Fixing PTO on a Massey 1215

[Iplayfarmer]

But on the bright side (if there is one) you are gaining a tremendous amount of knowledge on the wrench turning aspect of tractordom!

That really is what this is all about. It's fascinating for me to see how it all works and see what's wrong and learn how to fix it. I think I get the same kind of entertainment out of taking a tractor apart and putting it back together that some people get from a jigsaw puzzle or a mystery novel.

I'll be honest, though. I don't think I'd be nearly as ambitious if I didn't have TBN to fall back on for ideas and advice when I get stuck.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I've got the transmission now bolted to the bell housing. Tomorrow I'll put the two halves of the tractor back together.

 

[WilliamBos]

Good Job. Keep us posted. I am sure you cannot wait untill you get to play with it again.

Thanks,

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Tadaaa!!!

I tilled my garden tonight with my newly fixed Tractor. Everything seems to be working right. I did have to re-attach the seat switch, and when I fired the tractor up the first time I "realized" that I hadn't tightened up the banjo bolt for the hydraulics to the 3 pt.

I took my time the first few times I started it. I walked around and looked for leaks. I moved all the levers. I checked that everything worked before I put much stress on it.

After dinner I hooked up the tiller and started tilling. This tractor is definately nicer than what I had before. I don't get bounced around so much, and the draft control is pretty nice.

I went back and added up the time spent working on the tractor. I spent about 36 hours working on the tractor. That doesn't count chasing parts (or posting questions, etc. on TBN). I figure that's not bad for a novice doing this for the first time. Especially if you consider that I did all the work without any help (that got tricky when trying to put it back together).

The original three issues were the draft lowering speed valve, the 4 wheel drive, and the PTO shaft.

The Lowering valve cost about $10 to fix including the stem and the machine shop cost to remove the old valve.

The 4 wheel drive cost $0.82 for the new spring clip.

The PTO shaft didn't cost a thing because the parts came with the tractor, and the dealer did the machining on it for free.

The fourth issue that I discovered after I was already into it was the two broken gears. That was the majority of the cost, but the added time was only about fifteen minutes to install the new gears on the shafts. The $600+ I spent on this project was all in this fourth emergent problem.

Now that the transmission is re-built, this tractor is as good as new.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

As a post script... I chose to take some time after I had put the tractor all back together to let the gasket material set up real good before I added fluid.

I installed a radiator hose block heater. I had picked this one up at a garage sale a few years back figuring that I'd need it someday. It's a block heater for a Volkswagen. It fit the hose perfectly. I know it's a little higher in the hose than what might be recommended, but that's where it fit the best.

Installing the block heater took about an hour and that was included in my time estimate in my previous post.

 

[WilliamBos]

Good Job. Glad to hear all is well and working again. Espceially glad to hear you are happy with it.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Update: I'm missing an O-ring.

I went out to take another look at the tractor yesterday afternoon and found that when the 3 pt. reaches the top it starts squirting hydraulic fluid out the piston head.

I took the head off to find that one of the small O-rings was missing. It must have fallen out when I was checking out the valve and I just didn't notice.

Tomorrow I'll check the local hardware store for metric O-rings and if they don't have it I'll order it through the dealer. By now I know that tuesday is stock order day.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

No metric O-rings, but I found an O-ring that was close enough. I got it all put back together and it works great.

I had to add another 3 or 4 quarts of hydraulic fluid to make up for what squirted out before I noticed the problem. I should add that now the shift linkages have been thoroughly lubricated by squirting hydrauilic fluid, and everything is shifting very smoothly. I need to find a time to wash off all the excess fluid.

I also got to test out the 4 wheel drive last night. I went over the garden again to till it down even deeper. While I was making the last pass accross the bottom of the garden, my wheel fell in one of the ruts created when I pick up the tiller at the end. The rear wheel was spinning freely. I put it in 4 wheel drive and it pulled right out as if nothing was wrong. Now I know I did that part right too.

 

[radioman]

Very impressive. This must have been a challenge for you and you were able to suceed.. you must be proud of your accomplishments so far.
If my fathers massey ferguson ever breaks ... hmm i know who to call . No worries- great job so far and love the pics throughout the posts you have made.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Very impressive. This must have been a challenge for you and you were able to suceed.. you must be proud of your accomplishments so far.
If my fathers massey ferguson ever breaks ... hmm i know who to call . No worries- great job so far and love the pics throughout the posts you have made.

Thanks for the praise.

It was a lot of fun. Most of my tools have now paid for themselves many times over when compared to what I would have had to pay a shop to do this work.

If I could have you do one thing differently than I did it would be to wash any tractor really well before you dive into it as deep as I did. I didn't really notice how dirty mine was until I opened it up and saw the shiny precision machined inside. It was very difficult to keep the dirt and dust out of the guts of the tractor, and once I opened it up it was too late to do a good wash.