left rear tire locked up while in gear

mike mcmurray · Feb 28, 2009

Tried pulling my tractor (I4) around the yard today with car to get her to fire (for the first time since I owned her). Both rear wheels spun freely when not in gear. But, when I got her in gear to be pulled, the left rear tire would lock up making it impossible for my car to pull her....any ideas? Put a bummer on my day. Mike

Anonymous-0 · Feb 28, 2009

Put transmision in high gear.

Janicholson · Feb 28, 2009

A car is not going to do an adequate job of pulling the tractor unless on pavement. (BUT) even there, it can really mess up a car's trans.
Pulling it in high gear (with a truck) will get it to turn. The differential in the 4 will cause one wheel to turn backwards and the other to turn forwards if the engine is not turning.
Once it is turning for a while getting loose, pulling in 4th will work. JimN

ScottyHOMeY · Feb 28, 2009

Maybe a silly question, but is the motor free, as in not stuck?

mike mcmurray · Feb 28, 2009

Yes, the engine is free. I should have clarified, I was using a jeep cherokee to pull it and it was in 4 wheel......I originally hooked up a starter to it, but for some reason the started would bind up and make a clunk...this happened with two starters. One I know was working properly...I am stuck in more than one way.....Pulling it around the yard should get me to get her to free up????? Thanks, Mike

mike mcmurray · Feb 28, 2009

Yes, the engine is free. I should have clarified, I was using a jeep cherokee to pull it and it was in 4 wheel......I originally hooked up a starter to it, but for some reason the started would bind up and make a clunk...this happened with two starters. One I know was working properly...I am stuck in more than one way.....Pulling it around the yard should get me to get her to free up????? Thanks, Mike

mike mcmurray · Feb 28, 2009

Yes, the engine is free. I should have clarified, I was using a jeep cherokee to pull it and it was in 4 wheel......I originally hooked up a starter to it, but for some reason the started would bind up and make a clunk...this happened with two starters. One I know was working properly...I am stuck in more than one way.....Pulling it around the yard should get me to get her to free up????? Thanks, Mike

Bob M · Feb 28, 2009

Mike - When you attempted to pull start did you have the transmission in high (5th) gear?

Attempting a pull it off in any lower gear (especialy 1st) makes it MUCH harder for the wheels to spin the motor and can result in unpredictable apparent locking of one (or both) rear wheels.

ScottyHOMeY · Feb 28, 2009

Have you tried pulling it with the starter taken off? And given the time of year, I'll ask if it's cold enough where you are that you may have ice frozen up in the bottom of your tranny?

mike mcmurray · Feb 28, 2009

Hi Bob- no I did try it in first gear....I will try 5th...thanks, Mike

mike mcmurray · Feb 28, 2009

Hi Scotty- Yeh, the starter has been taken off.....and the tractor has been stored in doors....in fact I just added new oil to the rear end today......I do recall when I got her in to the barn last summer, I had to use my bucket loader to push her in the barn.....One side (forgot which) rear tire bound up and layed a nasty skid mark across the drive way....probably should have mentioned this before....is it related.....

ScottyHOMeY · Feb 28, 2009

Yipes! That's an important piece of information. Yeah, it could be related.

Could well be you've got a loose piece/part lodged in there somewhere, in which case the otherwise good advice about pulling in fifth will lead to the same results as pulling in first, which is to bust something. (See the post further down in the last two or three pages, about the H rear-end that got busted out the side by spare parts. I don't know if the I-4 rear is the same as an H and has the same clerance issues inside, but from this new information, I'd be concerned about it.

Can you jack that binding wheel where it is and try to turn it backwards by hand or (carefully!) try pulling the whole thing backwards to see if it frees up?

Nebraska Cowman · Feb 28, 2009

You just need a bigger car. No, put the tractor in HIGH GEAR or at least 4th. that will lower the resitance to get the engine turning over. It is natural for one wheel to slide or even turn backwards as ground traction is less than the resistance of the engine. If you had no diferential both wheels would slide.

