6284 no differential lock in reverse

[scoops]

I was snowblowing this am, and got a little stuck while in reverse.
I pushed the differential lock while in reverse and just one back wheel (and one front)was turning (providing power).

Can anyone confirm if maybe the differential lock only works going forward?
I did not test it going forward, but tomorrow I will, maybe mine isn't working at all, I could swear I was fully pressing it down.

 

[k0ua]

Mine works in reverse, (Kubota L3400), did you feel it depress further under your foot, after a second?. In otherwords, it seldom engages instantly, you have to hold it down, and you usually feel it move down and fully engage after you apply power again, to start to roll the wheels a little, after it moves down a little, then both tires should move together, and then when you release it, it usually does not come up completly for a second as you move out, sometimes it makes a little click sound as the lever then comes up fully by itself... anyway that is how a Kubota works.
James K0UA

 

[scoutcub]

It should work in forward and reverse.
One thing you MUST do is completely stop, then press the diff lock all the way down, then either forward or reverse slowly, you will usually hear/feel it lock in.
DO NOT engage it while you are driving, you will strip gears and render it useless......

 

[scoops]

I just confirmed, mine only works going forward.

I checked the linkage, all seems good.

 

[jnelson]

First, as you are probably aware, the wheel lock does not affect the front wheels on this tractor so you can remove that from the equation.

I am not familiar with the internal design and power flow through the transaxle but it is hard to imagine that the wheel lock would work only in forward direction. It is also hard to imagine that something could break that would result in wheel lock only working in forward. I'm not saying it is impossible, it just seems illogical.

Scoutcub is correct that you should only depress the lock pedal with the tractor fully stopped. Then as you engage the travel pedal forward or backward you can often feel the lock pedal depress a bit further as it engages. Do you get that secondary depression feel in the lock pedal when you start to move in reverse? Do you hear anything other than perhaps a slight click or clunk when the lock engages?

I have experienced situations with my 6284 where one of the front tires becomes unloaded on uneven ground and all power is directed to it even with the rear wheel lock engaged making it seem as if the hydrostatic trans is slipping (I.E. tractor does not go anywhere) or as if all tires are spinning. The first time it happened to me it was really unnerving and I thought the trans was going. This condition seems to happen when turning very hard over uneven ground. It happened usually when attempting to make a hard 180 degree turn with a 6' bush hog on the back. Adding suitcase weights on the front helped to keep the front tires on the ground and has pretty much eliminated the problem.

I hope whatever you discover is not a major problem. I'll be interested in knowing what you find out.

JN