Broken L245DT

[brunswick000]

Well I just got my Kubota L245DT yesterday. I checked it over pretty thoroughly before paying for it and hauling it home. Visibly its in very good condition. No play in the steering, air filter was in pretty good shape, hoses are good, no dirt on the rad fan/shroud etc etc. it started right up after being plugged in for about 20 min (-15 celsius). Drove it around a bit, played with the rear blade, and then put it on the trailer.

Got it home, put it in reverse, pushed a snowbank back and it wouldnt come out of reverse?? Now when I put it in reverse it felt like the shifter lever kind of clicked, and moved to the right a bit. Im not entirely certain, but a buddy of a buddy who is a diesel mechanic, and has fixed a few tractors in his day says it is probably a "roll pin", or one of the "forks" on the "shift lever" has sheared off. What do others here think. Just fluke that it broke like two minutes after I got it home.

Irregardless its snowing today....again, and I still dont have a tractor.....and I have a lot less money :-(

 

[rankrank1]

With it being so cold where you are it could be something as simple as having some water in the tranny fluid and it froze the reverse gear to the shaft. Trailering in the cold would have even increased the chance of that moisture would have froze inside the tranny. (I doubt it is this, but if you have a warm shop/garge to let it sit it and warm up then it would not cost you much to explore this. If no shop then a tarp and a salamander/torpedo type heater can be made to work too in a pinch).

The likliest possiblity is that there is a problem where the shifting lever engages with the shifting forks inside the tranny. The problem can be as simple as a sheared roll pin on the end of the shifter lever that holds a ball on, the ball itself can be worn causing it to come out of its proper recepticle in the shifting fork, or the shifting fork recepticle can be excessively worn too causing even a new ball to be come out. If all 3 of these areas are within spec, then it is also possible for the pivoting hinge area of the shifting lever to be excessively worn and causing a problem - excessive up and down play in the shifting lever is the easiest to determine here but there can be other issues too. The good news is that it is relatively simple to pull that top cover as it is only held on with a few bolts and and should be relatively evident what the problem is. All of these problems, except maybe a worn shifting fork recepticle are rather easy to fix. A worn shifting fork recepticle may require a tractor split to replace, but not sure on your model. If splitting is required to replace the worn fork recepticle, then I might even consider building up the worn area of the recepticle with tig weld or braze, and then grinding with a hand held die grinder to return the area to normal size, but I would very carefully pack the area around the fork so that so that no weld spatter or grinding chips can fall inside the tranny. Epoxy like JB Weld might even work in a pinch but I would be afraid of it eventually coming off and falling into a spot that could break something when everything is spinning inside the tranny so I would use epoxy only as the very last desperate resort.

While I would recommend fixing whatever the problem is - assuming they are easy to fix - I have seen instances where it is also possible to simply slide the shifter fork back into neutral with a screwdriver and re-assemble everything and it can work for years with slow deliberate shifting patterns. Lastly, the L245's are considered good simple older tractors so the problem is worth fixing.

 

[brain55]

It is likely that the shifter and the shifter rails are worn out. Not that big of a deal and not uncommon for that age of machine. Pop the shift cover off, realign the rails and reinstall the cover. Be careful using it for now, if you over shift it will pop out again. At least you can use it until you replace the necessary parts.

Brian

 

[brunswick000]

Ok. Under normal circumstances id be willing to tackle this myself. Even never seeing the inside of a tractor cab before, im a stubborn do-it-youselfer. Unfortunately my wife and I work opposite shifts and ive vot my 1 1/2 year old son full time on my days off. That, and the fact that im on my last day off means id have to wait until next week. The guy I was introduced too is a good friend of my buddies. So im confident he'll treat me right, and also fix it a lot quicker then I would be able too. Good to know this stuff either way. Ill take some pics of the tractor when I get it back as there are some "interesting" plumbing features the prvious owner made. Thanks again to everyone who helped.

 

[fbson395]

Have the same tractor and when i bought it and got it home I had the same thing happen. The problem was the shifter forks were worn and did not allow the alignment of the 3 shafts and each has a ball bearing on the end . All 3 have to be centered or it will lock up. To repair, I removed the two top plates (the shifter and the one below it holds the 3 shifter forks. Remove them and be careful of the ball bearings falling out. Look for wear on top of them where the gear shift rod aligns them. They wear a grove in them. I silver soldered them and filed them down to match. It's a little tricky to get the 3 forks back in , just take your time and hope this helps you. You can see the wear by just removing the the top plate that holds the shifter look for wear in the 1/2" slots. If you need any further information let me know. Good Luck

 

[brunswick000]

Have the same tractor and when i bought it and got it home I had the same thing happen. The problem was the shifter forks were worn and did not allow the alignment of the 3 shafts and each has a ball bearing on the end . All 3 have to be centered or it will lock up. To repair, I removed the two top plates (the shifter and the one below it holds the 3 shifter forks. Remove them and be careful of the ball bearings falling out. Look for wear on top of them where the gear shift rod aligns them. They wear a grove in them. I silver soldered them and filed them down to match. It's a little tricky to get the 3 forks back in , just take your time and hope this helps you. You can see the wear by just removing the the top plate that holds the shifter look for wear in the 1/2" slots. If you need any further information let me know. Good Luck

Ok good to know. I appreciate all the help. Should hear today. At least I have enough knowledge to make sense of what I was initially told. Lots of good advice and info on this site. Can wait too tear into this little tractor myself.