Power major - Very noisy transmission ?

[pantractor]

Hi and greetings to everyone on the board.

I am seriously considering buying a Power Major to replace a Massey MF30 (French built) which I use on our hobby farm here in Chidlow, Western Australia.

I viewed the Fordson 2 days ago and found it started and ran extremely well, with very little smoke and was relatively quiet until I tried to move it. Pushing in the clutch was fine but as soon as it moved off, it produced a gravelly, grinding sound. Best example I can give is a load of gravel in a large cement mixer. It was definitely worse on the uphill drive and considerably quieter on the downhill run. The owner told me that 'it had done it since he'd bought it', 6 months previously. It moved freely enough but due to fairly limited space, I only got it into 2nd and it made the same kind of noise in this gear also.

It was good in all other ways aside from being very heavy on the steering which I put down to the large FEL which it had fitted. The owner said that he was selling it because it wouldn't easily get around his 10 acres of olive trees as they were fairly close together. He'd already purchased a small Fiat tractor for this purpose.

I'd sincerely like to get some suggestions as to the potential seriousness of the noise. Happy to reply ASAP to any comments or questions regarding the matter. Also, if anyone has any suggestions as to how I can further test and narrow down the problem during another test drive, I'll be happy to drive the 60kms to try it out. Needless to say, I probably need to be quick as it may be sold in the meantime.

Many thanks,

[Pavel]

Welcome to the forum, mate.
Sounds a bit like the the tractor equivalent to the meshing of the crownwheel and pinion gearset in the rear end. Try checking the gearbox and rear axle oil levels first. There's a dipstick to the left of the gear lever for the rear end and a filler plug with level markings on the side of the box slightly forward of that for the gearbox.
I feel you should give it a proper road test in all the gears-- either on the oval or on the old rail line towards Mt. Helena. Also, if the bloke could give you a tow you could see if, out of gear to mostly isolate the gearbox, the noise goes away or continues which could help point to one or the other.
Either way rectification will involve splitting the tractor. And there's bags of info on these forum pages to help you through that.

Pavel

[Brian]

Welcome to the board, I will pop over and have a look for you next week! Ooops sorry will be in Victoria.

Majors were always noisy in the gearbox but it is usually a whine rather than a clatter. It would be interesting to drop the drain plug out and see what is in it.

Have you checked the oil level? You will need to remove the filler plug next to the clutch NOT the dip stick which is for the rear axle/hydraulics. Sometimes Majors transfer the gearbox oil to the rear axle due to a faulty seal. This is not a problem as, most of us, rather than split the tractor and put new seals in place, connect a piece of hose to the trailer pipe and pump the excess oil back into the gearbox.

A Major is a beast and virtually bullet proof in all areas but bearings can fail and cause noises but I would check the oil levels.

[AdrianNPMajor]

The noises you are hearing sound like the ones I encountered. I had the tractor up on axle stands with the wheels off at the beginning of the rebuild and ran her through the gears to see if there were any unpleasant noises, and I heard what you describe. Turned out to be the upper rear bearing in the gearbox (see first photo). The gearbox oil level was very low, meaning the bearing got starved of lubrication. This was the result of the PTO housing seal having failed, which allowed the oil to leak into the rear axle, which operates at a lower oil level from the gearbox. That's why Pavel and Brian are advising you to check the oil levels in the gearbox and rear axle. When you remove the gearbox filler cap, you should see oil near the lip of the opening. If you find yourself peering into the opening looking for the oil, you've got your answer! To be absolutely certain, you'd need to drain the gearbox and remove the selector cover, which the filler plug screws into (see second photo). You will then be able to inspect the bearing in question.
The repair is very doable, but it does involve removing the gearbox, which may or may not be a deal breaker for you.
Best, Adrian.

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[Stu_Fletch]

Hi Adrian my major makes a bit of a clattering noise at low revs and I wanted to check this bearing was ok as I've noticed its common... It just seems like the whole drive train has a bit too much backlash and when I bought it there was no oil in the gearbox due to the pto selector seal failing. Where was this picture taken from? Is it with the pulley removed?

Oh... top video on the power harrowing by the way I forgot to comment I saw it on youtube

Cheers

[AdrianNPMajor]

Hello Stuart
The Majors I have owned all had clattery gears when you come off the power whilst going along the road, especially in top gear.
Pictures taken through high/low gear shift housing aperture (first photo) and gear selector plate (second photo).
Thanks for your comments on the video. It was great fun to do. The farmer has just drilled the field with wheat.
Best, Adrian.

[oehrick]

Hello and welcome

My old Major has moaned in the gearbox ever since I was a kid, has pulled out hundreds of big trees by the drawbar, rarely been used for long road runs in high and 40+ years later sounds no different.

I was amazed when we got a MIL loader fitted Super (Ex Busseys Tyre depot Thorpe Rd Brian !) which was near silent, right up to the day when the helical pinion shaft into the back box dropped off, it had been necking for years without any warning noise.

Most of the pulling tractors I've seen in the UK seem to use the E1A back end and failures are rare.

If its the right price, bite his hand off

[pantractor]

First of all, thanks gentlemen for your very quick and informative replies.

Unfortunately, I just checked the ad for the tractor and found that it appears to have been sold only a few hours ago. It's often a case of the quick or the dead when it comes to tractors with FEL around here. Still, I really appreciated your replies and I am now much more interested in getting a Fordson rather than just any old tractor.

I have to admit that I was reluctant to consider a Fordson to start with, largely because all the Ford vehicles I'd owned previously had been very unreliable. Then again, I'm not talking about tractors and certainly nothing built 55 years ago. This board has opened my eyes to what looks like a grand, old line of well supported tractors and I'll be watching out for a Major or Dexta in the months to come.

Meanwhile, today I'll be pulling apart the Perkins 4107, in my MF30, ready for a complete rebuild. Need to get her rolling again before summer here... coming up to firebreak time again.

Thanks again, one and all. I'll bear all your suggestions in mind for the next Major I check out.

[Brian]

Many years ago in Holland I saw a tractor puller with a Rolls Royce Merlin engine powering through a standard Major gearbox and rear end!

That is 1400 hp (about) against the 38 hp it was designed for! They are tough!!