New Holland 256 Repair

[SwingOak]

I recently picked up a New Holland 256 Rollabar rake. It works, but needs a little preventative maintenance on the driveline.

An old manual I downloaded says the gearbox uses 140wt gear oil. However, on the NH parts website, the page says the gearbox should be packed with grease. Mine is slightly overfilled with oil, which I can tell because it leaks out of the shift lever hole. So which should it be? Grease or oil? The label on the gearbox is no help, because it refers me to the manual...

All the universal joints are sloppy, the short drive shaft slip joint is very sloppy, and the tires (were Firestones OEM?) are shot. Any suggestions for part sources, other than NH?

Thanks!

 

[RickB]

Multipurpuse grease is the proper lubricant for the gearbox. TISCO offers replacement driveline parts. Steel rake teeth are about as cheap right at New Holland as anywhere.

 

[SwingOak]

Thanks Rick! All the rake teeth are in good shape. If I get time this weekend I'll pull the entire driveline apart and see exactly what's worn out. I want to check the wheel bearings too.

 

[Happy Gilmore]

If you pull it apart post some pics for us :thumbsup:

 

[SwingOak]

Sure! I take pictures of things while I take them apart in case I forget how they go back together - which unfortunately is a frequent occurrence...

 

[Happy Gilmore]

Sure! I take pictures of things while I take them apart in case I forget how they go back together - which unfortunately is a frequent occurrence...

Awesome, looking forward to it

 

[MFIHCAT]

There is no seal around shift lever to gear box on most. If it stays outside cover gear box. Water likes to get in box and will cause problems. Pack bearings during assembly then pack box full of grease.

 

[SwingOak]

There is no seal around shift lever to gear box on most. If it stays outside cover gear box. Water likes to get in box and will cause problems. Pack bearings during assembly then pack box full of grease.

Good info - thanks!

 

[SwingOak]

I ended up getting the parts from Joe's Machine LLC in PA. They are well made, but did require a little fitting in spots. The critical fits were spot-on though so no complaints about that. It ended up costing about half what the parts would have been had I ordered OEM NH parts.

Here are some photos:

Close up of the gearbox before opening it up. Clearly there is no seal on the input shaft, and clearly it is filled with oil.

The gearbox universal and yoke was torn up and needed replacing.

The telescoping drive shaft:

Here's what the hub and dog looked like. The dog is not supposed to be pointed on the end.

You can see that the shaft is worn undersize by the hub. The sleeve bearings in the hub were badly worn too.

The gearcase with the cover removed, before and after flushing the oil out:

Up next: the replacement parts...

 

[SwingOak]

The sleeve bearings for the hub from Joe's are Oilite Bronze, which I like better than the steel OEM ones. I'd rather chew up $20 worth of sleeves than a $226 shaft.

Left side hub assembly, all new parts except for the bearing housing and hub - shaft, bearings, seals, races, clutch dog, spring, etc. all new.

The telescoping shaft required a little fitting - I had to grind the square shaft end to fit the new universal joint, and I had to ream the paint out of the U-joint bearing cup holes before putting the spider in. I also had to drill out the bolt hole in the U joint, as it had a 5/16 hole, the shaft has a 3/8 hole, and it originally had a 3/8 bolt securing it

The telescoping shaft is made from Eurocardan type tri-lobe shafting. Another improvement over the NH square shaft. I did have to use a bit of force to extend the shaft sections to break them free from the paint, and scrape & wire the paint off the shafting so it would work smoothly.

The gearbox was packed with red sticky high pressure EP-2 grease, everything reassembled, and here's the finished left side driveline - new tires too.

And it works great. I'll rebuild the right side this winter, it should hold up for the rest of this season.