2120 bell-housing question

[driver444]

My neighbor has what seems to be a very serious problem with his tractor, and I thought I'd throw this out and see what responses I get.

This is a New Holland 2120, (700 hours) with a ford loader and backhoe.

First problem... The 2 bolts in the bellhousing that also hold the fuel shutoff solenoid snapped off. You have to shut if off manually now. Another bolt in the housing on the other side is gone. (broke) Also, when you work the loader up and down, the space between the engine and tranny gets wider. (Obviosly there should be no space)

Second problem...I found a couple cracked welds on the loader arms just forward of where the lift rams attach, and the braces that go from the lift pedistals to the front mount seem loose, (they flex a little).

Are these problems connected? What in your opinion was the cause of all this? Is this a job that requires splitting the tractor? And since its in the middle of his yard, will it hurt anything any further to gently drive it into his garage?
Thanks for any response

 

[Soundguy]

I have heard of a few isolated cases of *20 breaking in half when bellhousing bolts became loose. He may want to double check ALL bolts.

for the ones that snapped off.. looks like it is time to clean the broken parts off, center punch them, ,and try to drill out then back out.

If the backhoe is 3pt mounted.. it IS the cause of the bellhousing problems. if it is semi or subframe mounted.. CHECK ALL BOLTS I have seen reports of improper subframe mounting with loosebolts that caused similar problems because flexing and movement was allowed. Same goes for the loader.

Broken welds need to be addressed... in fact.. al this needs to be addressed ASAP before expensive parts inthe tranny snap when the machine falls in half..

Soundguy