The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

Hello,

Anyone know the measurements for the seal on the high/low shifter?

Henk
I've just had mine apart, and don't remember it having a seal, or atleast mine did'nt have a seal.
There's no oil in there so to speak. Only what comes up from the gears of the gearbox.
Kiwi Kev

Kiwi Kev,

I know it's oil coming up out of the gearbox.
There's oil comming out of it and that has not been before.
In the parts list you can see a seal with number7288, but it gives no measurements. I could try to measure it by removing the lever.

Sorry for hijacking the thread here a short bit, but what does the end of the H/L shifter that's on the "pedestal" look like on a power and super major, does it have a tension pin through it or is there a clamp bolt to keep it in place?(tractor is nowhere in reach for me to check)

On your question, don't know about a seal, but check if the gearbox ventilation is clogged, it's the longer 5/8 hex that's holding the battery tray and front tank mount, should be on the left side of the tractor, the hex part is drilled straight through and then the bolt is drilled from the inside, the holes forming a "T", it tends to get clogged with dust and the like...

Hi,
There was a seal there on my brothers Power Major which measured 5/8" inner diameter 15/16" outer diameter and 3/16" wide

Hope this helps,

Matt

Henk
If this seal is either very had to find or just not available. A very good seal can be made on a lathe in short order. If I remember right you either have a lathe or have use of one.

Make the seal from a plastic called URM. Just make it to resemble the oil seals that are used in the engine. I make them with a longer thinner flap than the rubber seals though. Less the outside metal ring. I have a shop made seal in my 54 FMD in the steering gear output shaft that never leaks and has been there since 1995. I also have a set of shop made piston seals in a hyd cyl of a a side shift in a Fork Lift that has been in that cylinder since 1990 and still dont leak. That cyl takes a lot of heavy use too.


.

Had a change to measure the seal this evening. I think your almost right Matt, but it seems to be in mm again. That would make 16 mm x 24 mm x 5 mm. Thanks.

It's a seal with a metal housing, so you won't notice it when you are not looking for it.

Matt, I think this seal will be easy to find. I remember your explanation when thing get really hard to find. Never have seen or heart about that way.

Foxen, There is a special pin through the lever. It works a bit like crank peg on a bike pedal. Getting it deeper into the lever the tighter it will be.
Can't find the bolt you are referring to. I know what type it must be. We call it a banjo bolt. just as there is one at the diesel pump pigtail and the diesel return pipe.

henk wrote:Had a change to measure the seal this evening. I think your almost right Matt, but it seems to be in mm again. That would make 16 mm x 24 mm x 5 mm. Thanks.

It's a seal with a metal housing, so you won't notice it when you are not looking for it.

Matt, I think this seal will be easy to find. I remember your explanation when thing get really hard to find. Never have seen or heart about that way.

Foxen, There is a special pin through the lever. It works a bit like crank peg on a bike pedal. Getting it deeper into the lever the tighter it will be.
Can't find the bolt you are referring to. I know what type it must be. We call it a banjo bolt. just as there is one at the diesel pump pigtail and the diesel return pipe.

Isn't there a bolt going through the shifter lever in the end that's attached to the shaft? It looks like it from your picture... I suppose that in order to get this pin out one would have to remove the tank and drive it out, and would the shaft move if I were to remove the lever?

Foxen,

This is the pin that going through the lever.



Just unscrew the nut a bit. Fill the space between the gearbox and nut, and unscrew the nut further so it will press the pin out.
The rod can go in the selector housing, but with a bit of wiggling you can pull it back and make the shifter go back in place inside.
So you won't have to remove anything unless you want to remove the whole shifter housing.

Allright, will have a look into that next time I'm at the "crime scene"
The H/L shifter on the power and super are very much in the way if you want to get access to the rear side of your light switch and other assorted electrical goodies one might have been stupid enough to transplant into the lower panel

I just had an afterthought here, is it the same kind of pin that's holding the left side brake lever on the brake shaft?

henk wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 26, 2010 9:11 pm

Foxen,

This is the pin that going through the lever.



