Is my rear diff lock working correctly?

[Reg]

I was operating the B3200 in some wet slushy muddy stuff yesterday and engaged the diff lock when needed. Both rear tires seemed to skip and jump quite a bit and really couldn't gain much traction. I felt the peddle engage because it would drop all the to the floor when it found its spot, but tires jumping and skipping had me wondering. Also I really don't notice any traction gain whenever I use the diff lock. Any thing I can look for to see if something is damaged?

When you get it back on a hard dry surface test it straight ahead, then take a turn with the diff still locked, you will KNOW if it is locking, or not (-:

BTW, when 4WD tractors get sort of stuck in 4WD one way to get the pressure off the gears so they go back into 2WD is to take a turn while pulling/pushing on the lever.
What is happening as you tighten the turn is the larger circle that the front wheels go in absorbs the lead and the tension/pressure comes off the gears so they release.

(is that clear ?)

 

[General Lee]

see my locker problem thread. I talked to kubota and it appears there were some early 3200's that had the same linkage. If yours has it and it worked like mine I wouldnt be surprised if you have a worn locker.

Aww man, don't tell me that I tried messing with it for a few minutes yesterday just going forward and reverse while in the driveway pressing the diff lock pedal. It felt mushy and I didn't get the resistance when you first press it and then feel it drop and lock in like I usually do?? Does the tractor have to sense slippage in order to engage and feel the resistance in the peddle? Because being on my driveway I sure wasn't slipping. I'll have more time to fool with it tomorrow

 

[JoeL4330]

maybe I'm not understanding the original post: the differential sends more power to the wheel turning the fastest...if one wheel starts to spin, it gets all the power. Lock the differential and (once it engages) power will go equally to both wheels ...if both are on a very slippery surface, then both will spin with the differential locked. The locking differential saves the day when one wheel spins and the other tire could otherwise get traction if only it got power ...as in, get one wheel off the ice and into the snow ...which is what the poster did to get back up.

 

[captin_insano]

If the lockers worn it may still engage to some extent. When I loaded mine on the trailer to haul it in I tried the locker again just to make sure I wasnt crazy and wasting everyones time looking at it. it engaged on the ice fine but as soon as one tire got traction it "skipped". To really know you need to put more torque to it. I would agree with your assessment of the situation except he also described the tires as "jumping and skipping". The skipping description needs cleared up some.