RowdyRebel Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 Title censored to avoid pissing anybody off, but that's about all I've got to say right now. Coming into town, I let off the throttle and heard an eerie howl...almost like a really quiet tornado siren...or a really problematic locomotive. Rolled my window down to hear better, and eased back into the throttle...noise went away. Turns out, it wasn't anything outside of the truck, but rather with the truck itself. When I let off the throttle, it's taking itself out of gear...almost as though I'm trying to range split, but I'm not. Get back on the throttle and it puts power to the ground. Let up, and it's like I'm in neutral...RPM'S drop to idle. Apply a little throttle and it comes up and catches the gear. In other words, the engine can drive the wheels, but the wheels will not turn the engine. High split. Low split. High range. Low range. Makes no difference...acts the same. Not what I needed right now, but I guess that's trucking. They have another driver coming to repower this load, and I'll drag an empty trailer back. Hope it gets me back without tearing anything else up... Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeamsterGrrrl Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 "Peanuts" in the inter-axle differential worn out? Range shift? Would be interesting to see what it does in reverse, but might not want to try reverse until you get 'er home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted May 4, 2017 Author Share Posted May 4, 2017 We'll find out what reverse does when the other driver gets here and I try backing under the empty trailer. I'm thinking perhaps the splitter synchros (assuming it has synchros), since it comes out of gear when I let up on the throttle like it should when I split the gears, and catches the gear again when I get back on the throttle...except I'm not trying to split the gears. 2180B transmission. Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted May 4, 2017 Author Share Posted May 4, 2017 Update: Probably not the transmission. Dropped the loaded trailer, went to back under the empty...NOTHING. Looked out the rear window, and the driveshaft was spinning. Locked in the power divider and it backed up just fine. Rear driveshaft does not turn...so I'm guessing the front diff is to blame. Guess I'll be getting it replaced...again. Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeamsterGrrrl Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 Think positive... You're getting a chance to see how your truck would work as a 6 x 2! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 Power divider shaft, if that is what it is, is not a bad fix. terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogg rescue Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 Mack rears? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted May 5, 2017 Author Share Posted May 5, 2017 Yup. Mack rears. Made it home...easiest way to drive it was to engage the power divider through the low range, then shut it (along with the warning buzzer) off in the high range. Problem was, there's enough drag on the drive shaft that it was tough getting into the next gear as it slowed quicker than the engine revs would drop. Coasts downhill like I'm in neutral, and if I lift off the throttle the speedometer drops along with the tach...down to idle speed in whatever gear I'm in. Step on the throttle again and it jumps back up to where it's supposed to be as the gears catch and the motor turns the wheels. A little frustrating, and in the hills we've got around here I'm glad I had an empty trailer...wouldn't have been much fun loaded. All that accounted for 2.5 fewer miles on the way home despite going a couple blocks out of the way to hit a cheap fuel stop as opposed to the trip up there. Anyway, I made it home. Taking it to Mack tomorrow and they'll get to it when they can. Times like this make me glad I don't have a truck note coming due...not stressed about being down...actually, I'm looking forward to a few days off. Spend tomorrow with the wife, then the weather is supposed to break tomorrow morning and we should have a few nice days strung together...hopefully get the lawn mowed (usually do that every other weekend, but it's been raining the last 2 weekends...so it's been about a month now). Also, it'll be nice to be around close to home with the river being up...don't see the electronic sign like they put up last time about sounding the tornado siren if the levee breeches. Should wind up being about 4" below where it was a year and a half ago. Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeamsterGrrrl Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 Keep an eye on the river guages... Looked at them this afternoon on the NWS website and the river at St.Genevieve is forecast to crest at almost record level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted May 5, 2017 Author Share Posted May 5, 2017 Trust me...I have been...along with the news. Big Muddy river separates my county with Jackson County. Their side of the levee is in pretty sad shape and they are concerned. That river was supposed to crest up in Murphysboro today, which is the last river gauge on its way into the Mississippi...so not sure how long it takes for the crest to make its way down this way. It sure has wrecked havoc on communities around it north of Murphysboro, though. Grand Tower is holding their breath. http://www.wsiltv.com/story/35335998/levee-damage-poses-serious-threat-to-grand-tower Alexander County to the south had a levee fail a year and a half ago, and it hasn't been repaired yet...they are preparing for the inevitable. http://www.wsiltv.com/story/35336481/without-a-levee-alexander-county-braces-for-major-flooding Around here, we seem to be doing OK. After moving out a year and a half ago and living in a horse trailer for a week, I did some figuring...elevations, levee heights, river levels, etc...and I don't think water would be more than 2' or so at my house. It would take 3' inside my garage before the kitchen floor would get wet, and my house sits on a high spot in the yard...and my yard is at a high spot in town. Chances are, IF my levee were to breech, stuff on the floor in the garage would be wet, but anything 2' or so (give or take) off the floor would be OK. Needless to say, I'm not AS concerned as I was a year and a half ago...but still watching the news and the river levels. Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtymilkman Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 You'll be surprised at how easy of a fix this will be. Replace the peanut kit right away too. The intermediate shaft usually snaps off, pretty easy to replace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted May 5, 2017 Author Share Posted May 5, 2017 I've had so many issues with the front diff over the years it's ridiculous. It went out. Replaced it (ReMack). Snapped the through shaft. Replaced that. Lost the diff again. Replaced it (ReMack). Snapped the through shaft again. Replaced it. Now this, all in 9 years...it's getting old. Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeamsterGrrrl Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 Your Mack's telling you it wants to be a 6x2... (Just kidding). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtymilkman Posted May 6, 2017 Share Posted May 6, 2017 10 hours ago, RowdyRebel said: I've had so many issues with the front diff over the years it's ridiculous. It went out. Replaced it (ReMack). Snapped the through shaft. Replaced that. Lost the diff again. Replaced it (ReMack). Snapped the through shaft again. Replaced it. Now this, all in 9 years...it's getting old. Maybe we need an auto shift? 😁😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted May 12, 2017 Author Share Posted May 12, 2017 Splines on the through shaft were stripped. Picked the truck up today. Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 On 5/11/2017 at 8:01 PM, RowdyRebel said: Splines on the through shaft were stripped. Picked the truck up today. much better than a rear punkin ! terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted May 13, 2017 Author Share Posted May 13, 2017 Yup. With the money I saved, we're picking up a new riding lawnmower tomorrow. Made the mistake of planting horse pasture grass in the side lot where we had a horse last year...then spreading the leftover seed over the rest of the lawn. That crap grows twice as fast as the regular lawn and it doesn't know when to quit. Used to mow every other weekend on the lowest setting with my push mower, but we had 3 rainy weekends in a row starting with the one I was supposed to mow. By the time I cut it last weekend, I had to raise the push mower deck about 2 notches shy of all the way up and it mowed the lawn just fine...but in the horse pen, that $#!+ was knee deep and THICK! Raised the deck ALL OF THE WAY up and STILL had to hold the front wheels about 6" off the ground as I pushed it around and it STILL bogged down and stalled every 15-20'. Then I'd have to tug on the cord to fire it back up...absolutely ridiculous. I need a riding mower that can handle this #¿€¥ing grass. Anyway, the local Massey Ferguson dealer is also a Briggs & Stratton dealer to see about finding a replacement motor for my 1983 Craftsman...18HP (back then...probably 5HP when it finally died) and a 42" deck. I wanted to see what it would take to get my old riding mower back up & running, but nothing currently produced can replace the motor, and when we started tallying up the cost of the parts to rebuild it plus factoring in the cost of machining the block...we were right up there at the cost of a new damn mower. So, we took a look at what they had & found one that'll work. Not too thrilled with the hydrostatic transmission, but it's a 2-pedal, not a heel/toe POS...so I think I'll be able to tolerate it. Going to miss the 6-speed gearbox the old Craftsman had...3-high would flat out move...but it is what it is, I guess. Nobody makes lawn tractors with gearboxes anymore. Sucks, but that's life I guess. We checked some other stores...I'd always browsed them at the box stores (Lowes, etc...) but was never really impressed, and always figured I'd just repower my old one...until now, anyway. Even ran down to the John Deere dealer to have a look at what they had since everyone seems to have them, and they were closer in quality to the box store mowers, seemed under powered, and yet more than twice the price...and EVERYBODY has a stupid overpriced John Deere, so I really don't want to have one. So we ended up back at Massey Ferguson and I'll be picking this up tomorrow: Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtymilkman Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 They're a good mower. Same as a simplicity brand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kscarbel2 Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 5 hours ago, Dirtymilkman said: They're a good mower. Same as a simplicity brand. After AGCO purchased Massey Ferguson, Simplicity began building and selling the Massey Ferguson lawn equipment. Simplicity bought the Snapper company in 2002. Snapper had built Massey-Ferguson lawn tractors many years before. In 2004, was purchased by Briggs & Stratton. