Ford 950 - hopefully an easy winter fix???

tpoirier · Jan 17, 2021

John Deere 950 - hopefully an easy winter fix???

Ooops, reposting with correct info.

Hello. I'm a tractor newbie. I picked up a John Deere 950 in the fall and have been using it to haul logs out of the woods with no issues. It came with a snowblower which I hooked up a month back or so and have been clearing out a couple snows with it since. Today something gave. I'm guessing/hoping it's just the linkage and not a hard fix. The full story:

I was just down the road blowing out a neighbor's pole barn. I was getting ready to take another pass when I couldn't move backwards. Couldn't move forwards. I pulled back on the PTO lever figuring maybe some snow had clogged the chute and that lever just kept moving, it didn't stop in it's normal place. That's when the "oh ****" feeling started peeking its' head. Got ready to start towing it back to my house when I noticed it was in high gear, not low, which is very strange. I've never used high gear with the snowblower on the tractor and it definitely wasn't in high while I was blowing snow. Could the linkage breaking have popped it into high gear? Did I hit the lever with my foot when I got out? I'll never know, but by putting it in low gear I was able to drive away. Luckily the PTO was stuck in engaged position so I was able to finish cleaning up some snow, but I'm not sure it's a good idea to be using it if the linkage is broke and I can't disengage...

Does this sound like a linkage issue, or something else? It's winter in Upper Michigan and I don't have an enclosed space to work on the tractor. Is this an easy fix, or terrible? Is it something I can put off until spring or a get to it before you drive it again kind of issue?

Thanks!

John0829 · Jan 17, 2021

Hard to say just exactly what happened, the 950 has a 5 speed that will jump out of gear from time to time especially the two most used gears which are reverse and third. That can be fixed most of the time by replacing the detents or swapping them with some of the less used gears. Detents are located on the left side of the tranny under 3 caps, top cap is 3&R, middle cap is 1&2 and the bottom is 4&5, very easy to check. If it had a 4 speed then it would be very easy to get it in two gears at once but that is not you.

The PTO lever may have popped out of place in the shift collar, take the cover off to check, Most of the time this will happen when the bearings give it up but sometimes but rarely the shift collar itself get worn. Try taking hold of the PTO shaft and see if you can move it in or out any, this will indicate bearing failure. Again the best way to know is to take the side cover off and put eyes and hands on it. If it is bearing it will be about $100, 15 minute repair.

tpoirier · Jan 17, 2021

John0829 said:
Hard to say just exactly what happened, the 950 has a 5 speed that will jump out of gear from time to time especially the two most used gears which are reverse and third. That can be fixed most of the time by replacing the detents or swapping them with some of the less used gears. Detents are located on the left side of the tranny under 3 caps, top cap is 3&R, middle cap is 1&2 and the bottom is 4&5, very easy to check. If it had a 4 speed then it would be very easy to get it in two gears at once but that is not you.

The PTO lever may have popped out of place in the shift collar, take the cover off to check, Most of the time this will happen when the bearings give it up but sometimes but rarely the shift collar itself get worn. Try taking hold of the PTO shaft and see if you can move it in or out any, this will indicate bearing failure. Again the best way to know is to take the side cover off and put eyes and hands on it. If it is bearing it will be about $100, 15 minute repair.

Thanks. That gives me a place to start. Daylight hours are scarce right now - might not get to looking at it until next weekend.

tpoirier · Jan 18, 2021

John0829 said:
Hard to say just exactly what happened, the 950 has a 5 speed that will jump out of gear from time to time especially the two most used gears which are reverse and third. That can be fixed most of the time by replacing the detents or swapping them with some of the less used gears. Detents are located on the left side of the tranny under 3 caps, top cap is 3&R, middle cap is 1&2 and the bottom is 4&5, very easy to check. If it had a 4 speed then it would be very easy to get it in two gears at once but that is not you.

The PTO lever may have popped out of place in the shift collar, take the cover off to check, Most of the time this will happen when the bearings give it up but sometimes but rarely the shift collar itself get worn. Try taking hold of the PTO shaft and see if you can move it in or out any, this will indicate bearing failure. Again the best way to know is to take the side cover off and put eyes and hands on it. If it is bearing it will be about $100, 15 minute repair.

Wow, I did something really stupid, it's not a Ford, it's a John Deere 950. Multi-tasking, drink in hand, and tired; always a recipe for disaster!