DK40- wont shift into low or high range?

[kantuckid]

I've owned this 4x4 DK40 for ~ 10 years and it's sitting in a pasture with this shift problem! Has ~500 easy hrs.
Tractor does everything! properly except that after taking it out of low range I now cannot move the low/high range shift lever into either location. The lever has always moved very hard but did move as needed, until now. It has also never seemed very "positive" when moved but once in full position, all was good.
Nothing is showing externally as bent, fluids are up, etc..
I tried it with all the other controls in all possible positions. Search got me zilch.
It's Saturday as I post this, so no dealers to call and I'm open to ideas???
Thanks for your :2cents:

 

[kantuckid]

I've owned this 4x4 DK40 for ~ 10 years and it's sitting in a pasture with this shift problem! Has ~500 easy hrs.
Tractor does everything! properly except that after taking it out of low range I now cannot move the low/high range shift lever into either location. The lever has always moved very hard but did move as needed, until now. It has also never seemed very "positive" when moved but once in full position, all was good.
Nothing is showing externally as bent, fluids are up, etc..
I tried it with all the other controls in all possible positions. Search got me zilch.
It's Saturday as I post this, so no dealers to call and I'm open to ideas???
Thanks for your :2cents:

I'll answer my own thread. Your most welcome!
Got some chores done and decided I couldn't sleep on the immobile tractor! Took the Mule down to it along with a partial can of some kind of fancy PTFE lube spray and some PB Blaster. After hours of bush hogging the result of this summers rains upon rains, the underside was looking like when the thing was new. I sprayed LOTS of the stuff all over the also balky 4X4 linkage and everything attached to the range selector lever.
I crawled up from chigger city (they must like those record rains as we have them bad-I had 54 on one ankle alone after labor day)
and tried to move the lever-WOW!
That's all the problem was-an external lube job for something that's bothered me for years.
Maybe I just helped the next person with a potential issue? :thumbsup:

 

[VictorW]

Sorrry, wasn't on yesterday. On my CK30hst, bought new, the range shifting became stiff after the first Winter's snow plowing. Checked and lubed the linkage as you did with no results. Soon learned it is where the shaft goes through the case that gets bound up. Used PB Blaster to loosen it up and then white lithium after. Now it's white lithium every Spring and Fall on that shaft, HST shaft, brake shafts, and any other linkage or shaft. There were posts about this but several years ago. To bad the search function didn't find them. I'm sure your current post will help somebody.

 

[kantuckid]

Sorrry, wasn't on yesterday. On my CK30hst, bought new, the range shifting became stiff after the first Winter's snow plowing. Checked and lubed the linkage as you did with no results. Soon learned it is where the shaft goes through the case that gets bound up. Used PB Blaster to loosen it up and then white lithium after. Now it's white lithium every Spring and Fall on that shaft, HST shaft, brake shafts, and any other linkage or shaft. There were posts about this but several years ago. To bad the search function didn't find them. I'm sure your current post will help somebody.

I'll throw in that I am a former pro wrencher too. My range lever has always had a stiff feel that made me think it was supposed to be normal. It's stored inside, has a bit over 500hrs, never used commercially. When you look at the linkage it's doesn't look like that would be an issue, lubed or not, as it's loosey goosey. I thus fully agree that the shaft entry into the case must be the culprit, as you state. I seriously doused that area with spray lube and penetrating oil, WOWEE! Now I get to work some more....:licking: @ 72, I guess that's a good thing?

 

[K man]

Nice to know cause my CK30 sometimes kind of hard to change ranges but is getting easier. I only have 50 hours on mine so figured it was not broke in yet. So will get underneath and spray some kind of lube on it .

 

[kantuckid]

Nice to know cause my CK30 sometimes kind of hard to change ranges but is getting easier. I only have 50 hours on mine so figured it was not broke in yet. So will get underneath and spray some kind of lube on it .

After my last post I worked the tractor a few more hours. The range lever seems to have a noticeable "home" when placed in low range, yet when moved to high range it seems "vague", in the sense that you wonder if it did go in, or not?. I had to try a gear to know it had gone into high. It does move with ease now in both directions, just far more obvious into low.

My rants for the day: Fuse block location! I've epoxied my fuse block cover so many times it's gonna be non-fixable and a goner soon! Why did they place it right where your left toe is so likely to hit?:thumbdown:
Of course the hydraulic remote lever location sucks equally! My right thigh hates the constant beating.:thumbdown:

My helpful comment for the day: I replaced my seat with an ebay Kubota seat with very little modification-orange is a bit brighter but otherwise a real money saver for a decent seat.:thumbsup:

 

[k0ua]

My DK35se range lever was a little stiff when new, but now it is very easy to operate.

 

[northcreek2624]

I may have posted this on here before. I had a similar problem with my DK40(2002). The problem is that the lever is long and after time flexes rather than shifts. I removed mine and welded a reinforcement to it to make it more rigid, that was about 10 years ago and it has never failed to work since....Mike.

 

[kantuckid]

I may have posted this on here before. I had a similar problem with my DK40(2002). The problem is that the lever is long and after time flexes rather than shifts. I removed mine and welded a reinforcement to it to make it more rigid, that was about 10 years ago and it has never failed to work since....Mike.

Just maybe a stiffer lever might overcome a need for a lube job initially and then cause a bigger problem over time? Or it might keep it moving and negate the lube? The externals are always pretty loose and free to move but whats inside can be damaged by Fred Flintstone levering? I sense what your saying as it does flex but it also provides a huge amount of force as it comes and I like the spray it down with goop solution better for now. maybe my lazyboy fix approach-Ha!

