BX23 range shifter-sticks in low

[JenniferBX]

My first post, just registered today!!

BX23 range shifter-sticks in low, and the flimsy lever bends like crazy trying to pull it back into neutral or high...About 300 hours on our BX23 and the range select is going kaput...If the tractor is in low, no amount of fiddling with the Forward/neuutral/reverse pedal will find a sweet spot where the lever can be pulled back and actually go into neutral or high. In fact, the flexible portion of the selector lever has become so flexible that it actually can be bent all the way back to high position and it will not come out of low. I have found that at TINY tap with a hammer on the lever where it come out of the main transmission will instantly loosen it to pop back..and I mean a tiny tap....I am thinking that replacing the thin flat strap material the main part of the handle is made of with some 1/8 inch by 1 inch steel strap, or some 1/2 inch rod flattened at one end to bolt onto the part that comes out of the transmission will do the job...The handle has just become so soft and wobbly that it won't move the selector out of low....It is still OK coming from hi to neutral or neutral to low, but it won't pull out of low....I found a 2006 post of similar problem with suggestion of lubing the entrance point to the trans with WD40, but that [ real penetrating oil rather than WD ] did not help one bit...I think the selector levers on the BX23 are all too thin and flexible, they are all made of same thin-gauge strap stock....This is first one to fail on me with the slightest load on it.....anyone else made better levers, or otherwise fixed this issue of not coming out of Low range?

 

[Spudgunner]

Spray-on lube helped with mine. Make sure you are out of 4WD; back up a short ways and see if it'll go to Neutral before you try moving forward. My BX23 had about 600 hours and the lever has loosened-up with use/lube.

 

[KWentling]

My BX 22 got that way. I pulled the rear wheel off to see what was up and it turned out mud, grass and general junk had it bound up. Didn't really look that bad at first. Cleaned it out and sprayed it with Kroil and it worked better than new and has been fine since. May not be your problem but do make sure it is clean and lubed.

Kim

 

[JenniferBX]

We worked on it this afternoon...all the usual stuff starting with removal of the wheel to get into the mechanism....Did another air blast re-cleaning around the mechanism and penetrating spray lube...to no avail....Finally got it to work like a champ by making a temporary new lever out of a length of 1/8 inch x 2 inch aluminum...It was stiff enough, even being aluminum, to just move the linkage with ease....The flexible-freddy original lever part had just fatigued to a point of such extreme flexibility, it was like an overcooked hunk of spaghetti. Husband has plans to make a new lever out of steel rod, flattened where it bolts in down below, and threaded up top so it can take the shift knob that I want, the proverbial 1950s hot-rod 8-ball!

So....Were back in action! Just looks kinda silly with that bar of aluminum sticking up through the guide..

Thanks for the replies...and YES INDEED that area of the transmission has an extreme tendency to get all gunked up. With the wheel removed, we were looking at the area after bolting in the new temporary lever and thinking of the issue of how dirt and rocks can get into the levers and pivots, and started wondering about making a shield behind the wheel to help keep debris out....That was not the cause of this failure, but it was once, .....a few years ago I got a small rock into the parts back there and locked up the mechanism....That was a real bear to clear out...the tractor wont restart if you shut it off unless it is in neutral, and it was stuck in hi range, so I could NOT shut it off until I knew I had it cleared..

 

[ultrarunner]

I've seen a few with the selector buggered-up...

In general... I've learned not to force things...

A complete cleaning of the selector mechanism is part of my end of day routine and then I give everything a squirt of WD40... so far so good.

My only concern is a stronger lever may cause problems with something else down the line.

 

[radioman]

Sounds like the rock you had in there weakened the metal for lever. I'd agree to replace that lever witht something else. The others were right about not forcing the shifting, same with 4WD makes it harder to shift, but i suspect that you already knew that and were just trying to take it easy.

I tend to shift out of 4wd if slow forward/reverse doesnt let go of low and it always came out nice and easy.

 

[JenniferBX]

Just to make sure everyone understands, with the stiffer lever now in place, the effort needed to shift range is very low, no different feeling than before the stock lever decided to loose stiffness...It is going in and out of neutral and hi or low with ease, just a slight notch feel as the detents engage....It feels just perfectly normal....The darn original lever just decided to go limp for some reason....and this was 3 years and over a hundred hours after the one time I had a small stone jam up the mechanism, so I don't think they are related...I suppose it could be in some manner, but with snow duty and several ditches and other projects of some magnitude between then and now, and no issues, and no dirt, rocks or debris in the lower mechanism, I just can't rationally explain it from an engineering point of view... For some reason the darn lever just lost it's already poor stiffness and started acting more like a wobbly flat spring. I suspect that Kubota choose the thin-flat levers to keep ultimate forces below some level above which the lever would bend rather than force the actuator, but this was outright silly...With the current aluminum handle, there is still some yield if needed, and it is shifting with little force, it feels EXACTLY normal, like it always has before....
Jennifer

 

[JenniferBX]

I've seen a few with the selector buggered-up...

In general... I've learned not to force things...

A complete cleaning of the selector mechanism is part of my end of day routine and then I give everything a squirt of WD40... so far so good.

My only concern is a stronger lever may cause problems with something else down the line.

I agree about cleaning this out regularly....It is a catch basin!!! I use an aerosol penetrating/lubricating oil rather than WD-40....
Jennifer

 

[JenniferBX]

I had a chance to use the BX yesterday for about 2 hours, doing some light scraping and moving around of dirt with the FEL....I used both hi and low range depending on if close quarters or moving a scoopfull to a different location...I have to say the stiffer selector lever is a dream...the pressure required to move it is quite low, and it has that precise light notch feel that the stock lever never had, always being a bit too woobly....I love the way this 1/8 inch by 2 inch aluminum hunk works....It just feels precise.....So now we need to make a 'nice' one out of steel rod and put that silly 8 ball on the end of it! HAPPY ENDING to this thread!