Problem With Engaging/Disengaging MWFD John Deere 5065e

[Bladerunner6]

I am having a problem disengaging the MWFD on my John Deere 5065e. I know its not a good practice, but because of the muddy operating environment around here I leave the MWFD engaged most of the time. Today i was moving the tractor over to another area of our farm operation and moving on blacktop. I tried to put it back into 2 WD and couldn't get the lever to budge. I went to the manual and followed the procedure to the letter and still couldn't get it to move from MWFD to 2wd.

Anyone have any suggestions on this? I may just take it in to the dealer. The tractor is still under warranty.

 

[Tx Jim]

Did you try putting trans in reverse and backing tractor a few feet?

 

[olPete]

Did you try putting trans in reverse and backing tractor a few feet?

^^^this
Our original 4wd/4wa tractor was like this. We found it would only come out with a bit of pressure on the lever, and back it up a hill
The front end is geared very slightly faster than the rear axle, to help you turn.. but this means the system is under load, locking the gears in.

 

[jb1390]

^^^this
Our original 4wd/4wa tractor was like this. We found it would only come out with a bit of pressure on the lever, and back it up a hill
The front end is geared very slightly faster than the rear axle, to help you turn.. but this means the system is under load, locking the gears in.

The same thing happens on my Mahindra, and for that matter, any 4wd vehicle I have ever operated. Generally either moving forward slowly, or reverse slowly while gently pushing the lever will work.

You can also lift the front wheels off the ground with the loader (if you have one) to relieve pressure on the drivetrain, and it should shift out pretty easy.

If that doesn't work, then I'd check to make sure there are no obvious obstructions along the shift linkage.

 

[JCByrd24]

Once you get it out of 4wd it sounds like it could use some more regular exercise in and out.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

4wd and blacktop do not mix. Try and shift to 2wd before you hit the blacktop or you may find yourself making some expensive repairs. I usually turn slight back and forth while moving and that is usually enough to drop right out of 4wd. By slight I mean a swerve to the right and back to the left or whichever way you prefer.

 

[AKfish]

4wd and blacktop do not mix. Try and shift to 2wd before you hit the blacktop or you may find yourself making some expensive repairs. I usually turn slight back and forth while moving and that is usually enough to drop right out of 4wd. By slight I mean a swerve to the right and back to the left or whichever way you prefer.

DITTO. The grip on blacktop is pretty ugly!

 

[Dave M7040]

Another forum member posted this advice which makes a lot of sense if you have a FEL which Bladerunner6 does.
Use the FEL to lift the front of the tractor if you can and it will go in or our of engagement immediately.
Consider design facts built into 4WD or whatever your brand calls it.

Just like on your car or truck, when turning a corner, the length of the path traveled by the front axle is longer than the rear axle.
The inside wheel as we all know travels less regardless of which axle it is on and that is why we have differentials in each axle.
Turn in a fresh patch of snow or drive through a puddle on drying pavement and get out and look where each axle and its tires has traveled.
The two rear axle ones travel a shorter path.
If you are close to a curb and try and turn, your back tire ends up going over the curb because it is not following the front perfectly.

To offset the different path lengths between front and rear, the gear ratios are faster going to the front axle than the rear axle as it has further to go anytime you turn.

The tractor is reluctant to come out of 4WD because in its recent travels it traveled a further or shorter distance than the rear and a windup or stressing of the drive train has happened.
You need to find a way to relieve this windup. The FEL trick is the fastest. Sometimes backing up and turning will release the windup.

Dave M7040

 

[9973720wb19]

turning the front wheels all the way right then left always works for me JD 4720

 

[Deleted member 216442]

I am having a problem disengaging the MWFD on my John Deere 5065e. I know its not a good practice, but because of the muddy operating environment around here I leave the MWFD engaged most of the time. Today i was moving the tractor over to another area of our farm operation and moving on blacktop. I tried to put it back into 2 WD and couldn't get the lever to budge. I went to the manual and followed the procedure to the letter and still couldn't get it to move from MWFD to 2wd.

Anyone have any suggestions on this? I may just take it in to the dealer. The tractor is still under warranty.

Drivetrain bindup causes this in 4WD vehicles. I concur with previous answers. It happens on every 4WD vehicle I've owned - 47 Jeep, 79 Bronco, 00 K2500 chevy, 96 JD 1070, etc. The shafts and gears get wound up with high torques on them, held by the weight of the vehicle sitting on the tires, and the loads on the gears prevent easy shifting in and out. I have found driving straight, not turning, while placing a little bit of pressure on the 4WD lever, while backing up slowly, assuming I had been going forward, will unwind the bound up stress and it will come right out of 4WD easily. Sometimes on might have to go nearly a carlength, or go forward and back. It will also go into 4WD more easily if the tractor is moving slightly and slowly - just a wee bit of rolling while applying lever to get it in. Forcing the lever on a 1070 JD can ruin the fragile internals - I ended up splitting my tractor to fix it due to forcing the lever on occasions. Hard surfaces are the worst for this due to tight traction. If these techniques do not work to easily solve your difficulties there is something wrong with the tractor. Slow, easy, and gentle is the way to go here on this one - not brute force.