4300 Range Shift Repair

[stuart]

ROY: I have an HST. Thank you I will give it a shot. Guess it cannot hurt. BUT I will also shift very softly with the problem and difficulty of repair in mind.

 

[mjncad]

ROY: I have an HST. ... BUT I will also shift very softly with the problem and difficulty of repair in mind.

That's what I do with my HST 4200.

 

[RoyJackson]

ROY: I have an HST. Thank you I will give it a shot. Guess it cannot hurt. BUT I will also shift very softly with the problem and difficulty of repair in mind.

Hope it works for you...
One should never have to force any levers...a bit of patience and some finesse should do the job.
I probably have a bit of an advantage since some of the trucks I drove as a kid/young adult were non-synchro transmissions.

 

[paulcapasso]

Hello Everyone!
Well Today, mine finally snapped. I'm glad this documentation is here to help me. Roy I will be in touch if I have any questions. Pictures will be attached during replacement.

 

[Leroy excavator]

My range shift shaft is broken as is common with this model. This was a rental and the rental yard tried, unsuccessfully, to lock out high range with a strap across the shifter:

and then again with a bolt:

Neither seems to have worked and when the shaft gave way, it looks like the whole shifter linkage was tossed.

I bought all the parts online from JD Parts and it was pretty easy and the prices weren't too bad. Not good, but better than I feared.

Instead of using the stock shaft (which might break again), I bought a piece of chrome plated 5/8" shaft stock from McMaster-Carr along with a couple of different types of shaft seals. I'll cut it to length and drill the two pin holes.

Anyway, first course of action was to clean the tractor some so that I could see how it came apart.

Part of this was from my infamous stuck a few weeks ago, but not all of it by a long shot.

The rockshaft cover was barely visible under all the years of crud.

But after a little elbow grease and a water hose, I could see what was what and how all of this might come apart.

Well, there's the part that caused this exercise

The cover came off pretty easy. I ended up removing the SCV first to get better access to the pressure line, but it could probably be done without removing by using the proper wrenches. I don't have flare wrenches this big; I just had some adjustable that were too bulky to fit. Doing it over, I would remove the pressure line from the implement pump. The line hanging over the top of the cover just makes maneuvering the cover a little too awkward. The cover isn't especially heavy, but it isn't balanced and you have to remember that the lift arms rotate freely.

There's the shaft we're going to replace

Let's drain the oil and make sure the sump isn't full of clutch parts or something else

The shift mechanism seems to be painted.

Looking around some more

What is that?! It sure looks important.... Turns out it's from the PTO clutch release- one of four fingers. It looks like the pin just fell out as the mounts aren't broken and it looks reusable- good thing as you can't buy just the fingers, you have buy the whole hub. It seems a miracle it didn't pass through some gears. Heck, I must be pretty lucky.

Well, maybe not

The PTO brake hub is broken and will need to be replaced. It is a $110 part, but it looks like I won't have to split the tractor to replace, just remove the PTO cover and slide it out the back.
This rental was used primarily with the tiller, so the PTO has been used/abused a lot. I'm not sure why the PTO brake isn't rigidly mounted. It can rotate 1/4 turn before it contacts the PTO bearing plate and stops the PTO shaft- hammering the part every time. It seems like this is needlessly hard on parts, especially an aluminum casting.

The range shift will have to wait until next week when I have all the parts to button things up.


<More to come...>

Thanks for these pics mine just broke this shaft!