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplicity_Outdoor I'm thinking that Massey-Ferguson lawn equipment nowadays might be produced by MTD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 1 hour ago, kscarbel2 said: After AGCO purchased Massey Ferguson, Simplicity began building and selling the Massey Ferguson lawn equipment. Simplicity bought the Snapper company in 2002. Snapper had built Massey-Ferguson lawn tractors many years before. In 2004, was purchased by Briggs & Stratton. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplicity_Outdoor I'm thinking that Massey-Ferguson lawn equipment nowadays might be produced by MTD. Never know exactly what your buying anymore! terry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outbehindthebarn Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Looks like a heavy duty deck. Quote Fun is what they fine you for!My name is Bob Buckman sir,. . . and I hate truckers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted May 13, 2017 Author Share Posted May 13, 2017 13 hours ago, Dirtymilkman said: They're a good mower. Same as a simplicity brand. Yup...they sell Simplicity, Massey Ferguson, and Snapper branded mowers. Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted May 13, 2017 Author Share Posted May 13, 2017 8 hours ago, Outbehindthebarn said: Looks like a heavy duty deck. That's one of the things I liked about it. My last riding mower lasted 33 years...and I expect this one to last just as long (if not longer...I inherited the Craftsman from my grandma after grandpa passed away and the family had been caring for the lawn. Grandpa always took care of it and even rolled the yard in the spring for smooth mowing all year...but the family didn't want to "waste time" on such a chore...so they'd just race around the yard beating the hell out of the mower, neglect maintenance, and when it finally quit running, they parked it outside and made grandma buy a new mower. First time my older brother mowed with the new mower, he bashed in the grille crashing into the house...dumbass...but he'd been crashing the old one into everything, too. I replaced the fuel line and fuel pump, changed the oil, greased it, straightened & reinforced the tie rods and used it another several years. The motor banged and clanged and smoked a lot, obviously down on power, but it got the job done...until it wouldn't turn over anymore. New battery and rebuilding the starter didn't fix the problem...she was dead. Been sitting in my garage ever since Anyway, we picked up the new one today. Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyRebel Posted May 14, 2017 Author Share Posted May 14, 2017 Well, I'm not impressed. Couldn't really cut much faster than my old worn out Craftsman used to do despite having a significant horsepower advantage. Biggest difference is that I had to sit there holding that stupid pedal as I crept along instead of just putting it in low gear and letting it do its thing. Granted, in the lawn that wasn't too out-of-control, it made pretty good time and was SIGNIFICANTLY faster than push mowing...and I finally got to knock down the area between the road & railroad tracks as well as behind the house between the road and farm field. I don't "technically" own that land, but if I don't mow it, it gets to looking like crap and we'd like to get our house on the market this year, so we need to keep things looking nice. Of course since that hadn't yet been mowed this year (I'm NOT push-mowing property and right of ways that don't belong to me for free) I had to raise the deck from its lowest setting up to the middle (of 7) notch and it did just fine. Dropped it back down low to do the back yard and it spit the belt off after about 100 yds. Put it back on and finished the back yard, then started on the horse pen. This is when the thing really started to bug the hell out of me. Spit the belt off again. Put it on, mow 10', spit the belt off again. So, I raised the deck all of the way up. Then, the discharge would get plugged up...and eventually the belt would start slipping, and before long it would spit it off again. Needless to say, I've gotten pretty damn good at stringing that stupid belt around the pulleys. Never had ANY of these issues with that old Craftsman. Some of the "safety" features are already bugging the hell out of me, too...can't even shift my weight on the seat without it trying to die, so I'm going to put a jumper in that circuit instead of having the wires plugged into the switch. Also added a pull-cord to raise the discharge guard when I'm mowing close to anything, although I quickly discovered that trick works real good along a fence line or small trees...not so good next to a house or large tree. Great way to end up wearing the clippings. Tomorrow, I'm going to fabricate a hitch for it. Sure, I could get a 1-7/8" ball with a 5/8" shank and put it right on the back of the tractor...but all of our trailers that are small enough for this thing to handle have a 2" coupler. Smallest shank I've found on a 2" ball is 3/4". That and it's about 2" lower than what would be ideal...so that's tomorrow's project. Anyway, still not impressed with the hydrostatic drive...wish they still made these with gear boxes. Deck design also seems to have taken a step backwards, too, since it clogs up and can't seem to keep the belt on the pulleys. Other than that, it seems to get the job done. I had put the pull cord on before I started mowing, but my phone died before I could snap a pic...so yeah, the mower is a little dirty. Pic was taken the first time I had to put the belt back on. Quote When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kscarbel2 Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 When I think of the Simplicity brand, it's the chrome hub-capped rear-engined riding lawn mowers from the 1960s that come to mind. May I ask, how much acreage are you cutting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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