Front Transmission seal replacement, Farmall A

Has anyone had to replace the front Transmission seal on a 1944 A. I was wondering if I can split the houseing at the transmission or do I have to split it at the engine then remove the drive shaft befor splitting it at the trans?

Joel, Texas

Ive done it several times split at the tranny. Driveshaft u-joint is there and not hard to take apart. If theres any side play in the bearing good time to replace it also.

when I split it at the tranny,will the shaft slide out of the tranny? like the final drives?. I just replaced both seals on the final drive. Please dont ask me why I did,nt go ahead and replace the front while i had it all down?

Thank you

Joel, Texas

You can do the split at the front of the tranny, with no more than the usual jigging around to get the front of the main shaft alligned back through the clutch disc and into the pilot bushing. An important point, if you go at it that way. is to be absolutely sure that nothing happens to release the clutch -- keep that disc right where it is or you'll have to split behind the motor anyway to get things lined back up. Other thoughts -- use plenty of penetrant on the tapered bolts holding the yoke/flex joint together, if needed, to get them out. They're available from a dealer if they should break or strip severely, but they're precious to buy. as far as line up for re-assembly, if the clutch hasn't moved but you're having difficulty liining up the splines on the shaft to get it though the clutch disc, engage the PTO (if it has one) and twist on the output to turn the mainshaft to line the splines up. From there it will take only the usual acking/wiggling/swearing to get the front of the shaft in to the pilot bushing to bolt things back up.

There's a pic at the link of the front of the tranny on my BN after replacing that same seal.

I haven't looked further back on the board to find any more that might be there about your tractor and where you are with getting it into good running shape. It does sound like you're going at it quite methodically -- one can only admire that.

If you click around the links on my crude pages, you'll see that my BN was a differenct case from what I think you're working on. My project required tearing each section/segment down, cleaning and overhauling each before putting it all back together. Complete motor job, every seal, gasket and bearing on the entire machine replaced.

If you've already got your motor tight with no leaks and you're confident of your throwout bearing and clutch, then splitting at the tranny to replace that seal is absolutely the way to go. If you're starting at the back and working your way forward, then you may be better off (both for efficiency and ease of putting things back together) splitting at both ends of the torque tube, and fixing other things you can get to in that situation.
Pic at the top left

Good stuff...Thank you much. Yes I've already went thru the engine,valve job, rings,(sleeves were ok) new radiator. New brakes on both.Runs great. I dont have what it takes to start it with the crank handle.... but everytime i fix one leak another shows it face.... O, it does have a PTO so that should help with excessive words during reassembly.

Thank You again

Joel, Texas

No, the main shaft will pull back from the motor. Once apart, you have a choice based on the way you work and the space available.

You'll need to support the motor and torque tube in place, then roll the rear end back (jack stand supporting the front of the tranny, all resting on a dolly to allow it to roll -- in the absence of honestagawd splitting stands, a furniture dolly under the jack stand will work, there's not a lot of weight on the front of the tranny when split) with the shaft still attached. Rolling the rear back far enough to pull the shaft completely out is not the best way to go.

Better is to roll the rear (somebody on each tire to keep things as straight as possible), back enough, just the 8-10" to get your wrenches onto the bolts on the flex joint. To replace the seal (and bearing, if needed, as Gene pointed out -- what better time, eh?) you only need to remove the bolts that connect the joint to the tranny. That will reduce the risk to potentially damaging two costly bolts instead of all four, and allow you to roll the rear-end further back to better get at the job.

The tapered bolts in the flex joint are easily removed. Hold the casting (transmission side) so it cannot rotate after removing the nuts & washers, use a good quality combination or box-end wrench to turn the BOLT head thus breaking the taper loose from the casting. This method works every time with very little effort so don't try to pound on the threads or use heat!