Farm Pro 2420 Tractor

[greg_g]

I found my hard-shifting lever-sticking problem to be the Asian 30wt oil that came in the transmission. Drained all, flushed twice with kerosene, refilled with non-foaming 75W90. Once all the metal shavings and sludge deposits were flushed out and a decent gear oil put back in, the hard shifting and sticking 4wd lever were a thing of the past.

Noisy transmissions are typical - as long as the noise is just that aggravating whine. Anything else may be cause for concern. Having said that, my creeper lever always stays in HI. Dunno what kinda noise it makes in LO. And typical hydraulic noise would generally come from farther forward than the transmission.

303 in those hydraulics will likely be frustrating in cold weather though; too thick. My Jinma hydraulics got the same drain and kerosene flush treatment, then refilled with AW32 (10wt).

My Yanmar manual specified that level checks are to be made with the dipstick threads sitting on the hole, not screwed back in. The Jinma books don't specify, so I do them the Yanmar way too.

When I upgraded to American radiator hoses, a disgusting brown mess came out of the block. You may eventually find your radiator and water jackets are filthy too. So think about putting cooling system cleaning on your TO DO list also.

//greg//

 

[WildBill99]

Hey, thanks for the info guys! Sounds like I have some work to do.

I cant figure why every oil level would be low other then just sorriness on someones part. I havent checked the oil in the injector pump yet, but I am sure I need to! On the plus side, it was 1000 bucks cheaper then the same tractor with NORTRAC on the side.

 

[greg_g]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( On the plus side, it was 1000 bucks cheaper then the same tractor with NORTRAC on the side.
)</font>
Don't be surprised if you revisit that statement, after you've had a while to sample the support-after-sale

//greg//

 

[WildBill99]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( </font><font color="blueclass=small">( On the plus side, it was 1000 bucks cheaper then the same tractor with NORTRAC on the side.
)</font>
Don't be surprised if you revisit that statement, after you've had a while to sample the support-after-sale

//greg// )</font>

Honestly, I didnt go into this expecting any. I was looking for a used tractor and saw the fact that this was new as a bonus. I work on cars a lot (and I'm a Mechanical Engineer) so I hopefully will be able to figure out what's what. Also, I like to do all my own work, its how I learn and its cheaper, usually (until I get out the hammer and destroy something) I was wanting a decent shop manual but I guess they dont make one in english. I went to that website, but the links to the maint info didnt work.

My only concern about using gear oil in the trans is will that harm it in any way? For instance, lots of folks put 90w gear oil in mustang T-5's only to have it destroy the trans that was intended for ATF. So, I dont want to mess up my shiney new tractor, but at the same time, I dont like the way it shifts worth a darn and would like to try switching if that will help.

 

[greg_g]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I went to that website, but the links to the maint info didnt work.)</font>

If you're talking about JohnsTractor, all the links still work normally for me. Maybe your computer is blocking cookies? And you won't find a shop manual in English - anywhere. Short of a printed owner's manual in broken English, best you can find is compilation sites (user contributions) like John's.

I don't know of any 2420s sold with shuttles yet, so it's almost certainly a gear transmission. And a pretty uncomplicated one at that - not even any synchros to worry about. I guess I just don't understand reluctance to use gear oil - in a geared tranny.

//greg//

 

[WildBill99]

Yeh, Johns tractor, the maint links didnt work. Mine is a 2425, but I still dont think its shuttle shift or anything.

I see your point, and you are most likely right. I just know that mustang T-5s used to take 90W gear oil, then they changed to the world class T-5, in 86, and they will be ruined if you put 90W in there in 20K miles or so. So thats why I was asking. I mean you would think so, I just wanted to ask the dumb question before I destroyed my new Chinese tractor and had to commit ritual suicide. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[SPIKER]

the trans in the T5 vs the jinma is way different type of gears, the t5 are helical cut, and never touch each other only the thin film of oil stops the contact, with the THICKER oil the oil does not FLOW between the gears fast enough (in essiance the gears get air between them as discused about the foaming issue with the gear oil) however the china gears are straight cut, so oil is going to get in there but again too thick is still not good and can cause some added wear if it is driven in creeper gearing all the time (causes a smaller shaft to spin at greater RPM. and makes a LOT of whine) anyhow the old 60 heavy duty trans had straight cut gears too they are the strongest types as they are designed to meet metal to metal... they will actually BREAK IN and wear into each other in a fine MESH so that is why it is important to change the oil and flush after about 10 hrs and you are also susposed to RUN IN the tractor for 10 min in EACH gear in EVERY hi/lo combo... prior to the flush & re-fill. I did this on the DAY of my oil change. and lightly used the tractor for the first 9 hrs and ran her around the farm in high speed fassion for the last hr. Pulled her up to the changeing spot and dumped the oils and flushed trans and hyd tank (don't run with diesel in the hyd tank though, just rinse with it. maybe follow the photos that Greg (I think) posted about pulling the seat & top of hyd tank and cleaning ...)

anyhow I changed to the new spec FORD stuff, NGL8 or something like that which is better than the standard gylcol antifreeze. it is what is required for all fords now and has been for any aluminum and steel sleved block for a few years.) it was about 9 bucks a gal though... (ZETEX is what I used)

Mark M /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[WildBill99]

BTW, that part about ritual suicide was a joke.

Thanks for the help! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Also, what brands are non-foaming, I was just going to get some at the auto parts store. So, valvoline, castrol, stuff like that?

So we all agree then that gear oil is good to go? I mean I'm not going to keep it in creeper, but I will probably use low range a lot, I may use creeper some, but not much. So gear oil it is! How much did it take for yours?

 

[greg_g]

15 quarts. May as well buy a 5 gallon bucket. Most non-foaming are synthetic or synthetic blends. Only two "regular" gear oils I've come up with so far are AmRep's Thrifty (the old Amway I think) and Shell's Spirax. AmRep states non-foaming, Shell says "anti-foaming". Can't tell you right now if there's any difference.

But you'll not get that much out the first time you drain. Ya gotta refill with kerosene (or diesel if you prefer), flush, and drain. I did it twice. Amazing how you can put 3 gal kerosene IN, and get 5 gallons of crud back OUT.

And I'm not sure what your problem is with JohnsTractor. I went back and checked again. No problem. The JM254 maint manual link is below. Maybe it will work from here.

//greg// JM254 manual

 

[WildBill99]

Wow, thats a lot of crud! Your link works, I was going somewhere else on his site I guess.

Thanks!