No 4x4!!!

[spinetx]

I hope this is not too much of a newbie question for my 2nd post. I just bought a used MT210 in decent shape. Hours meter says 400 although I found out it is not working very well. I noticed the front wheels are not pulling when its in 4x4. The front drive rotates when in 4x4 but the front wheels aren't pulling. They spin freely and there is no noise. When in put it in 2x4 I can freely spin the front driveshaft no noise and its smoothe. When in put it in 4x4 (tractor not running) I can't spin the driveshaft and it appears to want to spin the front tires. I have not been able to get it on jackstands yet. Butr I thought I would post here to see if anyone has a direction to point me to.

Also the rear locker seems to not be working. when I push the lever down it transfers power to the one or the there wheels but not both. Any ideas on this? Is there an adjustment for this?

 

[speedyspider2050]

I would contact this guy. He knows a lot about your tractor and will give you good info. sheaftractor@grics.net

 

[284 International]

How have you established that the front tires do not pull? A quick way to check would be to see if the driveshaft spins when in 2 wheel drive. If not, there is something broken or missing in the front axle.

If the differential lock is activated, it forces the axles to spin at the same speed. It cannot send to one side or the other alternatively. Sometimes the engagement lever or fork can be bent by exerting too much pressure on the pedal. The only way to inspect it would be to open the transmission casting to access the differential.

Good luck! Take pictures of any repairs or actions you do, to help anybody else who has the same troubles.

 

[CliffordK]

How have you established that the front tires do not pull? A quick way to check would be to see if the driveshaft spins when in 2 wheel drive. If not, there is something broken or missing in the front axle.

That is only half the equation, of course.

If the transfer case is blown, then the front differential and driveshaft will still turn when the tractor is moving.

Before you do much more, I'd look at all the linkages and make sure they are connected, and seem to operate when moving the levers. Also make sure you haven't lost some splines in the driveshafts, at least for the front.

Your tractor is small enough that it should be easy enough to jack up with just about anything.

 

[David Devuono]

If you can spin the driveshaft when in 4x2 mode with the front tires on the ground, then it sounds like someone has removed parts. I would drain the front end oil and see if there is metal in it. Hopefully they drained the oil when they took out whatever. With the tractor in 4x4 and turned off and the front tires off the ground, if you can spin one side and the opposite side spins backwards, then the differential and spur gears on the Portals are intact and someone likely removed the Rind gear?

 

[284 International]

That is only half the equation, of course.

If the transfer case is blown, then the front differential and driveshaft will still turn when the tractor is moving.

Agreed; my observation was to help isolate what he has figured out so far, and how. Depending on how the MT210 is set up (And I don't have any clue) there is almost certainly either a sliding coupler that links a constantly spinning output shaft from the transmission to the front axle, or a sliding gear in a drop box that engages with another gear inside the transmission housing. Either way, the wheels should drive the front driveshaft when driving in 2wd. If not, the trouble is on the axle side or at the connection between the axle and the driveshaft. If the driveshaft does spin, then the difficulty is on the transmission output end. It could be a linkage, a CV/U-joint issue, stripped splines, a missing shear pin, or several other things.

 

[spinetx]

Thanks for the replies. I will do some more diagnostics this weekend. But let me clarify some things. When in 4wd and the tractor moving the front shaft spins but the front wheels don't pull. I know this because I put a load on the scraper box with the front end slightly de-weighted facing uphill. The rear wheels were at the base of the small incline. The rear driver's side wheel would spin. When in 2wd neither the front wheels nor the front shaft would spin (this is expected) however when put into 4wd the front shaft would now spin but the wheels would not.

Next, I tried engaging the rear locker. At first it did nothing the rear driver's side kept spinning but the passenger side did nothing. No noise,grinding, chattering, nothing. Out of curiosity I backed the tractor down to level, put trannies in neutral then pushed on the rear locker and engaged the trannies and instead of the driver's rear wheel engaging the passenger side engaged, but not both.
I hope this helps, and again thanks for the replies.

 

[Kernopelli]

The front drive shaft has a small solid pin, held in place by a wire clip that connects the shaft to the yoke on each end of the shaft . The first (and easiest) place to check is to take the metal cover off the front ( about 10-10mm bolts) and see if the pin broke or fell out.

On the locker, I don't know what to say other than it would probably involve taking the rear end apart and inspecting the mechanism. They can be damaged by being engaged while the wheels are spinning or repeatedly stomping on the pedal and eventually bending the pedal/ linkage so it doesn't engage.

 

[spinetx]

Thanks again for the replies. I got the tractor on jackstands last night. With the front off the ground, if I spin one front wheel the other wheel spins in the opposite direction. This happens in 4x4 and 4x2. When tractor is running in 4x4 the driveshaft still spins but the front wheels do not. The yokes are spinning too so I don't think there is a problem with the driveshaft connection to the yokes.

Now for the rear locker. I had the entire tractor suspended on jack stands and I could get the locker to engage but it kept wanting to disengage. I could feel the lever "bump" against my foot. Is there an adjustment for this?

 

[oliver28472]

Sounds like the front differential has been neutered. There has to be some parts missing, possibly the pinion gear off the input shaft? When you spin one front wheel and the other turns opposite, that is normal. The locker might be a little loose, not sure. Is there a nut on the shaft where it pivots? Most are pretty tight and have to be freed up. Can you tell by a close inspection if this tractor has been disassembled? You could have one of the notorious vietnam rebuilds. Hope not.