Gregster613
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2009
- Messages
- 694
- Tractor
- 273 TYM. 2009 //Yardmachines 7 Speed Shift-on-the-goScotts L2048
I finally had to get to it, leaks got very bad and I just had to tackle this perplexing job. First I needed to remove the ROP assembly and I had on hand a central machinery (harbor freight) engine stand that has a hydraulic hand operated crane hoist attached. With much care I used this to hold the ROP in place when I removed the bolts and yea it worked!! I rolled the assembly to the side and then continued. Beware - This assembly is "Heavy" - I know because I needed to re-center the load and I spent a couple hours figuring that disaster out!! This process is much like a painting project - 90% preparation - about 10% actual repair. I removed the left hand side first as that was the side leaking most severely, and the side that the service manual addresses.
I had engineered an idea to easily remove my tires which are water filled so approx. 300 - 400lbs each. Well as engineer thoughts go this was good on paper but not so much in actual usage. My stand - built on a movers dolly - was just to high to get under the tire without lifting the whole rear end which tilted the wheel to far to pursue. Nevertheless, I did find out that the tires weren't that difficult to handle on my own - with my handy harbor freight floor jack. Jacking up one side just enough to make lugs just loose, I was able to slide them off and roll to the loader frame, lean them against and get back to the task.
One thing I must address is the differential lock pedal - manual says to remove it, it has a roll pin which is engineered to come out from the bottom up! No room to get to it. I fabricated several sections of extension rod and wrapped (in tape) a taper punch to it and "beat" it out from top down, had to bend it some before it came out. I replaced that roll pin with a #6 bolt and nut with 10mm head, if I "ever" have to do this again it will be so much simpler! I must have spent 2 hours getting that darn pin out! Of course, a mechanic "might" have had a special tool for this - but I didn't. Thus, I spent a couple hours just working this issue!!
Then remove all the bolts holding the case on. These are #14mm and I checked the torque before I removed any of them and was surprised to see that they were only about 40-45ftlbs. I went with 45ftlbs when reinstalling them, but I made sure to use blue lock tight also. The housing & axel assembly is heavy but not impossible to lift. Just in an awkward position, you are crouched over and attempting to pull/lift at same time. I used another dolly with blocks on it - set-up so I was about 1/4" - 1/2" below the lip in case I dropped it; I didn't want it to fall very far. That was a good call for me as I didn't drop it but was immediately glad to have it resting on a rolling dolly to slide out to where I could stand and grasp it firmly.
Then the actual disassembly came into play. There is a snap ring that holds the bearing on. Fig411, page 152 of the parts manual I have; #15, 14, 13 come off, then #12 take out - and then "pound on the axel end" to get it out of the case Man I had an extremely hard time getting that #15 off! My pliers only open 1" and I needed them to go about 1 & 1/4". I ordered some new "much bigger" pliers from amazon but rather than waiting, went to Oreilly's auto and they had a pair that I thought might work. Better than what I had on hand. I bought them and still struggled, but finally by jamming some small straight edge screwdrivers into the gap on both sides I finally got it off - only bending it a tad. Whoops! Interesting thing is that on the other side, the bearing was just a bit further down on the shaft and I had no problems with the snap ring!
Now you need a bearing puller to get the bearing off. My on-hand 3 jaw puller worked. It took finesse but did work. The #13 Spur gear 71T just lifts off. Now you pound the axel out and then slide the seal off. Clean up your axel and begin reassembly in reverse. "As the manual dictates in extreme un-clarity!!"
That explains the process I went through in as an exact detail as I can describe. Whoa to those of you who need go through this!
But, in all fairness I must add that whenever I see/read about some mechanic stating that's going to be a $1 -2 thousand $ repair I can now fully understand! It takes a lot of time to get down to the actual $20 - 40 dollar repair. There is immense labor involved "before" you get to the darn seal!!
I did take pictures but need to find my download cord and get my wife's help to upload/resize them. I'm okay at writing on the computer but all that detail stuff gets me dizzy. Once I find matching times with her (she's happily retired and I still work) I'll add them to this thread. Beware all you garage guru's with those fancy "neat" garages - mine is a mess!! I have clean, open working space where I'm at but all else is a disaster!
That's enough. I tried to describe in detail and I see it's a long thread. Sorry. Just wanted to explain what all goes into some detailed repairs.
