Farmall Cub

North Georgia · Jan 25, 2009

Recently bought 2 restoreable Cubs and am having a problem getting one of them out of gear. Shifter appears to be disengaged but doesn't free up wheels. Anyone have a suggestion as to how to get it out of gear?

Mighty Dodge · Jan 25, 2009

I see you're in GA but has it gotten cold enough to freeze? If so maybe there's water in the trans that's frozen. If that's not it could be bad/broken shifter fork. You should be able to shift the gears if you remove the shifter mech. I have a cub but have never had to get into the trans.
Here's a link to manuals you can download. Rudi's Farmall Cubs

M.D.

MikeD74T · Jan 25, 2009

North Georgia said:
Recently bought 2 restoreable Cubs and am having a problem getting one of them out of gear. Shifter appears to be disengaged but doesn't free up wheels. Anyone have a suggestion as to how to get it out of gear?

Are you saying the shifter appears to be in neutral? Had an A that would shift into 2 gears & lock everything up. Was from wear on the shifter & forks. Pull the transmission cover & move the forks by hand. A misalignment of the shifting gates is pretty obvious. You may have to rock the wheels a bit if something's under tension. MikeD74T

zionview · Jan 25, 2009

I'm thinking the same way as Mike D74T- you might be stuck in two gears. We had that happen to a 2-105 White years ago. It took opening the tranny, rocking the tractor, and the assistance of an independent mechanic to free it up. In our case, the hydraulic three speed power shifter was to blame(had to downshift to "underdrive" after that to shift the main tranny, as it was putting pressure on the hydraulic clutch). In your case, the tractor may have been shifted with the clutch partially engaged.

flusher · Jan 25, 2009

MikeD74T said:
Are you saying the shifter appears to be in neutral? Had an A that would shift into 2 gears & lock everything up. Was from wear on the shifter & forks. Pull the transmission cover & move the forks by hand. A misalignment of the shifting gates is pretty obvious. You may have to rock the wheels a bit if something's under tension. MikeD74T

Interesting. My Farmall Super A won't shift into 1st gear. Looks like I'll be pulling the tranny cover soon and troubleshooting that problem.

KennyV · Jan 25, 2009

That痴 a common problem with Farmal and a lot of other H pattern older shifters.
The fix is take the 4 bolts off that hold the shifter down to the gear box. Lift the shifter up with the plate, look into the top and you will see haw the sliders push the gearing your forks are worn a little and one side R-1 0r the other 2-3 has failed to move to the center neutral position. With your hand place both sliders into the center neutral position, replace the cover with the shifter in the neutral position and it should work fine until someone once again tries a speed shift, usually between R and 2, If it continues to happen you can either replace the shifter forks OR just build up the dimples at the fork tips with a little brazing rod. KennyV
Fcubs are a fun little tractor, I have one..

flusher · Jan 25, 2009

KennyV said:
That痴 a common problem with Farmal and a lot of other H pattern older shifters.
The fix is take the 4 bolts off that hold the shifter down to the gear box. Lift the shifter up with the plate, look into the top and you will see haw the sliders push the gearing your forks are worn a little and one side R-1 0r the other 2-3 has failed to move to the center neutral position. With your hand place both sliders into the center neutral position, replace the cover with the shifter in the neutral position and it should work fine until someone once again tries a speed shift, usually between R and 2, If it continues to happen you can either replace the shifter forks OR just build up the dimples at the fork tips with a little brazing rod. KennyV
Fcubs are a fun little tractor, I have one..

Thanks for the info. I'll try that as soon as I clear a space in the shop. One bay has the 1964 MF-135 diesel that's getting a replacement pto shaft seal. The other bay is cluttered with stuff for a welding project.

GeneD14 · Jan 27, 2009

KennyV said:
That痴 a common problem with Farmal and a lot of other H pattern older shifters.
The fix is take the 4 bolts off that hold the shifter down to the gear box. Lift the shifter up with the plate, look into the top and you will see haw the sliders push the gearing your forks are worn a little and one side R-1 0r the other 2-3 has failed to move to the center neutral position. With your hand place both sliders into the center neutral position, replace the cover with the shifter in the neutral position and it should work fine until someone once again tries a speed shift, usually between R and 2, If it continues to happen you can either replace the shifter forks OR just build up the dimples at the fork tips with a little brazing rod. KennyV
Fcubs are a fun little tractor, I have one..

Great advice. I had the exact same thing happen to my farmall cub several years ago. Once I freed up the shifter I was careful to push it all the way in gear from then on.

Soundguy · Feb 2, 2009

Might also check the shifter nub.. might be wore down.. might be time for a little braze or weld and a file.

good luck and post back what you find with the cover off.

soundguy

North Georgia · Feb 5, 2009

I took the shifter cover off and it wouldn't move. Sprayed penetrating oil inside case and was able to get it in neutral..
Thanks for everyones help..
North Georgia