Locking the differential.

[Outbackfarm]

Hi everyone, I have been reading these pages for over 3 months and I wanted to say thank you for all of the good information that I have found here. It was in great part because of this web site that I decided to give Jinma a try and I purchased a 284 with a loader, tiller and box-blade. The tractor has exceeded every expectation I had when I purchased it. I was expecting the poor fit and finish that I had read about, And I was very pleasantly surprised to see that this is not the case with my tractor. Even Walt my neighbor who owns a new 22HP JD was impressed when he came over to look at it.


My question is really a simple one and a little embarrassing to ask but here it goes. As I was working with the tractor I wanted to lock my differential to get through a slick area, I pushed the locking lever by the seat forward and it went down, pushing the pin into the rear transmission housing. However the lever would not stay down on its own. I needed to hold it down to keep it locked. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif Latter I looked closely at this lever and it does not seem to have any mechanism to hold it in the locked position. Am I missing something? Now I am wondering if this was done to keep people from accidentally leaving the differential locked.


Thanks . /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[vavtx]

My Farm pro 25hp is the same way. I think it is, like you said, to prevent it from being left engaged and destroying something. I don't know about yours, but mine was metal against metal where the lever actually pushes the pin (ball)into the differential. I put a gob of heavy grease on it and now the handle is much smoother. Before it was actually cutting a groove in the metal.

 

[Bird]

I don't know anything about your tractor, but I'll bet it's working as it's supposed to. The differential lock on each of my Kubotas was a pedal you held down with your left heel and they released when you removed your foot.

 

[greg_g]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I pushed the locking lever by the seat forward and it went down, pushing the pin into the rear transmission housing. However the lever would not stay down on its own. )</font>


Assuming the non-drive wheel actually engaged by the lever, then your diff lock is working as designed. The return spring is internal, disengaging the locking fork when you back off on the throttle.

Consider engaging your 4wd instead, especially before transiting such known "slick spots". I find that the front wheels will pull you through a lot of stuff that would ordinarily make 2wd owners grab for the diff lock handle/lever/pedal. My tractors spend about 99% of the time on grass and gravel. I seldom come out of 4wd except for the infrequent occasions when tires meet asphalt or concrete.

//greg//

 

[Soundguy]

Ditto.. on my ex-Nh1920 the diffylock was a pedal under the right heal... hold down for lock.

At the moment.. I can't remember what/where the pedal on my NH 7610s is /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif You'd think i would know that!!!???

It's got so many darn levers and pedals.. it's hard to know what is what! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Soundguy

 

[SnowRidge]

One of my neighbors had his MF "borrowed" by a "friend." The "friend" got stuck somewhere and slammed the diff lock pedal down with the throttle wide open.

The bill was $800.

 

[Boltonpower]

Don't worry, it's working as designed. The diif lock is for
"temporary" application to get you through a slick or muddy
spot. It pretty much disables your steering so it's designed
to require a conscious effort to keep engaged. One safety
tip as one of the posters notes, ALWAYS engage gentley
at a low engine speed. You are coupling the non-drive wheel
directly to the drive wheel with NO give. Do that fast
and you can chip or shatter the spider gears or do other
EXPENSIVE damage to the rear drive line...Slow and easy
is the best way to stay out of trouble..

Cheers
Graham

 

[Outbackfarm]

Thanks everyone, this confirms what I thought earlier. I have been around tractors all of my life but this is the fist tractor I have ever owned and I am learning all of the time. Thanks for the advice to engage the lock (if I ever need it) with low rpms. I am planning on dumping all of the factory fluids out of the tractor next and replacing them with new. I am sure this will bring up more questions.

Cheers.
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif