Ford 8000 Shifter Sloppy

[ColoradoHobbyFarm]

I have a Ford 8000 with the dual power transmission. I have owned this tractor for about 10 years now. I mostly use it to run a NH hydro-swing swather. Last fall at the end of hay season I started up the tractor and shifted from neutral into "high" to finish cutting my last field. I felt a pop when I shifted and then there was nothing but slop in that shift lever. It remained in the high gears, and the dual power continued to work, but when I got it back to the stack yard and parked it, that was the last time it ran. The transmission must be in neutral to start and it seems to be stuck in high. The shifter just effortlessly slops up and down between high-neutral-low without anything actually happening.

I pulled the side engine cover and all the linkage from the shifter to where it enters the transmission is intact. Any ideas on what might be the problem and a solution? I have never split a tractor in half and thought that maybe the issue could be fixed by pulling the round side cover or the top cover located under the floor plate. Any help or ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Old Ford Mechanic]

Sounds like the Hi Lo shift fork or the coupler has a problem. Broken fork or stripped coupler to be specific. Could be a key broken on the shift fork arm also. Look down low on the right side just to front of where the tranny mates with the rear housing for that fork arm. Have someone on the tractor to work the shifter while you observe the movement.If the lever moves without moving the fork you have found the problem. Otherwise a rear split is in order.

 

[ColoradoHobbyFarm]

Thank you for the reply! Everything moves from the lever down to where it connects to the shaft sticking out of the transmission case next to the rear outer cover. I believe it is as I feared and something is stripped inside. I assume with the location being where it is, that this is not a problem I can fix by going in through the side cover or the top? Is a split the only way?

 

[Old Ford Mechanic]

Yes you will have to split the tractor. Pull the rear cover off the tranny to access the shift coupler and fork after you get it apart. You will need to drain the fluid out of both compartments before splitting the tractor apart.

 

[ColoradoHobbyFarm]

Do you happen to know of any links or videos that might give me some semblance of an idea of what I am doing if I were to take it on myself? I talked to my local shop yesterday and they said it would be 40-50 hours just to split the tractor and put it back together, plus parts and time diagnosing the actual problem. Shop rate is $100/hour. They also said that parts would most likely come from salvage which means there would be no guarantee on how long the replacements would last. Since I have owned it I have put $1800 into re-doing the PTO, $4800 into a new rear end, and $1400 into one rear tire and one front tire. From my estimation with the tractor running it is worth $5000-$7000. I don't want to get caught throwing good money after bad, in your opinion is it worth fixing or should I cut it loose and look for something else in the 100-120hp range? Thanks again for any thoughts you have.

 

[Old Ford Mechanic]

I do not know of any video for that repair. I do know that parts are still available for that repair. You can search messicks.com parts page and see the available parts. The split is not that bad to do if you have a concrete pad,jacks and/or stands to do the job. If it has a cab it is harder to do. I can split an open station tractor for a pto rebuild and have it back together and running in 10 to 12 hrs if i have all my parts before i start. Your job should not take any longer.I have seen over the years several of these tractors with a broken Hi Lo shift fork. It is a simple repair to do after you get the tractor apart. A warm shop,good tools both hand and air operated help. 40 to 50 hours labor to do that repair is too much.

 

[Old Ford Mechanic]

I feel that i need to explain something about that shifting mechanism. The fork is moved by arm on a rod that connects to the shifting lever on outside of the transmission. This rod is most likely broken inside the transmission between the shifting lever and the fork. That part is still available from New Holland but, its expensive. If i were doing the repair i would look for used parts at a salvage yard.If you do this repair yourself feel free to send me your phone number and i can help with any questions you have.

 

[ColoradoHobbyFarm]

Thank you so much! That's all great information. 40-50 hours to open and close a tractor seemed like a rather high estimation. I will do some looking around on Messicks and see what I can find. I really appreciate the help and I'll most likely take you up on your offer when I get the the shop squared away and ready to tear into the tractor.

 

[papa smerf]

Thankyou much for information. I also am having problems with the high low shifter. Lots of slop. I had the engine majored two years ago. Love the power but now another glitch. This then being the 4th time the papa smerf is been apart

 

[showcrop]

Thankyou much for information. I also am having problems with the high low shifter. Lots of slop. I had the engine majored two years ago. Love the power but now another glitch. This then being the 4th time the papa smerf is been apart

Welcome to YT! you have tagged onto a five year old thread. I encourage you to start your own thread and give as much info as you can. I had a 9000 that I used only for pulling competitions. It had no DP when I got it. The dp had been removed and misplaced. I located one and cleaned and resealed it and installed it. It is a fairly big job and you need a shop manual. You don't really need the special tools.