mytractormower
New member
I was mowing with my Ford 2N pulling my PTO-driven Woods 84" finish mower when I drove off the driveway into the grass (which I have done hundreds of times before) when the blades hit the gravel hard and labored for a few seconds. The normal low-tone sound then became a higher-pitched whine so I turned off the PTO. Right away I noticed a large amount of fluid coming from the gear box on the Woods deck, running across the top under the belt. It must have blown a seal or worse. I have not been able to take it apart yet. Does this seem like an unusual failure, or does this sound expected? The driveway and grass are almost level, with maybe a 4-6" gradual drop from gravel to grass. It's been dry for over a week, so maybe the dry grass allowed the deck casters to drop too far, and the blades bottomed out on the gravel (which usually doesn't happen like that). Is this an easy repair? Just a replacement seal, or did I ruin the gear box? Thanks for your help!