Stuck in reverse- need help please

[norcalmike]

I just pick up a used B7100DT, non HST transmission, FEL and Gannon scraper. I first moved 4 yards of dirt and proceeded to do some minor grading. All was going well and I was taking it very easy since this is my first experience with any kind of tractor. All of the sudden when in reverse I hear gear grinding, immediately I stepped on the clutch and brake. The griding stopped, but I was unable to get it out of reverse.

The gear shift lever seams to be frozen and unable to shift period. I checked that transmission fluid was at the proper level and it seamed to be clear. I tried rocking the tractor back and forth (motor off) in hopes to unjar the transmission out of reverse but no luck. I also backed up the tractor (motor on) a little and tried to get in back to nuetral but to no avail.

Does anyone have any advise on what to try next before I call the service guy out to the property? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
norcalmike

 

[PILOON]

Sounds like your gears are , I believe the call it 'mixed'.

It means that you are actually in 2 selected positions.

The shift lever is but a long arm actuating a smaller one under the cover.
Under the cover will be 2 shafts with 'forks' that slide either forward or back with the center being neutral.

What you can doe is pull the cover off (generally 6 bolts) and the lever will come with the cover.

Then you would manually slide both forks to the central or neutral position and reinstall the cover/shifter carefully placing the end (will generally have a a flat half ball end) in the center or neutral position.

If were in 2 gears check to see if a fork looks bent.

One other cause of the noise might be: were you fully in high or low?

No matter, taking off the shift cover can't make things worst and a mechanic would probably do that as his first step.

The '2 gear' possibility would be caused by wear (the shift 'ball' or the gates) or a bent fork.
Bent fork might even be an easy repair, ( like bend it back).
As a visual guide I guess they should all look about the same.

As you said that "you could not get it back to neutral", I suspect the shifter has jumped out of the fork 'gate'.
Pulling the cover will prove that out and hopefully you can get everything back to neutral. Pry a bit but dont force to break.

Good luck.

 

[norcalmike]

PILOON,

Thanks for the fast reply and detailed information. I wll take off the cover tomorrow and inspect the shafts and forks.

To answer your question, I was in high 1st gear and didn't noticed the hi/lo lever to be in between, if that's what you meant. Anyway I will check things out tomorrow and keep you posted of my finding.

I hope I didn't break anything, I was really bummed out since I just bought it yesterday and used it for just an hour.

Thanks for the help
norcalmike

 

[midlf]

Please post back with what you found.

 

[PILOON]

My suggestions are based on what I'd call generic transmission approach.
After all they are all essentially the same in basic design.
I have seen more than once guys pulling the cover to realign the selecters.

AS I suggested even if you succede in 'gettin her out of gear' ther must be a basic problem, either wear or bent fork as the underlying cause.

The hours on the machine might give some indications.
I.d doubt low hours would be wear, for instance.
Also I do not know anything about that model, maybe they are prone to that trouble, maybe not.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

[norcalmike]

PILOON,

Thank you, thank you, thank you, you saved me a lot of money.

Per your instructions I was able to resolve my stuck in reverse issue. What I discovered was that the ball of the shift mechanism that seats between the detents and operates the two forks, jumped outside of the detents that reside on the underside of the cover, thereby making shifting impossible.

What I had to do was disassemble the shift mechanism by removing the wrist pin and taking the spring tension off the shifter lever. I just simply realigned, as you discribed, half ball, between the detents and reinstalled the spring which is held in by the wrist pin.

I inspected the two forks, ball and detents and all seem to be in good shape with little wear and no bends were noticed. This is what I suspect happen and the cause; I believe I was partially engaged in reverse and with the rmps up the lever slipped back into neutral and or forward gear, gears grind causing the ball to jump over the detents. Since the shift lever is spring loaded the lever is free to have some vertical movement with tension from the spring held by the wrist pin only.

I can't say enough on how gratifying it is to get help from you and actually diagnosing my problem and me actually fixing it /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Thanks to you and this great forum I saved, I believe a couple hundred dollars, $150 onsite service call and $60/hour for actual repair. It took me about 20 minutes to fix.

Hope my problem will help others on the form.

Regards,
Mike aka norcalmike

 

[CT_Tree_Guy]

Mike, I'm very glad to hear you're back in business, and I want to thank you for sharing the outcome with us. So many times, we never hear what the problem turned out to be!

And Piloon, very nice work - give yourself a raise, and take the rest of the day off. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

John

 

[PILOON]

norcalmike
Glad I was able to help, and that the 'fix' was not costly.

Always pleased to be able to return a bit to TBNers as I have gained a lot from the site myself.

One of my main satisfactions is building and modifing equipment THAT WORKS (LOL) for my tractor, and there is lots of info here on TBN.

So far I have made my heated cab, tooth bar, 3point log splitter,electric snowblower chute drive, log sled and a root ripper.
Future projects are: Guage wheels for my grader and a bush hog.
Also I have designs for a chipper brewing.

Have a nice 'tractor day'.