B3300SU diff lock hard to engage

[CDN Farm Boy]

My B3300 is coming up to 3 yrs old and I have about 280 hrs on it. The diff lock has always been hard to engage, like it takes everything I can to push on it while keeping enough weight on the seat for the sensor. I'm 6'2" and 225 lbs and have a hard time with it, can't imagine a smaller person trying to make it work.

Has anyone else run into this?
How (can?) do I adjust it so it is a more reasonable amount of force to activate?

Thanks

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Anyone?

 

[Kanook]

Anyone?

Engaged the diff lock on my B2650 yesterday. It required down pressure on it and a bit of forward pedal to get it to engage. Mine at least will not necessarily engage while totally stationary...kinda like having to slip the clutch on a gear drive machine in order to get the gears to engage. The manual cautions against engaging the diff lock while wheels are spinning.

 

[George2615]

On my tractors the diff lock rarely gets used. Due to that lack of use the linkage starts to bind up from rust. I have to spray everything with penetrating oil then work the pedal, spray again and work the pedal. It was once so bad I had to spray and tap the pedal down with a hammer then use a pry bar to get it back up. Seems like it froze up where the linkage goes into the trans. After several attempts it finally loosened up.
Not saying that is your issue but if you don't use the diff lock very often it could be.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Engaged the diff lock on my B2650 yesterday. It required down pressure on it and a bit of forward pedal to get it to engage. Mine at least will not necessarily engage while totally stationary...kinda like having to slip the clutch on a gear drive machine in order to get the gears to engage. The manual cautions against engaging the diff lock while wheels are spinning.

I know what you mean and it makes sense. I usually have a good idea of when I'm going to want it and step on it while moving before tires start to spin so it shouldn't have an issue dropping in but it does.

On my tractors the diff lock rarely gets used. Due to that lack of use the linkage starts to bind up from rust. I have to spray everything with penetrating oil then work the pedal, spray again and work the pedal. It was once so bad I had to spray and tap the pedal down with a hammer then use a pry bar to get it back up. Seems like it froze up where the linkage goes into the trans. After several attempts it finally loosened up.
Not saying that is your issue but if you don't use the diff lock very often it could be.

I actually use mine quite a bit, especially doing snow so I doubt that's it. And it's been this way since it was new. I originally figured it just needed to break in but obviously at this point it's broken in whatever it's going to and hasn't gotten any better.

 

[number two]

I find the diff lock hard to hold down as well on our B3030.
Several years ago Phillip8N had a similar issue on his L3940.
As I recall,he experimented with various return springs to find one that was not too hard to hold down,yet still strong enough to disengage the pedal smartly.
I have no idea if this word work on a B series-never gave it enough thought.
Might consider this route?

 

[CHDinCT]

I have the same issue on a 4+ year old BX25. I don't use my diff lock all that often, and mostly in winter when clearing snow. I have to put a lot of down force on it while slowly moving forward or reverse and even then, it will only engage about 50% of the time. I've had times where I've spent close to a minute trying to engage it before giving up. Thought about calling the dealer but never did. Figured I'd rather it be this way, then easy to engage and then broken off due to overuse - been a few posts here on broken diff locks that got expensive to repair. At this point, I've just accepted it is what it is.

 

[tk tom]

I mostly don't care for the location of mine. It's in quite an awkward spot for me and I find my boot slips forward off the engagement allowing it to pop out. If there were some sort of serrated pedal vs. the smooth round rod I think it would be a better design. The awkwardness I suppose is more from not wanting to slip off than anything else. It's also located on the same side as the seat switch.... If you see where I'm headed with that one.

Dad's BX has it out in front of you which is nice and easy to access requiring no strain or awkward movement, and it also requires only a light push. I think there's something wrong with his, though.... It seldom engages at all.....

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

You are right Tom, the location isn't the best. I guess the designers were more concerned with keeping it out of the way for the majority of the time when its not needed than making it easy to use when you do want it.

I've been thinking about making up a serrated pad to weld on to the round rod for better grip but need to remove it to do that

 

[alaskakubota]

I first put a less pressure spring in. I read the above post from one of the people on here. It helped but the rod would sometimes bottom out and still not engage. Problem is it takes so much pressure that it lifts you off the seat and then tractor wants to die. I took it one step further and took the rod out and cut off 1/2" and now it engages half way down but is still open when it needs to be.