I must also add though - I don't know why but when I drained my Hydraulic fluid - which only had about 100 hours on it - I strained it through a fine wire mesh screen in my funnel and reused it. When I pumped it back into my transmission, I ended up with about 1 gallon left in the pail? The sight glass shows at the same level it was "before" I drained it? So - I don't know, but maybe being overfull "could" have caused the seals to leak dramatically? I've got to admit the old seals looked okay to the eye? If so, I spent a 4 day weekend doing something that didn't actually need doing. I learned a lot though. Isn't life sometimes perplexing!!
Take care fellow TYM'rs......Greg
I had engineered an idea to easily remove my tires which are water filled so approx. 300 - 400lbs each. Well as engineer thoughts go this was good on paper but not so much in actual usage. My stand - built on a movers dolly - was just to high to get under the tire without lifting the whole rear end which tilted the wheel to far to pursue. Nevertheless, I did find out that the tires weren't that difficult to handle on my own - with my handy harbor freight floor jack. Jacking up one side just enough to make lugs just loose, I was able to slide them off and roll to the loader frame, lean them against and get back to the task.
One thing I must address is the differential lock pedal - manual says to remove it, it has a roll pin which is engineered to come out from the bottom up! No room to get to it. I fabricated several sections of extension rod and wrapped (in tape) a taper punch to it and "beat" it out from top down, had to bend it some before it came out. I replaced that roll pin with a #6 bolt and nut with 10mm head, if I "ever" have to do this again it will be so much simpler! I must have spent 2 hours getting that darn pin out! Of course, a mechanic "might" have had a special tool for this - but I didn't. Thus, I spent a couple hours just working this issue!!
Then remove all the bolts holding the case on. These are #14mm and I checked the torque before I removed any of them and was surprised to see that they were only about 40-45ftlbs. I went with 45ftlbs when reinstalling them, but I made sure to use blue lock tight also. The housing & axel assembly is heavy but not impossible to lift. Just in an awkward position, you are crouched over and attempting to pull/lift at same time. I used another dolly with blocks on it - set-up so I was about 1/4" - 1/2" below the lip in case I dropped it; I didn't want it to fall very far. That was a good call for me as I didn't drop it but was immediately glad to have it resting on a rolling dolly to slide out to where I could stand and grasp it firmly.
Then the actual disassembly came into play. There is a snap ring that holds the bearing on. Fig411, page 152 of the parts manual I have; #15, 14, 13 come off, then #12 take out - and then "pound on the axel end" to get it out of the case Man I had an extremely hard time getting that #15 off! My pliers only open 1" and I needed them to go about 1 & 1/4". I ordered some new "much bigger" pliers from amazon but rather than waiting, went to Oreilly's auto and they had a pair that I thought might work. Better than what I had on hand. I bought them and still struggled, but finally by jamming some small straight edge screwdrivers into the gap on both sides I finally got it off - only bending it a tad. Whoops! Interesting thing is that on the other side, the bearing was just a bit further down on the shaft and I had no problems with the snap ring!
Now you need a bearing puller to get the bearing off. My on-hand 3 jaw puller worked. It took finesse but did work. The #13 Spur gear 71T just lifts off. Now you pound the axel out and then slide the seal off. Clean up your axel and begin reassembly in reverse. "As the manual dictates in extreme un-clarity!!"
That explains the process I went through in as an exact detail as I can describe. Whoa to those of you who need go through this!
But, in all fairness I must add that whenever I see/read about some mechanic stating that's going to be a $1 -2 thousand $ repair I can now fully understand! It takes a lot of time to get down to the actual $20 - 40 dollar repair. There is immense labor involved "before" you get to the darn seal!!
I did take pictures but need to find my download cord and get my wife's help to upload/resize them. I'm okay at writing on the computer but all that detail stuff gets me dizzy. Once I find matching times with her (she's happily retired and I still work) I'll add them to this thread. Beware all you garage guru's with those fancy "neat" garages - mine is a mess!! I have clean, open working space where I'm at but all else is a disaster!
That's enough. I tried to describe in detail and I see it's a long thread. Sorry. Just wanted to explain what all goes into some detailed repairs.
I must also add though - I don't know why but when I drained my Hydraulic fluid - which only had about 100 hours on it - I strained it through a fine wire mesh screen in my funnel and reused it. When I pumped it back into my transmission, I ended up with about 1 gallon left in the pail? The sight glass shows at the same level it was "before" I drained it? So - I don't know, but maybe being overfull "could" have caused the seals to leak dramatically? I've got to admit the old seals looked okay to the eye? If so, I spent a 4 day weekend doing something that didn't actually need doing. I learned a lot though. Isn't life sometimes perplexing!!
Take care fellow TYM'rs......Greg
