Wen, Mark, Bird, Paddock et al...

[Anonymous Poster]

Whichever of you threw out the suggestion to pull the front wheels off the ground when disengaging 4WD should get a hug or a slap on the back or a beer or a high five or whatever form of acknowledgement of friendship there is!

Tried that trick with my "chiropractic device" L35 and the lever feels like it's not connected to anything it moves so easy, now I don't care if it is "down there" I can operate it with my fingertips.

And although I haven't had what I call a problem with my Ford these past 17 years (at least I can make the lever move) it also operates with no resistance with the front tires unloaded.

Hurrah or Bravo! I don't know what to say...

Why isn't this trick in my 2000 Kubota owners manual? Is is possible that the folks on this board are smarter then those in Kubota's Tech Department?

Thanks again guys...

del

[email]oldcarparts@mygarage.com [/email]

 

[W5FL]

Thanks del,

I have to do it when I pull the tractor in the barn on a cement floor in 4WD and I am sure others do the same thing. I tried their recommendations of moving the steering wheel, but just lifting the front end sure works fast and easy to get it out of 4WD. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I really don't think the guys that write books actually set on tractors much.

When I had the same problem with a brand new Jeep Cherokee, I called the dealer and he said the 4WD lever was a whole lot tougher than I thought it was. He said just pull hard. It worked, but that lever went directly in the transmission. I don't believe that would be a good thing to do with the Kubota.

 

[Bird]

It wasn't me that suggested it, although since seeing the suggestion, I've tried it. It does make it easier to shift all right. Just another of those things I've learned on the forum (without even asking).

Bird

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Wen, my Wrangler is also sometimes tough to get out of 4WD, I guess I'll have to install one of those snow plow kits so I can lift the front end off the ground/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

del

 

[MChalkley]

Del - Glad it worked so well for you. You have a fairly substantial lead or lag situation with your tires, I'll bet, which causes the front tires to "wind up" a little - lifting the front wheels off the ground lets them "unwind". If you haven't noticed any power hop when running in 4wd with a loaded bucket, it's almost certain to be lead, which is good, but still perhaps too much, which is bad. It might not be a bad idea to check it. Take some chalk, put a mark on a rear tire, and mark your front tires off in eigths. Then get on non-paved surface and count how many revs of the front tires you get in 10 revs of the rear tires, both in 4wd and out. The number when in 4wd divided by the number when out minus 1 is the percentage of lead, if positive, or lag, if negative.

Mark

 

[RobertN]

Grew up in and around 4x4's. since it was hard to pick up the front end of the Jeep or 3/4-tonPU, we'd go very slow in reverse for 5-15 feet. Usually that would allow you to "pop" out of low range and/or 4wd.

Sometimes we'd have to pul forward and back a couple of times, especially if we were out rock crawling. Talk about something that will get tour tansfer case bound u! Sure is fun though...

RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif

 

[W5FL]

Thanks, I will try that. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[RobertN]

Gosh, I need a spell check! I looked at my post above; my 6 year old son types WAY better than I /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif