Farmall 656 transmission overhaul--should I replace bearings if they seem ok?

[zooeyhall]

I had to dig-in to the 5 speed transmission on my Farmall 656 to replace the 4th gear sliding gear. (It had a broken tooth).

I'm also replacing the main shaft pilot bearing, as a matter of course.

However, I am wondering if I need to replace the countershaft bearings, and also the main shaft rear bearing. They all seem to be in fine condition. Also the main shaft rear bearing is kinda expensive ($300), and removing it would mean checking the mesh with the differential and all that. Also--removing the countershaft is another major piece of work. The countershaft bearings also appear to be in good condition, and the 4th gear on the countershaft also seems to not have any excessive wear. If everything seems ok, do I need to mess with any of this other stuff.

Just asking for other's opinion on this. I use the tractor for farming---mainly light field work (spraying, disking).

 

[used red MN]

Any idea of the hours on it? What kind of use will it see? Parades, occasional tractor ride and light odd jobs it will probably be fine. On the other hand 50 to 150 hours a year of fairly heavy tillage implement use probably should give changing the fairly heavy consideration.

 

[zooeyhall]

Any idea of the hours on it? What kind of use will it see? Parades, occasional tractor ride and light odd jobs it will probably be fine. On the other hand 50 to 150 hours a year of fairly heavy tillage implement use probably should give changing the fairly heavy consideration.

Not sure if the tranny has been worked on before, since I bought the tractor used. Assuming it hasn't. Assuming the hour meter hasn't been changed, it currently has about 2800 hours on it.

I farm 130 acres. The 656 is mainly used for spraying and tandem disking in the spring. And hauling wagons (short distance) during harvest.

 

[rustred]

I had to dig-in to the 5 speed transmission on my Farmall 656 to replace the 4th gear sliding gear. (It had a broken tooth).

I'm also replacing the main shaft pilot bearing, as a matter of course.

However, I am wondering if I need to replace the countershaft bearings, and also the main shaft rear bearing. They all seem to be in fine condition. Also the main shaft rear bearing is kinda expensive ($300), and removing it would mean checking the mesh with the differential and all that. Also--removing the countershaft is another major piece of work. The countershaft bearings also appear to be in good condition, and the 4th gear on the countershaft also seems to not have any excessive wear. If everything seems ok, do I need to mess with any of this other stuff.

Just asking for other's opinion on this. I use the tractor for farming---mainly light field work (spraying, disking).

to ideally check a brg it need to be removed washed good dryed up an drop of oil in it then spin it to check for roughness plus a visual. but if you confident these are ok i would do the same and leave them alone. a note, most brgs give up when they are out of lube. another note, if this was in a shop they would be replacing all brgs to cover their rear. nothing saying its mandatory. and 2800 hrs is nothing for a brg. running in good clean oil. thats my experience .

 

[rustred]

and i forgot, make a good check on the pinion brg. as that the one that would go first due to the side pressure. and if you have no experience setting up a diff . then it is cheaper and safer to leave it alone if all is good.

 

[Greg Reed]

I found your post, after I made a similar one over in the Ford forum. I'm rebuilding a Ford 850 5-speed to replace a broken 3rd gear, using E-Bay sourced used mainshaft and countershaft assembly. I have exactly the same question - is it worth replacing the bearings, or leaving them as-is.
What did you decide? Have you re-assembled everything yet?

 

[zooeyhall]

I found your post, after I made a similar one over in the Ford forum. I'm rebuilding a Ford 850 5-speed to replace a broken 3rd gear, using E-Bay sourced used mainshaft and countershaft assembly. I have exactly the same question - is it worth replacing the bearings, or leaving them as-is.
What did you decide? Have you re-assembled everything yet?

Not sure about how a Ford 5 speed is constructed, but I'm assuming it's very similar to that on a Farmall. Where you have a top "main shaft" with sliding gears, and lower "countershaft" of fixed gears.

I ended up replacing the bearings on each end of the countershaft, and also the front "pilot bearing" on the top shaft. On the Farmalls, the front pilot bearing on mine the rollers fell out, so it had to be replaced anyway. Since I had to replace 2 gears on the fixed countershaft, I just went ahead and replaced the bearings on each end of the shaft. Just because they were easily accessible, and not very expensive.

Except for the pilot bearing, the other bearings seemed fine. And at least in my case no obvious wear. I didn't replace the large rear bearing on the main shaft (that supports pinion gear on the differential). The bearing was still tight and running smooth. Also it was expensive ($300), and replacing it would have required re-checking the pinion mesh and differential backlash---not an easy thing to do!

I am in the process of reassembling the tractor.

I think that unless there has been some serious contamination of the transmission oil, and that if the bearings still seem tight and roll without problems, it isn't necessary to replace them. Just make sure that if you intend to reuse the old bearings, be sure to press them off and back on using the proper tools. To avoid any damage. And to clean them properly in solvent. There are instructions available on the internet on how to properly clean and check a roller bearing. Be sure to keep them oiled and wrapped until you are ready to install.

 

[Greg Reed]

Not sure about how a Ford 5 speed is constructed, but I'm assuming it's very similar to that on a Farmall. Where you have a top "main shaft" with sliding gears, and lower "countershaft" of fixed gears.

I ended up replacing the bearings on each end of the countershaft, and also the front "pilot bearing" on the top shaft. On the Farmalls, the front pilot bearing on mine the rollers fell out, so it had to be replaced anyway. Since I had to replace 2 gears on the fixed countershaft, I just went ahead and replaced the bearings on each end of the shaft. Just because they were easily accessible, and not very expensive.

Except for the pilot bearing, the other bearings seemed fine. And at least in my case no obvious wear. I didn't replace the large rear bearing on the main shaft (that supports pinion gear on the differential). The bearing was still tight and running smooth. Also it was expensive ($300), and replacing it would have required re-checking the pinion mesh and differential backlash---not an easy thing to do!

I am in the process of reassembling the tractor.

I think that unless there has been some serious contamination of the transmission oil, and that if the bearings still seem tight and roll without problems, it isn't necessary to replace them. Just make sure that if you intend to reuse the old bearings, be sure to press them off and back on using the proper tools. To avoid any damage. And to clean them properly in solvent. There are instructions available on the internet on how to properly clean and check a roller bearing. Be sure to keep them oiled and wrapped until you are ready to install.

I ended up ordering all the bearings and cups. With A LOT of internet searching, I found all the standard bearing numbers to cross-ref the Ford numbers, and then found NTN-Bower & Timken parts on Zoro.com for decent prices.