At long last I have been able to get a around to the repair and restoration of my 1957 Major. The repair bit is to the gearbox following the usual handbrake problem- see my post of 4th Oct 2009. I managed to split the tractor last Friday and with a bit more work will soon be ready to remove the gerarbox to assess the situation.
I did not fancy doing it using a trolley jack so I made up a wheeled dolly using some heavy duty castors and ran this along a "track" made up of an old kitchen work top with guide rails. Worked Ok .
When draining the rear transmission I found a piece of metal attached to the drain plug. I have attached a couple of photos . It is made of some sort of copper/brass material and is about 1 7/8 inches ( 47mm) long. I think that it may be part of a lock washer but not sure where from and what the implicaitons are.Any ideas ?
Also is there any special way of removing the clutch relase bearing from the actual hub or is it a case of just pressing it off or tapping it with a hammer?
Not sure about the metal bit? The throwout bearing should tap off as the fit is snug, but not too tight. I usually do them in a vice, and also use a vice to push the new one back on. Dandy Dave!
Dandy Dave thanks for the advice re the clutch release bearing. I will give it a go
Another major (sorry!) step forward today with removal of the gearbox. There does not seem to be any damage to the gears or the casing apart from the fact that the two pins holding the handbrake mechanism have sheared off.Had a quick go at driving the stubs out with a drift but they did not seem to want to move.
I could just try installing the replacement gearbox that I have but although this looks Ok I have not heard it running. I would hate to get it all back together and find that it has a problem. Alternatively I could try converting the damaged gearbox to a non handbrake model but I will need to check if the revised shaft and lock nuts to hold the reverse idler gear are still available. I also understand that the bush has to be adjusted so it does not protrude so far and I am not sure how I could do this without some sort of press.
Anyway at least it is making progress. Any ideas/advice welcomed
Digging though the parts list, I cannot seem to locate if these are pins, or bolts, as the retainers are not shown. If they are bolts, you may need to drill them and try to remove them with an eazy out. If they are pins, you may have to resort to drilling them out. I'm sure someone else on this site has been that deep and will know. Dandy Dave
Just by way of further information they are pins ( part no 7706) and are illustrated on page 120 ( illustration GB) of the parts list downloadable from this site. The actual description is on page 136.
In an earlier post Brian indicated that they are an interference fit and by the look of the illustration they push through from the other side of the geabox internal casing. I suspect that they are hardened so drilling them out will not be much fun.
There's your answer. Yes, I agree that if can be pressed out, that would be the best way to go. It was hard to tell from the photos, and also from the parts list, if the pins were in a blind hole or not. My Power Major does not have a hand brake, so I have never had to do this repair before. Dandy Dave!
Just a thought, you did mention you had another gearbox. Why not strip the gears out of the housing with the broken pins and fit them into the other housing. Doing this would allow you to check the bearings while you had it apart just to make sure your strange piece of metal was not part of a bearing cage that is on the way out. If you did need to fix the other gearbox later, having the gears out would probably make getting the broken pins out easier too.
Regards, Frank.
Real tractors don't need tin work to be beautiful.
Thanks for the replies gentlemen.
I think that I have given up on the idea of removing the stubs of the pins and replacing them with the pins from the spare gearbox.
Frank, I could strip down the damaged gearbox as you suggest but I have no experience of this , mind you I had no experience of separating a tractor until the other day. On balance the other gearbox looks Ok and I am going to take a chance and fit that and then investigate the possibility of converting the damaged one to a non handbrake model. If I cannot get the parts I might be able to get them machined up .
The bit of stray metal came from the rear transmission and not the primary gearbox . I have had no takers in terms of identifying what it might be but how about a bit of a thrust washer from the pinion gear ? Is that likely/ possible ? The tractor seemed Ok in terms of the rear transmission the last time it was used.
Yes, I agree that if can be pressed out, that would be the best way to go. It was hard to tell from the photos, and also from the parts list, if the pins were in a blind hole or not. My Power Major does not have a hand brake, so I have never had to do this repair before. Dandy Dave!