This spring when I attempted to brush hog with my 03 Century 2535, the lever to engage my PTO was VERY stiff and I first thought the clutch might need adjustment...no help but I cloud force it into gear (540). My next guess was that linkage needed lubrication. The zerks would not accept grease confirming my guess temporarily. With the 300 hour maintenance coming up, I figured I'd deal with it then. Well I completed the 300 hr, disassembled the external linkage including the shaft supporting the hub that actuates the PTO only to find nothing amiss other than I had bent the linkage forcing the PTO into gear. I called Branson and the serviceman (a very helpful and accomodating young man) suggested that the fork which slides the PTO in and out of gear is probably bent. At this point I need to pull the lid off the top of the transmission and look for more damage. I'll be flying blind so am wondering if anyone has advice re this project. Dealer guesses labor alone on the job would be in the $500 range.
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Century/Branson PTO
- Thread starter swede1111
- Start date
- Views: 4111
MicroPilot
Veteran Member
This spring when I attempted to brush hog with my 03 Century 2535, the lever to engage my PTO was VERY stiff and I first thought the clutch might need adjustment...no help but I cloud force it into gear (540). My next guess was that linkage needed lubrication. The zerks would not accept grease confirming my guess temporarily. With the 300 hour maintenance coming up, I figured I'd deal with it then. Well I completed the 300 hr, disassembled the external linkage including the shaft supporting the hub that actuates the PTO only to find nothing amiss other than I had bent the linkage forcing the PTO into gear. I called Branson and the serviceman (a very helpful and accomodating young man) suggested that the fork which slides the PTO in and out of gear is probably bent. At this point I need to pull the lid off the top of the transmission and look for more damage. I'll be flying blind so am wondering if anyone has advice re this project. Dealer guesses labor alone on the job would be in the $500 range.
I'll see if there is anything helpful in the service manual about this.
MicroPilot
Veteran Member
The service manual I have if for the 2035/3035 models. I believe the 2535 is similar though. The manual states "To remove the PTO shifting rod or fork, removal of the rockshaft housing is required (see page H-14) and also removal of the left rear axle (See page F-1, steps 1, 2, 3)."
I think if your going to do this yourself you need to obtain the service manual for your tractor. There are many, many notes and tips about how to remove various components, and assemblies. Things like the location of internal bolts, springs and detent warnings, how to pull the axle etc. All stuff that probably isn't obvious at first glance.
Sounds like major work to me to get to the PTO shaft/fork, and not a 2 or 4 hour project. By the time you get to the PTO fork, you've pretty much taken the back half of the tractor completely apart.
I think if your going to do this yourself you need to obtain the service manual for your tractor. There are many, many notes and tips about how to remove various components, and assemblies. Things like the location of internal bolts, springs and detent warnings, how to pull the axle etc. All stuff that probably isn't obvious at first glance.
Sounds like major work to me to get to the PTO shaft/fork, and not a 2 or 4 hour project. By the time you get to the PTO fork, you've pretty much taken the back half of the tractor completely apart.
THX... I could see that it will be a major project and not sure I'm up to it but need to get the tractor usable again. I'm trying to get a service manual.Did you get the manual from Branson/Century? Does it also have a parts list or is that a separate document?
MicroPilot
Veteran Member
No parts list per se, but there are schematics with call outs on the parts that are referenced (mostly) in the procedures description. I got my service manual shortly after purchasing my tractor. I believe the cost was in the $80.00 range.
I went into my shop manuals BRIEFLY this morning.
Yes, it is an "in from the left side" operation.
Part of the trouble with the manuals that I have is that they ASSUME a general knowledge of Kukje tractor internals, i.e. they tend to show and describe a few particular details, not the general tear down.
I also took a quick peek at my C42 (large frame, slightly different).
You could probably get a good idea by removing the left rear wheel and fender, then disconnecting the linkage step by step to see if any of the binding is external.
Take digital photos at regular intervals for reference when you put it back (-:
and remember that there is a LOT less leverage without the linkage.
If you decide that it is in fact internal..... well, ~$500 might start to look cheap at some point.
The SPECIFIC internal detents and such are probably the gotchas, whether you are a good shade tree mechanic or not.
A spring or detent ball out of place ? hard to notice if you don't KNOW the internals.
Yes, it is an "in from the left side" operation.
Part of the trouble with the manuals that I have is that they ASSUME a general knowledge of Kukje tractor internals, i.e. they tend to show and describe a few particular details, not the general tear down.
I also took a quick peek at my C42 (large frame, slightly different).
You could probably get a good idea by removing the left rear wheel and fender, then disconnecting the linkage step by step to see if any of the binding is external.
Take digital photos at regular intervals for reference when you put it back (-:
and remember that there is a LOT less leverage without the linkage.
If you decide that it is in fact internal..... well, ~$500 might start to look cheap at some point.
The SPECIFIC internal detents and such are probably the gotchas, whether you are a good shade tree mechanic or not.
A spring or detent ball out of place ? hard to notice if you don't KNOW the internals.
I had meant to say that American Jawa in Harrisburg, PA was the company that imported Kukje tractors as Century.
As of a couple of years ago they were still at the old address with the old phone numbers and at least some of the same employees, but under a different company name.
