TuffTorq K46 Repair Guide with Pictures

I put my K46 back into the L130 the other day, waiting on new tires which should be here today.
My neighbor who is "in the business" insisted the K46 was a piece of crap and wasn't rebuildable "because John deere said so".
His reaction when I fired up the L130, dropped the brake and just touched the go pedal was priceless.
I came within a fraction of lifting the front wheeels for a second and the low-on-air rear tires left nice marks on the driveway. I drove all over the steepest hills I have and did 10 passes up and down a neighbors severely steep driveway. No drama, whining or slowing down.
Priceless.
I didn't actually /have/ to replace all the gears, but I decided to go worst case on mine and see how long it will run.
I used Mobil-1 15w50 with a splash of 'Prolong' and added the two extra magnets, and figured out a way to use my drill press to prime it, which worked well.

Bottom line, you don't need more than a set of wrenches, the ability to read and comphrehend and tufftorq.com for parts to rebuild a K46. I have $195.15 into mine at this point, with all new gears/filter/oil/yamabond4. This should now last longer than I will. It really isn't rocket science, just basic mechanics.

Mike

Would there be any benefit to a small oil filter/pump setup?
The internal filter gets the big chunks of aluminium, the magnets grab the ferrous bits, but the little teeny aluminium bits are what causes the wear.

Mike

Just did a rebuild on a K46 AC. Does anyone know if I can bench test the freewheel? As it is now I can't turn the axles in the same direction when it should be disengaged.

Something not quite right there I suspect, I made a little wooden brace to hold the K46 and gently raised the table to engage the drill press onto the input shaft and after a few revoultions it appeared that everything primed, added a teeny bit of oil and it didn't drop for about a total of an hour screwing with it.

I used a large socket to activate the go-lever and since it's an open diff, only one side moved, held onto that and the other side took off. I couldn't hold both sides well -and- run the drillpreess though. 30 minutes of abuse tonight though tells me that it's all working so far.

All the disengage does is push that little pin in, which pushes that washer up and allows oil to return without doing anything.

Mike

First of all, thanks for this thread! I will post a few pictures of the rebuild later on. I just added the oil, and went to put the Sealing Cap back on that I got from Tuff Torque, and it appeared to be a little big for the opening. I tried to cram it in there using the hammer, but I ended up destroying the cap instead. Any suggestions on how to get that cap back on??? I oiled it up and everything, it just appeared a little big. I've emailed Tuff Torque to see if I can get a few more (hope they waive the $25 shipping minimum.) I can't wait to get this back on the tractor and for the weather to warm up and see a big difference in the transmission.

BTW, this is a K46BE on a 2006 JD 155C, 255 hours on it.

I was able to push mine on (most of the way) by hand. Then I just lightly tap it on fully with a rubber mallet. I replaced the motor, pump and center case this weekend on a K46AC and it is running very well. The forward and reverse speeds seem to be almost equal meaning a little fast in reverse. Everything is correct inside including wedge. I have a email into tuff torq to see if there is a adjustment I can make (externally). Its not far off. Plenty fast forward almost or as fast reverse. This rebuild is on a scotts L2048 equal to a JD L120. Hope you get your cap issue resolved.

When I took mine apart I pretty destroyed the venting seal, and I surely questioned the non-vented one after I pried it up, so I bought two of each.
The rubber-mallet-gently trick worked flawlessly for me to seat them.
Good luck with yours!

One thing I noticed on the JD265 I had a long time ago was that my ground speed went WAY up when I removed the plastic guard around the shifter. I was painting and it needed to go. I'd guess there was another half-inch of travel gained on the shifter throw and it made a real nice difference. Looking at my K46AC though, it doesn't look like that would help much, the pedal does give all the travel on the K46 lever.

I have a JD LT180 with a TT K46 transmission. Made the mistake of starting the engine with the free-wheeling lever pulled out after moving machine. Now wheels don't move at all. Is the transmission cooked or repairable?

I don't see how that would cause any issues, the free-wheel lever only moves a little pin that engages a washer to push the main pump up a bit and lets the oil return.
Take a good look with a good light and make sure nothing has come off , although that lever is a real pain to get back installed, I've seen wierder stuff.

I suspect that your pin may not have returned to it's normal position? If you haven't already, perhaps just moving your lever in and out a number of times may take of it, but in any case, the TT K46 is easily repairable. Once you've done one you'll see.

Thanks for the advice. I'll take a look after work and let you know.