Fordson Pinion

[MT RON]

I've got an old Fordson that I'd like to move,It don't run & the wheels slide,I'd like to get it in my shop but don't want to slide it on concrete & take a chance on breaking somthing.My question is,can the pinion be removed from the rear without having to totally dissasemble the rear end?Thanks for any info.Ron P.S.I was at an auction a few years ago & they pull started a Fordson,I don't under stand why some will turn & some won't.
 

[Bryant Besse]

I don't profess to be an authority on the Fordson F, but I am in the process of restoring one. Before I drained the oil from the transmission, the tractor was easily moved by hand. After the oil was drained and the tractor had set for a couple of weeks I was breaking the tractor to disassemble the clutch and transmission. I removed all the transmission housing bolts and had everything blocked up and the rear half of the tractor would not budge at all. I tried everything to no avail. Be sure that the transmission is in neutral. I took off the rear worm cover/hitch plate and blocked both axles off the ground. When I spun the wheels the worm shaft and rear bearing were ejected out the back nice as could be. There was no undue pressure or straining. After that I was able to totally disassemble everything without any further trouble. I think that your worm and ring gear are dry or not able to move because of tar or sludge. That bronze ring gear and steel worm have to be pretty well lubricated to move and allow the ring gear to INDUCE ROTATION. Try pushing a model train worm gear drive and it will undoubtedly self destruct. Try just removing the end cap and see if moving the wheels forward doesn't eject the worm gear shaft. It worked for me.
 

[cdmn]

If it's got "industrial" gear ratio, you might be able to pull start it. Otherwise, don't try pulling except slowly in neutral. Industrial tractors were made to drive 25 mph on roads. Model T trucks and Peugeot cars used worm drive rear ends and the ratios were fairly high speed.
You have to use worm gear oil in the rear ends. Otherwise it may not be slippery enough. At one time this was whale oil. That's now illegal and old stocks have been used up. There are synthetic substitutes using animal fats.
 

[cdmn]

Be certain that your transmission isn't stuck in two gears at once.
 

[Mike Farmer]

The short answer to this really is 'never pull model F's or N's' You may get away with it a lot of times, but the day it fails you will have a whole lot of bits of expensive worm drive pinion laying in the bottom of the gearbox/final drive housing. MTF