I dropped by a couple of times and bought stuff, they had quite a bit of stock spare parts, wheel/tire sets, Amerequip back-hoes, sub frames, FEL buckets, etc and a few tractors that they had broken down for parts.
They were running a different business, but still had a fair sized warehouse of Zetor & Kukje stuff.
I got a re-printed shop manual there, among other stuff.
If you have the original phone number it is probably worth a try, though they will answer it under a different name (-:
SOMEWHERE on TBN I posted their new company name and a few details, it might be worth searching for that post.
As of a couple of years ago they were still at the old address with the old phone numbers and at least some of the same employees, but under a different company name.
I dropped by a couple of times and bought stuff, they had quite a bit of stock spare parts, wheel/tire sets, Amerequip back-hoes, sub frames, FEL buckets, etc and a few tractors that they had broken down for parts.
They were running a different business, but still had a fair sized warehouse of Zetor & Kukje stuff.
I got a re-printed shop manual there, among other stuff.
If you have the original phone number it is probably worth a try, though they will answer it under a different name (-:
SOMEWHERE on TBN I posted their new company name and a few details, it might be worth searching for that post.
I have been through my manuals for this and sent scans of a few pages to Swede1111.
Neither the Branson or Century shop manuals are "good", however they do present some views of the internals and some CLUES on dismantling and re-assembly.
Here are some thoughts and general info for others.
The CENTURY shop manual details taking out the PTO shift fork pretty much as Micropilot said, but there is a comment on Page E-22 that says the left axle does NOT have to come out for removal of ONLY the PTO shift fork.
The BRANSON shop manual is a little more "polished", which is both good and bad.
It has photos which make things a bit clearer, but scanning gray scale makes larger image files and my e-mail server limits messages to 10 megabytes.
The Century manual has line drawings and I can scan those as black/white with a bit depth of ONE, so pages are about 500 KBytes.
I'm playing around with this issue, trying to make smaller files or find somewhere to post them, etc.
The Branson manual also details taking out the PTO shaft and other "guts" through the back.
So if (if, if, IF) the problem is with gears or the shift dog binding on the shaft this MIGHT BE what needs to come out and be repaired.
Yeah, "iffy/maybe" but we're already shooting in very dim light here (-:
I will post again if we get anywhere with this.
Right now I think it would be a good idea for anyone/everyone with a Century/Branson/Kukje tractor to get a hold of BOTH versions of the shop manuals.
If YOU don't need them your service tech almost certainly will one day - and we can't count on our original dealers to keep techs around who just KNOW this stuff, or to keep their shop manuals around either.
Neither the Branson or Century shop manuals are "good", however they do present some views of the internals and some CLUES on dismantling and re-assembly.
Here are some thoughts and general info for others.
The CENTURY shop manual details taking out the PTO shift fork pretty much as Micropilot said, but there is a comment on Page E-22 that says the left axle does NOT have to come out for removal of ONLY the PTO shift fork.
The BRANSON shop manual is a little more "polished", which is both good and bad.
It has photos which make things a bit clearer, but scanning gray scale makes larger image files and my e-mail server limits messages to 10 megabytes.
The Century manual has line drawings and I can scan those as black/white with a bit depth of ONE, so pages are about 500 KBytes.
I'm playing around with this issue, trying to make smaller files or find somewhere to post them, etc.
The Branson manual also details taking out the PTO shaft and other "guts" through the back.
So if (if, if, IF) the problem is with gears or the shift dog binding on the shaft this MIGHT BE what needs to come out and be repaired.
Yeah, "iffy/maybe" but we're already shooting in very dim light here (-:
I will post again if we get anywhere with this.
Right now I think it would be a good idea for anyone/everyone with a Century/Branson/Kukje tractor to get a hold of BOTH versions of the shop manuals.
If YOU don't need them your service tech almost certainly will one day - and we can't count on our original dealers to keep techs around who just KNOW this stuff, or to keep their shop manuals around either.
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Despite MS-Outlook paranoia about mailing files as attachments I have managed to scan, compress to .zip files and send the pages in gray scale.
Also, I think because I put them in a special folder than I set as "shared", they didn't arrive with privacy, protection, ownership, privilege, etc. attributes set, so they could be de-compressed and read at the other end (-:
Each page is typically 4 or 5 megs compressed, if anyone else wants/needs these drop me a line.
I can do other pages, MOST subjects are covered in 5 to 7 pages.
For THIS tear down I think I would go in at the back first;
a) It seems more likely that a gear or shift dog is binding on the PTO shaft than that the PTO shifter fork itself is binding.
b) It is less invasive (easier & simpler) than going in from the top and side.
...but that is just as I understand the symptoms and read the pages, so others might conclude differently.
Also, I think because I put them in a special folder than I set as "shared", they didn't arrive with privacy, protection, ownership, privilege, etc. attributes set, so they could be de-compressed and read at the other end (-:
Each page is typically 4 or 5 megs compressed, if anyone else wants/needs these drop me a line.
I can do other pages, MOST subjects are covered in 5 to 7 pages.
For THIS tear down I think I would go in at the back first;
a) It seems more likely that a gear or shift dog is binding on the PTO shaft than that the PTO shifter fork itself is binding.
b) It is less invasive (easier & simpler) than going in from the top and side.
...but that is just as I understand the symptoms and read the pages, so others might conclude differently.