Need oppinion on T/A in a 400

Just wondering what you guys think might be wrong with this T/A. Included a picture of the T/A to give some insite into what might be wrong. The symtoms are the tractor won't go.

And now for the rest of the story:

I needed to move a "little" tree from the crick. Decided to give a "little" jerk on the chain. I jerked the draw bar in two and blew the T/A to smithereens.

Bet I won't do that again. :>(

Your T.A. unit is definately shot. Both the planetary gears and primary shaft are junk. While you probably helped this along, my guess is that there was plenty of wear in these gears as well. I see this in a lot of the T.A.'s I rebuild. I definately would not drive the tractor in direct drive except for a short distance until you get all those metal pieces out of the tranny.

I believe the units I rebuild go for $575 exchange(with standard ramp installed). However, I don't dally around the office much to give you a concrete answer. Go to bates corp.com to contact them. There are fellows in this talk show who have found better deals, so hopefully they will give you some other possible places to search. Before you call, though, you should pull you deck plate up to find out what condition you tranny is in. There have been occasions where the boys have switched complete rear ends(you trade yours in for one of their used ones). These are mostly for non-T.A. farmalls but you can ask.

Do you put in new ramps or clean up the existing ones and put in oversize rollers? Also, what does it take to go to the sprag type over-running clutch? Is there any machining required to install? Any idea how much the parts go for?

Thanks!!
Brian Schmidt
2-300s both with a slippin' TAs

I use Factory remanufactured ramps with oversized rollers. All the carriers are resurfaced where the ramp rides. The sprague type ramps are the way to go though, if you plan on using your tractor alot. Instead of 8 rollers there are 32 cams. The sprague kit adds approx. $150 to the cost of the T.A.(making it $725 range) and the sprague comes with a new carrier which is ground to match the sprague. If you put the spragues in you will be paying more but in the end I would bet they will outlast much of your tractors. One note: I do not keep the heavy duty T.A. in stock but build the complete unit upon order. It generally adds several days. Call bates corp. @1/800/248/2955 or go to bates corp.com if you have any other questions.

One other thing; If you do decide to put in sprague T.A.'s I recomend ovehauling the whole T.A. system with reman clutch, pressure plate, flywheel and release bearing andipto gear. It can get expensive but you want to have a fresh system to go along with a long lasting sprague. Post any other questions.

I will definately be rebuilding everything while I am in there (TA and engine clutch). You also mentioned the IPTO gears. Do the IPTO gears wear out frequently? I want to do this right and not have to do this again.

Thanks,
Brian Schmidt

Yes, you can get all the parts you need and put them together without special tools, but I'm betting that since you need planetary gears and primary shaft and possibly a back(output)shaft you could get the T.A. unit cheaper than the parts as a whole. The Ipto shaft is the shaft which fits into your engine pressure plate and since it is a constantly running(for live pto)shaft you usually want to replace it any time you split the tractor.there is a seal/bearing kit you will want as well for the shaft mounting bracket.

As Kelly C indicated below he just replaced his T.A. several months ago and will have good information for you. Check out where he purchased his T.A. and perhaps you will be able to purchase the T.A. parts cheaply enough to put back together yourself. Post any problems you may have.

Also on my web site click on the link on the left pane for my Farmall 400 page. I give step by step instructions on how I replaced the TA in my 400.
Also have a transmision rebuild for my 400 there.
Hope this helps.

• Click here to go to my Farmall Heaven