
Morris Moulterd


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Francis Robinson
Central Indiana USA
robinson46176 at gmail.com