Fixing PTO on a Massey 1215

[Iplayfarmer]

Here I go!! As soon as I post this thread I'm going to begin the process of fixing the PTO on my Massey 1215 that I bought this past March.

I bought it from a rental place. The guy said that a renter had been using a tiller and kept busting shear bolts. So, he kept putting in progressively stronger bolts in until the PTO busted inside. I have the shaft, and the theory is that the shaft is what's broken. I hope that's the case.

While I'm in there, I'm going to look at the 4 wheel drive. It doesn't seem to be working either. I'm also going to see if I can unstick the valve that controls how fast the 3 pt. hitch drops. it is currently stuck.

I'm doing this over this holiday weekend so that I will have more time to work on it. Here's hoping I don't need any parts that I don't already have.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I ended up only having about 4 hours to work on it so far today. I had to clear a space in the garge to work in, and then after a while of working I ran some errands for my wife. I've discovered that the problem with the PTO is in fact the shaft that goes through the tractor. The attached picture shows the broken end of the shaft. That is the part that was given to me when I bought the tractor.

It looks easy enough to fix, but I think I have to tear clear into the heart of the tranny to get the other snap ring off so I can pull the shaft out.

As for the 3 pt. valve, I busted the knob off of it. I'll have to get a part for it, but I just have to get the thing torn open to see what parts I need.

I haven't even begun to look at the 4 wheel drive engagement.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Update: I got the 3pt. mechanism off. The actual valve is fine. The stem that goes through the housing is siezed. I sprayed some Marvel penetrating lube on it. I'm going to let it sit for a day, but I don't have much hope for it. It's siezed up good, and goes through almost ten inches of the housing before it comes out the top.

I'll spray more lube on it tomorrow and bang on it a bit. If I don't have it loose by the end of the day Monday, I'm just going to take it to a machine shop. I hope they'll be able to do something for me.

It looks like I am going to have to split the tractor to replace the PTO shaft. I had kind of figured that would be the case, but I hoped I could just do it in place. There are two snap rings I have to get to to free up the shaft, and I just don't see any way of getting at them now without pulling the tractor apart.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I have a question for any of you still watching this thread...

Are there any places online to see a parts diagram for this tractor? I know for a lot of the other stuff I have worked on I can just go to an online parts place and they have the diagrams all there. I looked a little today for a similar site for this 1215, but I didn't come up with anything. I'd really like to get a look at the 4 wheel drive parts before I tear into it.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

For anyone else out there who ever tries to break one of these massey SCUT hydros in half, there's a hidden bolt. In order to take the transmission apart from the axle, I had to take the midmount pto off the bottom to get to the hidden bolt pictured.

This has been kicking my Butt for 4 hours today trying to figure out how to break this tractor in half.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I realize that I'm just having a conversation with myself up 'till now on this thread, but I could really use some help now.

I got the axle split off from the tractor, but that didn't help. I need to actually break the transmission off from the front of the tractor, and I can't for the life of me see how to do it. I've taken off every bolt I can find and it still acts like something is holding it in place.

Has anyone ever broken one of these smaller Hydrostatic tractors apart? What all do I have to take apart to be able to get to the tranny?

 

[Kernopelli]

I wish I could give you some advice. I searched Massey's website but no diagrams online, like some manufacturers. I have to say I'm impressed with your willingness to dive in this deep without a manual. However, maybe the best thing you could do is to put the project on hold until you can find one. Is it possible the rental place might have had a copy that wasn't passed along w/ the tractor? You may try talking to the service dept. at your nearest dealer and see if they might be willing to throw some free advice your way.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I wish I could give you some advice. I searched Massey's website but no diagrams online, like some manufacturers. I have to say I'm impressed with your willingness to dive in this deep without a manual. However, maybe the best thing you could do is to put the project on hold until you can find one. Is it possible the rental place might have had a copy that wasn't passed along w/ the tractor? You may try talking to the service dept. at your nearest dealer and see if they might be willing to throw some free advice your way.

Thanks for your help.

I got some copies of some parts diagrams with the tractor. The parts diagrams that I got, though, are all relevant to the PTO shaft since that was the major problem when I bought it. There's not a bolt anywhere on the diagram, and there's no hints about how to get anything apart.

I did find some repair manuals available for purchase online. I may go ahead and get one. I also need to go to the dealer today to order that valve stem for the 3 point down speed valve. When I'm there, I'm going to ask if they have a repair manual I can look at.

I did talk to a former farmer that now works with me. He said that on the John Deere tractors he's worked on you have to split the tractor at the bell housing and work backwards to get the the transmission. It seems like that may be what I have to do.

It's all just a matter of how far apart I have to take this tractor to get at the stuff I need to.

I'm going to go through a whole tube of RTV putting this thing back together.

 

[Sackett2]

There are those of us watching your post, just have no usefull input.

As far as RTV, I don't use it anymore. I suggest "Right Stuff" by permatex. Costly but worth it. I perfer the calking gun type rather than the cheese whiz can, more cost effective and easer to use
PERMATEX PERMATEX® THE RIGHT STUFF® FOR IMPORTS GASKET MAKER, 7.5 OZ. POWERBEAD? CAN (85144)

 

[Iplayfarmer]

There are those of us watching your post, just have no usefull input.

As far as RTV, I don't use it anymore. I suggest "Right Stuff" by permatex. Costly but worth it. I perfer the calking gun type rather than the cheese whiz can, more cost effective and easer to use
PERMATEX PERMATEXｮ THE RIGHT STUFFｮ FOR IMPORTS GASKET MAKER, 7.5 OZ. POWERBEAD? CAN (85144)

It's nice to have the acknowledgement and support.

It's funny that you mention RTV. I was just going to post a question about how long RTV is good for. I have a few tubes that are each at least a few years old. I'll look into that "Right Stuff". What's the advantage of it over RTV?