Janicholson · Feb 28, 2009

With the skidmark information, do not push or move the tractor at all. The Differential case has less than a finger clearance between it and the bull gear near the bottom. If it locked up, it has broken parts in the housing. The drivers platform is going to have to come off to repair what is broken. Even moving it freely is an issue as then it can build up enough force to break the housing and ruin gears. JimN

Nebraska Cowman · Feb 28, 2009

You didn't read the post. It only skids in gear. It's NOT the differential.

ScottyHOMeY · Feb 28, 2009

I think you missed a post. He added that a wheel locked up while he was simply pushing it to the barn last year (I would assume he was doing that in neutral like the rest of us would.)

mike mcmurray · Feb 28, 2009

I appreciate all the input and feedback....Time is surely on my side, but I want to be sure of the ramifications.....what would the worse case scenario be....I am assuming best case is that I can put it into 4th or 5th and pop the clutch....worse case is that it will still get lodged up, etc.....suggestions! (if I pull the platform up, what would I see if things were not good......if they were good.) Is this an easy process...yank the shifter, gas tank,etc....Thanks for all your help. Mike

SDE · Feb 28, 2009

I hope that you do not literally "pop" the clutch. Let the pedal out as if the engine was running. If it slides a tire, you need a higher gear or a better surface, like dry pavement.

Can you jack the rear end up so that both tires are off the ground? If so, put it in high gear, take the spark plugs out and try to rock one of the rear tires. Naturally, you will need to have the tractor resting up against something stable enough to keep the tractor from moving.
Safety first. Don't use excess force. After all if there is something jammed between a bull gear and the housing, you could still break something. Although if it did not break using the Jeep, you should not be able to break it.
If they both can be moved, you may not have anything stuck.
SDE

Anonymous-0 · Feb 28, 2009

Whole different ball game if wheel slid when not in gear.

mike mcmurray · Feb 28, 2009

I appreciate all your help everyone....is there anyway someone could call me collect at 603 487 3536....I feel it would help me piece this situation together a little easier (I hope this is an appropriate request). Thanks, Mike

Chris NW Ind · Feb 28, 2009

When my W9 inner rear bearing went to the moon, the left wheel would lock up periodically under load (i.e. driving around the yard) and it only got worse. After I got it past the shop door, my friend and I pushed it to the back and it didn't lock up once. I did have to spend 2 hours with a file dressing the bull gear. Every time the wheel locked up, a ball bearing was caught up and cratered the teeth.

Moral is: Pulling in gear and out of gear loads the axle and bearings differently resulting in your varying results. You have problems in that rear end. Probably pretty easy to fix in that tractor.

Chris B.

Janicholson · Feb 28, 2009

There are fifty posts in the archives on how to remove the top cover. There are floating parts in the differential that will break the casting and dammage all the gears and ruin the rearend of the tractor. Use the search for box, and read up on the issues involved in differential repair. From prying out pinion carriers, to failed bearings, there are too many possible things wrong to describe all of them They will be in the archives. A recientpost (week or so) shows broken partsin a great pictorial. JimN

mkirsch · Mar 1, 2009

Okay Mike, can you roll the tractor around with the transmission in neutral, or no?

Let's start with a simple yes or no question here.

mike mcmurray · Mar 1, 2009

Yes MKirsh, I can role it around in neutral.....thank you

ScottyHOMeY · Mar 1, 2009

Mike, here's my take.

The guys are right about usually needing to be in a higher gear when pull-starting to keep one wheel from binding up.

It does in move in neutral now . . . so the binding wheel may be a simple matter of being in too low a gear.

But . . . it DID bind up in neutral on you when you first pushed in into the barn, so you may well have loose parts running around in the case, and you need to investigate that before you move the tractor too much more. If there is something running loose in there, it's only a matter of time befoe it gets caught up again and busts out the side or bottom of your tranny case

As to how to get in there to look, I don't know the x4s well enough to tell you how best to go in. You might be able to see some by pulling the PTO and looking in, but that would be a limited view and I don't know how much room there is in there for mirrors -- not much I suspect.

If you're up to the job, going in through the top and cleaning things up and keeping track of anything other than sludge that you get out. If it is a roller ball, you then have to determine which bearing it came from, If a tooth from a gear, which one . . . Time consuming and awkward, but a satisfying enough job. Search for threads (there's plenty of them) about what's involved in lifting the deck. The service manual will have that, too.

left rear tire locked up while in gear

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