RK24 stuck in 4WD

[MissFireMike]

Has anyone else had an issue getting out of 4WD? It's a year old. 65 hours on it. I did the 50 hr late last summer. Shifts from Hi to low fine. I have tried in high, low and neutral. I've tried easing on the foot pedal forward and reverse. The lever just won't budge.

 

[thclimer]

Welcome to TBN.

Here are a few things to try:

If you have a loader, place your bucket on the ground and dump your bucket lifting the front tires off the ground, watch the tires and they my spin in different directions indicating you had tension in your front axle. The 4-wheel lever should now move freely to disengage it.

If you don't have a loader try moving forward and backwards while turning left and right (travel in forward for 1/2 of a circle, then travel backwards the opposite direction) applying gentle pressure to your 4-wheel drive lever to disengage the 4-wheel mode.

 

[Willman]

On my tractor it is normal for me to stop, put in reverse, slightly back up and then the fwd lever will move out of fwd
Been doing this for 20 years

 

[MissFireMike]

I'll give all of those a try when I get a break in the weather. I appreciate your replies.

 

[MissFireMike]

I pushed snow with it yesterday. I tried all of your suggestions and nothing worked. I thought for sure getting the weight off the front end would.

 

[thclimer]

Wow, that is disappointing! That leads me to believe there is something in all the linkages bound up. I guess I'd be trying to follow your 4-wheel drive lever to see if there is something bound/frozen up.

When did this issue first happen?

Does your tractor stay outside? Is there a possibility ice snow got somewhere that froze?

 

[rScotty]

Has it got a loader? If just a year old, is it still under warranty? What does the owner's manual say about leaving it in 4wd all the time? For that matter, how do you know it is in 4wd instead of 2wd?

 

[airbiscuit]

My 40hp New Holland is sometimes difficult to get in or out of 4wd. If I pull hard or push hard on the lever - nada, I have to push or pull sharply. Kind of SNAP it in or out of 4wd.

 

[rScotty]

My 40hp New Holland is sometimes difficult to get in or out of 4wd. If I pull hard or push hard on the lever - nada, I have to push or pull sharply. Kind of SNAP it in or out of 4wd.

That could just be a sticky lever, or a sticky shifting collar in the transmission. It can also be caused by a 4wd with a mismatched front to rear tire ratio, although the OEM tires shouldn't do that.

 

[airbiscuit]

It's just a sticky mechanism. It's not that it takes a lot of force, but a steady pull is not as effective as a sharp pull/yank with no more force, Kind of like the difference between a tire wrench and an impact wrench.

 

[rScotty]

It's just a sticky mechanism. It's not that it takes a lot of force, but a steady pull is not as effective as a sharp pull/yank with no more force, Kind of like the difference between a tire wrench and an impact wrench.

If you don't move the tractor, can you shift into and out of 4wd easily? If you can do that, it doesn't sound like a sticky mechanism. If using the loader to lift the front wheels off the ground makes it easy to shift OUT of 4wd then the 4wd is being stressed.

 

[airbiscuit]

I'll have to try that as an experiment. It feels kind of like my younger days with muscle cars, some had 4 speed transmissions that were stiff, and some were sloppy. It doesn't seem dysfunctional or bound up.