 

[northcreek2624]

Just maybe a stiffer lever might overcome a need for a lube job initially and then cause a bigger problem over time? Or it might keep it moving and negate the lube? The externals are always pretty loose and free to move but whats inside can be damaged by Fred Flintstone levering? I sense what your saying as it does flex but it also provides a huge amount of force as it comes and I like the spray it down with goop solution better for now. maybe my lazyboy fix approach-Ha!

You can spray lube it with a crop duster and it won't help. It's a design flaw, I also have the creeper gear option and that lever(similar) was reinforced at the factory. Lubrication should always be the first consideration but, I'm not a big fan of "spray can mechanics"....Mike.

 

[kantuckid]

Reinforced at the factory" vs. "I removed it and welded a reinforcement to it" is a bit confusing? I get design flaw or lube no fixy but lets be clear what happened with your lever? Mine got a dose of lube (no it wasn't a crop duster", just a rattle can, ha ha) and immediately was able to shift smoothly. I'm not a gotcha type of guy but these recent posts leave others who might have this issue questioning what is the situation. My dead in the field tractor easily moved after the lube spray. It had been between ranges thus NO MOVE MODE!
The only other variable would be that a cool down occurred between no shifty and shifty, thus resulting in "now shifts with ease" which is unexplained in my further use of the tractor after the lube job with no seizing?
To jump in with a critique of spray can mechanics is not adding to the discussion. Making a strong steel lever stiffer is not a mechanical fix either as that lever is strong enough for the job given it's size and length. Typically a lever that isn't supposed to flex will be made from a forged piece. This one being so long, I can see the Koreans avoiding the expense of that long a forging. Just maybe there's someone that's had it apart that can say what makes the internals resist movement? The lever is ~3/16" thick and ~1" wide as I recall. A piece of steel that long and cross-section does not flex with hand grabbing in the direction this one moves! Side to side at the handle-yes.
When I said it flexed, I meant in the direction that doesn't really matter.

 

[northcreek2624]

You are really over thinking this thing. I gave my experience and my fix, with a ten year track record for the fix. I didn't mean it to be taken as a "blanket fix" for all tractor repairs. There are recalls all the time because "engineers screw up too".
I have made quite a few improvements to this and other tractors because like most things today, they are built to a "price" and not to a "standard"....I hold up the wimpy range lever as an example....Mike.

 

[kantuckid]

OK, I give. And yes I worked with engineers in industry and know full well that they are human, even our three sons, all engineers who work for a living. As a retired auto tech teacher I do know about recalls too but thanks for the enlightenment efforts?
I stand by my point that this specific lever doesn't flex in the direction it moves the range selector. Side ways wiggle but not that my 220# old fart former college football player arm could move it until I lubed it... "other Mike" :laughing:

 

[northcreek2624]

I stand by my point that this specific lever doesn't flex in the direction it moves the range selector. Side ways wiggle but not that my 220# old fart former college football player arm could move it until I lubed it... "other Mike" :laughing:

Well as one old fart to another I can see your point, as the lube did work. My lever did flex in the operating direction, emphasis on "did". As a retired Electrical performance Supervisor in a fossil power plant we tended to over build things for maximum reliability so it is kind of in my DNA....and I'm too old to change now...just ask my wife....Mike.

 

[kantuckid]

She'd have a hoot talking to mine-that's a fact!
In the FWIW, small world category, one son's a Southern Power engineer and was assigned to that power plant they operate that blew up a couple yrs back- as one of the people sent there to "clean things up"! He said the former plant mgr had been a good ole boy and plant was poorly managed for a long time.

 

[northcreek2624]

No doubt that was a coal fired plant. We never had one of those coal dust explosions but, it was always a concern. If I was just starting out I don't think I would work in one those , then too they are shutting those down every day. My old plant is now mothballed along with it,s sister plant down the Lake.
Maybe a career in tractor lever designing..............

 

[swnoel]

That shifter has always sucked... from the day I owned my tractor to yesterday( 2003)! I'll give the linkage going into the casing a good dose and keep my fingers crossed! I too was amazed at the design of the linkage system... kinda looked like the mouse trap game I played as a kid...

 

[DK35vince]

That shifter has always sucked... from the day I owned my tractor to yesterday( 2003)! I'll give the linkage going into the casing a good dose and keep my fingers crossed! I too was amazed at the design of the linkage system... kinda looked like the mouse trap game I played as a kid...

I have a 2001 DK 35 just like yours and the high low range has always shifted fine.
I have hit the linkage and shaft with lube a few times just to keep it that way.

 

[northcreek2624]

I have a 2001 DK 35 just like yours and the high low range has always shifted fine.
I have hit the linkage and shaft with lube a few times just to keep it that way.

Yeah, I don't know if the 35 and 40 linkages are identical but, even when new(2002) that lever felt like a broom stick handle in a bucket of oat meal. After reinforcing it the shifting became very positive feeling. In the old days that lever would have been cast. If you look at the length of that thing, it's a lot to ask of basic flat stock.

 

[DK35vince]

Yeah, I don't know if the 35 and 40 linkages are identical but, even when new(2002) that lever felt like a broom stick handle in a bucket of oat meal. After reinforcing it the shifting became very positive feeling. In the old days that lever would have been cast. If you look at the length of that thing, it's a lot to ask of basic flat stock.

I think the 35 and 40 have the same lever.
My 35 always shifted high/low range pretty good.
If it starts shifting hard enough to bent the lever something is wrong IMO. And I would start lubing the linkage and shaft.