MF 65 Planetary shift won't go into High

[Swampwild]

I bought a MF 65 recently private sale. Worked great for a few weeks but after some heavy use of front end loader in some muddy conditions it stopped working. I was in high reverse backed out of the work area and stopped. Put it in neutral. Then I decided to move forward again, tried to engage the planetary to high and it would not engage into high. It stops won't go in. It will go to low but no power to wheels. In low it does nothing, like neutral.
The motor is good. PTO spins, hydraulics fine. There was never any noises. No clunk or grinding when it happened.
I removed the filler plug on the left side to look for jamb gear and can only really see the gears at the shifter not the planetary which is on the right side. To far to see it. The shifter works great and goes thru all 4 gears fine. But no power to wheels. I tried jacking it up and spinning the rear right wheel to free something and that didn't help.
I can see a loose looking piece of heavy wire inside hanging off the shifter but it's not causing any problems. Just seems kind of sloppy workmanship if someone was maybe securing a pin with wire.
From what I read this is not a multi-pass. I only have the shifter and planetary no special levers or way to create more partial gears. Also I am fully depressing the clutch and it work for the shifter as normal. Fluid level is fine. So looking at my MF65 service manual it seems the only access to see what happening is to hoist off the steering housing. Any ideas?

 

[aczlan]

I will bet that the gear came apart. Its a two piece gear is pressed together and can work loose. Dad had a MF Industrial 35 that did the same thing. The fix is to pull the top cover, remove the gear, put it back together and then put 3-4 tack welds around the outside to hold both sides together.
DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF WELDING ALL THE WAY AROUND THE OUTSIDE. We did that and it shrunk the gear to where it wouldn't fit over the shaft. Had to buy another gear.

Here is what I found when that happened to us (from the archived copy of Big Dean's website, RIP Big Dean):

The Two Speed or High Low
The two speed part of the transmission or more often call the High Low shifter. It has a ring that is pressed in to the hub this ring will come out. Causing it not to go in to high. Some times they will not go in either gear. When this happens this ring can be drove back in & spot weld in about 3 or 4 places. There is no telling how many of these I have fixed this way.

Aaron Z

 

[Swampwild]

Thanks Aaron. Do you have the name of the gear so I can see which one to focus on? Right now I don't have a place to do this work or a hoist. Might have to wait till spring, but I will complete this thread to end. I'll be retired in a couple years so hope to help others.

 

[aczlan]

It is the planetary high-lowgear, if you pull the top cover, IIRC, ours looked like this:
Massey-Ferguson, 50, Transmission, REGULAR-TRANS-W--DOUBLE-CLUTCH, PLANET CARRIER ASSEMBLY, 180484M91.A at Wengers Of Myerstown


Aaron Z

 

[Swampwild]

Nothing is ever easy it seems. The Planetary Carrier Assembly is a component of the rear differential. It doesn't have any place to weld. Maybe it connects by the main drive shaft to the transmission? At the transmission end you probably are thinking of the "pinion gear gear assembly". I can't show you a picture of the part from the dealer as you can only buy parts within the assembly. But on my manual I can see it on Transmissions Group II Section B part 1 page 279. Maybe something on that could be welded with cover off but looks like I'd have to separate the tractor between the differential center housing and the transmission. My brain is sore now. Need to take it apart, just worried I won't see the problem when I do!

 

[aczlan]

Perhaps I am misremembering the name of the part. It was in the transmission, NOT in the rear end.
It was quite a few years back, but we did NOT have to split the tractor to get it out, "just" remove the top plate from the transmission and we could then get it out.
IIRC it looked somewhat like that picture and the inner ring had separated from the outer ring, so it was pretty obvious what had failed.
All we had to do was remove the gear, tap it back together, then tack the two together in 3-4 places.

Aaron Z

 

[Swampwild]

Thanks. I might be able to hoist the steering section off the top before spring because now I have a garage pad poured. But so many projects. I sure hope the problem is the same as the one you had.

 

[aczlan]

Thanks. I might be able to hoist the steering section off the top before spring because now I have a garage pad poured. But so many projects. I sure hope the problem is the same as the one you had.

IIRC, that tractor had a canopy and we lifted off the cover with a comealong hooked on that, but it wasn't that heavy once we got the gasket free. Perhaps 100#, but probbaly closer to 75# (or therabout).

Aaron Z

 

[Swampwild]

Well it's spring and I had a chance to remove the steering column and have a look inside the transmission. Removing it was pretty easy by myself. Unfortunately nothing obvious to repair without further disassembly. My Massey 65 has 3 shifter rails. These are metal shafts that slide horizontally. The two rails on the left work fine. I can see them sliding in and out between 2 positions and neutral which is changing the gears. But the third rail on the right, the smaller one is the troublemaker. It isn't moving nicely like it's brothers. That one is the planetary shifter. All it does is shift the planetary carrier assembly to one of two positions. High which is same speed as transmission or low for 1/4 speed. There may just be something stuck but I can't see it. The planetary gear assembly is at the rear of the transmission covered by the differential housing. So I guess I have to split the transmission from the diff. At least I don't have to separate the motor from Transmission for some crazy reason right? We will see. Even if I have to buy a whole new assembly it's cheaper then bringing it in for service somewhere. I will see what I can figure out about splitting rear from transmission only. Any help appreciated! thanks.

 

[PatrickS2222]

I renewed bearings in a FE35 a couple years ago and recall the range reduction planetary was on the rear of the main gearbox. I reckon you need to split the tractor at the gearbox-rear housing joint. This is between the pedal foot-pads, and between the gear levers and the seat. It is an easy job, no hoist needed, just a pair of jacks (one on wheels), a pair of wooden wedges to stabilise the front half at the axle housing and some tools. Drain the transmission oil at both plugs, be prepared for six gallons or so. If it is milky refill with new oil. Remember a gasket is in that joint - careful application of a sensible amount of some good-quality ATV-type sealant will be a suitable alternative. If you have doubts regarding repairing the planetary carrier, a capable earthmoving equipment repairer should be able to help you. Hope this helps.