YM240 Diff Lock Repair Question

Maynah13 · Aug 2, 2008

I put my YM240 up for sale and discovered that the differential lock is broken. I knew nothing about it, so I never tried to use it. The pedal just stays down all the time, with no spring tension. I can pull the pedal up and down, but it doesn't do anything. Is this a major repair? Seems people want it to work in order to buy it. This was my first tractor and I wasn't savvy enough to know about such things. Also, the dealer didn't mention it (sold "as is" of course). I've since bought all the manuals but the repair procedure isn't mentioned.

Thanks

js5020 · Aug 2, 2008

Could it be something as simple as a broken roll pin between the pedal and shaft? If the shaft moves with the pedal then obviously you would have to dig deeper.

kenmac · Aug 2, 2008

Maynah13 said:
I put my YM240 up for sale and discovered that the differential lock is broken. I knew nothing about it, so I never tried to use it. The pedal just stays down all the time, with no spring tension. I can pull the pedal up and down, but it doesn't do anything. Is this a major repair? Seems people want it to work in order to buy it. This was my first tractor and I wasn't savvy enough to know about such things. Also, the dealer didn't mention it (sold "as is" of course). I've since bought all the manuals but the repair procedure isn't mentioned.

Thanks

There is no spring tension on that pedal. You just push the pedal down & it pushes against a pin that goes into the diff. to enguage the lock.If you pull the pedal all the way up , you can see the pin

Maynah13 · Aug 2, 2008

Hmmm...I'll take a closer look at the shaft and pin tomorrow.

Thanks

kenmac · Aug 2, 2008

Hold your foot on the pedal to enguage. Take your foot off the pedal & it is suppose to self disenguage

Maynah13 · Aug 3, 2008

The pedal is laying on the floor, so putting my foot on it isn't going to do anything. If I lift it up with my hand, it falls back down like a dead weight. I'm going to take a better look at it today and see if maybe the pin is broken.

Maynah13 · Aug 3, 2008

The pin is intact, so I guess it's something internal. The wheels turn independently, so they aren't locked, at least.

I find it odd that there hasn't been more people with this problem, given what I've heard about how easy it is to break this, such as engaging while moving or forcing it to stay engaged while turning.

I read elsewhere that I need to remove the rops and PTO to get to it. Anyone know this for a fact?

Thanks

kenmac · Aug 3, 2008

When I raise my pedal up . It bounces back down against a pin that sticks out just a little.Can you see the pin that the pedal would rest against in the down position ?? Like I said mine isn's spring loaded it just lays there waiting for the foot to press it

YanmarFever · Aug 3, 2008

Could the spring be missing on your 240 ??

1danny · Aug 4, 2008

Maynah13 said:
The pin is intact, so I guess it's something internal. The wheels turn independently, so they aren't locked, at least.

I find it odd that there hasn't been more people with this problem, given what I've heard about how easy it is to break this, such as engaging while moving or forcing it to stay engaged while turning.

I read elsewhere that I need to remove the rops and PTO to get to it. Anyone know this for a fact?

Thanks

There is a roll pin, 5m x 40m inside a 8m x 40m that holds the diff fork tight against the spring on the inside. You will have to remove the hyd cyl housing to get to it. Maybe the roll pins are broken. Not a hard job, just time consuming.

Danny

Maynah13 · Aug 4, 2008

Ahh, that sounds like a possibility. There's no spring on the outside. Am I correct that I must remove the ROPS and PTO to get to this?

Thanks,
Robert

Maynah13 · Aug 4, 2008

kenmac said:
When I raise my pedal up . It bounces back down against a pin that sticks out just a little.Can you see the pin that the pedal would rest against in the down position ?? Like I said mine isn's spring loaded it just lays there waiting for the foot to press it

I recently bought another tractor, a John Deere 750, that also has a differential lock. As a matter of fact, that tractor was made by Yanmar also. It's diff lock pedal stays up unless I push it down. Then it's like pushing on a spring. If I let go, it springs back up. I assume the YM240 is supposed to operate in the same way? The JD has a stop screw to prevent it from being pushed down too far, but the shaft on the Yanmar doesn't. I took a photo but have to find a way to post it...

Maynah13 · Aug 4, 2008

Here's a photo of the lever:

dl03 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

California · Aug 5, 2008

Mine looks identical to your photo, except it springs back up.

kenmac · Aug 5, 2008

my bad.... mine looks nothing like that

Maynah13 · Aug 5, 2008

kenmac said:
my bad.... mine looks nothing like that

From what I'm seeing, the design evolved over time, to lessen the chance of catastrophic failure if used incorrectly. Mine is the early design. It's difficult to say for sure but I believe mine was built around 1977 (S# 000723)

I'm still hoping someone buys it as is, but if I can't get a reasonable price for it, I may have to repair it. Even then, I just had one buyer tell me he couldn't get financing because the bank said it was only worth $3500, and that was only if it was in perfect condition. I see YM240's going for way more than that and many don't have the ROPS I had installed. I'm asking about $500 more than that, BTW. I just put a lot into it- radiator repair, hoses, filters, belt, etc., and everything is in good condition, except for the diff lock. I wonder if I'm still asking too much. I'm already going to take a big loss on what I have invested and spending the time to tear it down will just put me further in the hole.

Maynah13 · Aug 5, 2008

*UPDATE* I sold the tractor today, so it's now a moot issue. I did pass on what I've discovered to the new owner.

Thanks to everybody for your input!

P.S.- I'm going to be VERY careful if I use the diff lock on my JD 750!