rear wheel lock

[Scotty Dive]

What is the correct way to engage both rear wheels when you have lost traction?

 

[pjbci]

If its a mechanical diff lock you need to clutch it until wheel stops spinning or engage it in motion before one wheel starts to slip. Hyd diff locks generally can be engaged at anytime, even if a wheel is slipping.

 

[California]

The Yanmar manuals say press the lever (behind your right heel) gently and wait for it to engage. And there should be minimal speed difference between left and right tires, so clutch or get off the throttle to reduce the difference.

When I got my YM186D I needed to repair the linkage to make it engage reliably. The shaft from the foot pedal has a rollpin that presses against the 'V' in this picture to move the shift fork, when you step on the lever. The wear in the picture shows frequent use of the difflock. I think the previous owner(s) used it to plow snow. I got the wear built back up by welding and its good for another 30 years now.

 

[yelbike]

I slow down, throttle back so there is no or next to no wheel spin and lightly engage the lever. Let it "fall into engagement" This is how I did it on my old '63 fordson supermajor, and now my jd2305 and jd2320.

 

[Scotty Dive]

When my rear wheels are slipping, I clutch in, and step on the diff lock and let the clutch back out and it drops into place. I guess that is what it is supposed to do. I thought I read that the wheels should not be spinning when stepping on the lever - and thats the only way I can get mine to engage.