Super 55 shifter issue and diff or tranny locked up.....

[BigPapa53]

I sold my 1955 Super 55 to a fellow 2 months ago. He's used it four times to bush hog his 5 acre horse pasture. He called me today with a couple of problems.

First, the starter has gotten to where it won't engage the flywheel. It's an issue with the bendix and I'm taking it to be fixed Monday.

He and his wife pulled it off with his Jeep and he mowed 2/3 of it. He had made a couple of circles around a tree and started down a hill when he said it started bogging down and died. He said he thought that one of the wheels seemed to be trying to turn backwards before it died. He's on a hill, nose down, and now it will not go into neutral or shift into another gear and it will not roll with the clutch pushed in. Now the starter won't engage at all so I can't even get it started to try to get it unlocked or at least off the hill so I can realign the shift rails.

I've had the shifter jam up on me twice, both times I was going down hill and tried to shift into a higher gear. When I got to the bottom of the hill I removed the shifter and easily realigned the rails. I never had an issue with the diff or tranny locking up. He said that he MIGHT have hit the shifter before this happened.

Anybody else had a similar issue? My plan is to get the starter repaired and try to get it started and move to level ground where there's not a load on it where I can realign the rails. Hopefully it's not actually locked up, just a jammed shifter.
 

[super 55]

Just wondering. Is this a first tractor for this fellow? He might think you shift on the fly. Could be why the shifter jumped alignment. Sure is nice of you to fix things after the tractor was sold.
 

[BigPapa53]

No, he's had others and I warned him against that when he bought it. I know he's had a Ford 3000. I'm wondering if he did something to it pulling it off?

He got that starter HOT, though. It was still pretty warm over three hours after he called me. I smelled it when we walked up to the tractor.

Yeah, I'm just trying to help him out. If he's damaged the starter then he's paying for that. I'll take care of the bendix since it was doing that occasionally before he bought it. He's not expecting me to do anything. He just called me because I know the tractor and he didn't know anyone else to call. Heck, it was good to see it again.
 

[super 55]

BigPapa, it could be the ring gear. What happens is it will stop on four different spots around the ring each time and can wear out in those locations. Can you look through the fly wheel timing hole and
see if the ring gear is worn?
 

[BigPapa53]

I can't figure out which hole that would be, super.

I got the starter rebuilt. The tractor now starts fine but nothing moves at ALL when letting out on the clutch. I'm going to drag it to level ground and see if I can't move the shift rails to free something up.

What if I jack one wheel up where I can rock it back and forth while trying to move the shift rails? Looks like that would be better than just being on level ground with no load on it or am I wrong? Would I need to get both wheels off the ground?

If that doesn't work, I guess we'll just have to pull the top off and see what we find.

Exactly how much does that top weigh? We have nothing mechanical to lift it with and no way to get it on a trailer.
 

[BigPapa53]

Well, I finally found a thread about a similar problem. Maybe this could be what's happening.

http://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/viewtopic.php?t=485382
 

[BigPapa53]

Well, I got it rolling again this morning. I do believe the new owner attempted to shift it while moving. I ended up jacking one wheel off the ground and rocking it. Once the load was off, the outside rails easily shifted into neutral just like before when it happened to me. I think instead of pushing in the clutch and letting it coast to the bottom of the hill he tried to keep going and it bound up. Everything works as it should once again and he definitely knows now that he CANNOT shift while moving.

Pretty sure he burned the starter up trying to start it with the gas off.