Traction Differential lock

[Toyboy]

Boy, those must be pretty flimsy. I rarely use mine on my BX2230 but occasionally when blowing snow I'll engage it. Well the last couple times I went to use it I noticed it wouldn't "hook up" and I just figured it was because of the big snow boots I was wearing and not being able to push it down far enough.
Well today I was not wearing them and tried to engage it several times but no luck. WTF??? it worked before!!
When I was done with snow I tried to engage it several times from a dead start to very slowly moving. No can do. I guess it's toast and I'm just not going to bother with it any more...

 

[RaydaKub]

Not good. If the pin has broken off, it could get into gears somewhere and cause other bigger problems. Good luck!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I've found the Kubota diff. locks to be pretty cheesy too, and I never abused mine either...

The one on my B let go LONG ago and all the parts were in the bottom of the tranny, I found them when I pulled the plug to change the tranny oil. (gear drive)

I fished the pieces of metal out with my fingers, and have just lived without the diff. lock since...

SR

 

[Gordon Gould]

I use mine a lot, and I really do mean a lot, on my L3010. Have had no trouble heading towards 2000 hrs. Maybe it is pure luck but you wouldn't think so. Could be the older L's were beefier ???

gg

 

[pat32rf]

I have a JD 4300HST, bought new. I used to have a pair of helpers, one of which would depress the axle lock WHILE ONE WHEEL was slipping, and wait for the lock to click in. din't take many months before it would not lock up but by then both helpers had left....ten years later I still do not have a lock that works. The tractor has about 6000 hours on it ....

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I use mine a lot, and I really do mean a lot, on my L3010. Have had no trouble heading towards 2000 hrs. Maybe it is pure luck but you wouldn't think so. Could be the older L's were beefier ???

gg

My "B" IS older!

SR

 

[oldballs]

IIRC, the diff lock is to be engaged carefully when the tractor is nearly stopped, and not used when making a turn...IIRC. Mine (B2620) has been used occasionally in the past 400+ hours, and quite a number of times with 300+ hrs on a BX 2660 model. That's been my experience.

 

[k0ua]

I use mine rarely and carefully because of these failure reports. I have never broken one in all the tractors I have owned. BUT the thing I do the most is split braking. It works just as well, and is more robust mechanically. If one wheel is spinning just apply some brake to that wheel and it will put pressure on the opposite wheel to move forward thru the differential action of the differential.

 

[Grandad4]

As a fellow BX2230 owner, I feel your pain. Urge you to get it fixed soon, since the broken pieces inside the tranny could cause further damage to the transmission.

The locking gears themselves seem to be robust enough, but the diff lock engagement mechanism just doesn't stand up to being engaged while the wheels are still turning. That's kind of like putting your vehicle in "Park" while you're still rolling at 10 mph... things start breaking inside the tranny. Unfortunately, it's when you can't move that you usually think of using the diff lock, so it's all too easy to do. Winter is especially bad because you're wearing boots that can slip off the little diff-lock pedal and you're busy attending to a lot of other things at the same time.

Considering how traction-limited most compact tractors are, improving the diff lock setup would be a step forward for a lot of owners, but this basic design has been used on most sizes and brands of tractors for a long time because something better would undoubtedly add cost.

 

[oldballs]

Ditto what Grandad4 said....especially in the winter conditions.

 

[Toyboy]

Thanks for the reply's. I've not been on it since yesterday, -20 this morning. Thinking more about it after my rant yesterday, it seems the lock lever will/does not go fully down into lock position. Now I was in hi range, and was wondering if there's a lock out for use in hi range.? I know, I'm grasping at straws here.
Secondly, any time I was going to use it I was on slippery surfaces. It don't make sense that it would break if both wheels were on that. If it warms up some to take it back out and do some more evaluations today, I will.
Another thought, is there a chance the linkage under the tractor is messed up? That I can check because I have a heated garage.

 

[Grandad4]

No Hi range lockout... the diff lock mechanism is way too simple for that. If you're agile enough to get on a creeper and have a look underneath, you can inspect the diff lock linkage going into the transmission. There's always a chance it's something in the linkage, particularly if it hasn't been cleaned and lubed for a while. You can also determine more of what's going on by having it in 2wd and jacking up the back end with the engine off and it in neutral. You should be able to manually spin the tires with/without the diff lock pedal depressed to see how it operates.

 

[Toyboy]

Well everyone...... instead of me taking vitamins in the mornings I'm taking STUPID pills instead. I would rather not elaborate on that, but the DL is just fine. :mur:

 

[k0ua]

Well everyone...... instead of me taking vitamins in the mornings I'm taking STUPID pills instead. I would rather not elaborate on that, but the DL is just fine.

Well now we are confused... aw cmon, fess up, It might help someone else.

 

[Toyboy]

Well now we are confused... aw cmon, fess up, It might help someone else.

Promise you won't laugh????

 

[k0ua]

Promise you won't laugh????

Promise.

 

[Toyboy]

Promise.

I don't believe you but here goes......somehow......... I got the brake release lever confused with the differential lock pedal. So all this time I've been stomping the s**t out of the brake release. It had to be my fogged up glasses....right?
Now you better keep your promise!!!

 

[npalen]

The silence is deafening.

 

[Toyboy]

Give it time, I won't get off easy.:jaded::jaded::bullseye:

 

[TractorGuy]

I use mine rarely and carefully because of these failure reports. I have never broken one in all the tractors I have owned. BUT the thing I do the most is split braking. It works just as well, and is more robust mechanically. If one wheel is spinning just apply some brake to that wheel and it will put pressure on the opposite wheel to move forward thru the differential action of the differential.

I have to use this method on my little JD855 too. Diff lock attempts to work but mostly just makes a grinding noise.