Just unscrew the nut a bit. Fill the space between the gearbox and nut, and unscrew the nut further so it will press the pin out.
The rod can go in the selector housing, but with a bit of wiggling you can pull it back and make the shifter go back in place inside.
So you won't have to remove anything unless you want to remove the whole shifter housing.

Henk this is what I've been having trouble with in my other post. So should that pin come out from the nut side or the opposite?
Also are you saying that loosening the nut, adding some washers, then tightening will help pull it out?

Leeroy,

The nut side is smaler so the oppsite side has to come out.

Henk that worked great, thanks. The shaft has a groove worn in it from the hi lo spinning on it.
Suspect I may have internal problems. But would like to try putting lever on and trying it, but having trouble doing so without the shaft sliding in. It look like someone drill d and tapped the end of the shaft, so I will try to find a matching bolt .
Would like to hear any suggestions.

As you say try to find a bold.
The only thing that can be wrong is that the sqaure bold is not secured by the steel cord an the selector is not in the right place.
If you can, it's best to remove the unit as I did and check everything.

I did get the lever back on the shaft but can't get it to hold. Someone suggested tack welding the end, but I'm not sure if I should.
Think I've read about a woodruff key but can't see how one would work in this application, or listed as a part.
I should've taken a picture of the worn spot on the shaft before I put lever back on.

Having some pictures would make things easyer to talk about.

Stand by for photos...

Decided to take belt pulley cover off, and here is what I found. I was able to pry gears so they'd slide.
I'll keep working them, as they kept sticking. Not sure if rails or anything else is sticking in the primary gear shift housing.
Still cannot keep lever from spinning on the arm for upper rail. Really leaning towards tacking it so I can work lever while observing through belt pulley cover plate. Any advice would be most welcome.

After reading through any relevant posts here I'd like to give a short history of the tractor to help you all help me.
Its a 1952 FMD that had been stored outdoors for at least 30 years. Neighbor hardly used it other than loading scrap metal.
The owner said it had a bad head gasket. Motor oil looked like coffee with a lot of cream. When we bought his land and everything on it, we started working on the FMD. It took three motor oil changes, but the motor oil stays clean. Not sure if rain water got in exhaust or condensation was the culprit.
So it is safe to assume that rain/condensation was surely an issue with other components as well.(?)
Thinking back I think the hi lo lever has always spun on shaft, but I never ran it enough to note, as we only ran it around the yard.
After replacing water pump, thermostat, radiator, and feeling confident about motor oil, we decided to put her to work.
Raking hay is when the hi-lo issue became evident.
Since there is some rust evident in above pictures, I'm sure it is causing some binding elsewhere. Trying to avoid further R&R but guessing
fuel tank, steering gear housing, then shifter housing will be the suggestion.
To sum up this long winded post: should I weld lever to shaft so I can try to shift hi-lo while looking in from belt pulley and lubricating parts instead of prying back and fourth?

Since you can move the gears back and forward, it means the selector fork is also moving. I suggest you to look at the connection between the lever and its shaft.

Hi Leeroy,
The early H/L lever was attached by a pin, this always worked its way loose. You could try using a slightly bigger pin, but this won't be permanent.
The lever in the pic in the first post is the later type, clamped on with a bolt. If it's kept tightened enough it stays put.
Don't weld it on as you need to be able to remove it if the gearbox runs in to trouble.
Here are three pics of the later lever.



Sandy

Thanks Billy. I did not weld it. It is the later type with the bolt. The shaft is worn where that bolt is. So even though I got the high- low to work there is a lot of play. Not sure if I can build shaft up with epoxy or not.

Try tightening the bolt, Super Billy's one was loose, but it now shifts firmly, as the bolt was a bit loose. If that doesn't do it, you can try opening the gap in the clamping part or rebuilding the shaft, but the latter is a big job.
Sandy