Farmall H Trans/Rear End

I have a 1942 Farmall H that I've owned for about 22 years. All the time I've owned it it's had a growl/whine in all forward gears. Last summer I had to take it to town to get some welding done on the Du-Al front end loader that's on it, and I couldn't keep it in 5th gear. I had to constantly pull the gearshift to keep it in gear, otherwise it would pop out of gear. It doesn't pop out of any other gear. So I figure it's time to do something. I want to break the H in two and replace the rear-end/trans as a unit with a salvage unit. I have found a couple of them on ebay but they were 600-800 miles away and fuel costs would have added $300 to the cost. I'm in S.W. Missouri. in 1996 I broke it in two and put a rebuilt engine in it, so I'm not unaware of the problems and dangers involved. I have the proper equipment. Is anyone here aware of any Farmall H tractor being parted out within about 200 miles of Springfield, Mo? The two units I found on ebay were listed at $275 and $300. Neither one got any bids.

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with any luck, one of the members here , rich, aka "old" will see your post. he may have a parts h. he is prolly not far from you, he is near lake of the ozarks.

IMO it would be a lot easier to change the components than the entire unit. All you have to do is take the top off and put the new parts in.

From what it sounds like is that something is worn. You shouldn't need to split the tractor but like others said take the top cover of the transmission off and take a look inside. could be a shift fork that is worn or any number of things. Others that have way more experience will chime in but for starters work from there.

Its not all that uncommon for an H of that age to pop out of 5th. The shifting fork wears as does the 5th small driven gear where it slides into the driving gear. Every time it grinds going into 5th, a little more wear ocurrs on those two gears. Hold it in with the side of your leg until it absolutely won't stay in any more. We had a '41 H that we used on the loader for years that we had to hold in 5th that way. When we finally couldn't keep it in by pushing down with the side of the leg, we just quit using 5th. The other gears will work fine W/O 5th. Bearings are probably getting wore, too. All the gears are square cut and weren't made to run quietly. What gear lube do you use? If you are not using it and you fill the rear end with 80-90 or 90-140, it will probably be a lot quiter. IMHO, lots of IH parts guys want to sell HY-Tran for use in the rear ends of these old tractors and that's way too light for these old girls. If that's what you have in there, it'll whine and clunk to beat the band. BTW, when I was a kid growing up in the '50's, we farmed 800 acres with 4 H's, so I have some experience with them when they were actually working for a living. (My $0.02 worth. jal-SD)

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the info. I did drain it and fill it with 90wt gear oil some years back. I have rebuilt 3 and 4 speed Chevy transmissions before and there is a learning curve to rebuilding those... I just didn't want to have to learn the curve on the H, but maybe that's what I should do. The temptation just to put another rear-end under it IS tempting tho. The whine/growl has always bothered me a little. I have thought it was probably run low on gear lube for a long time and ruined the bearings, but I've never pulled the top plate and inspected the innards.

That would be true until you price the cost of new or used gears, bearings, etc. The it becomes obvious that it"s much less costly to go the entire rear half as one unit.

If you are needing parts, there is a guy that advertises on Craigslist in Kansas City that parts out Farmall tractors. He is located just north of Harrisonville. I have done business with him twice, and have family that have done business with him, all completely satisfied.

Hey "Bert, when you get home we"ll go to a couple salvage yards here I know about, there"s a line of 8 or 10 H"s. [Welcome to the web site.]
Geo.

(quoted from post at 18:24:31 05/07/13) That would be true until you price the cost of new or used gears, bearings, etc. The it becomes obvious that it"s much less costly to go the entire rear half as one unit.

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If you buy the used parts out of a housing or the entire housing the price will be about the same. How do you figure it would be more to rebuild it? Yes, it would cost quite a bit since the axle bearings are $100+ each but how do you know your used rear end isn't toast? I would put money that it will leak like a sieve. Especially when compared to your overhauled rear end.

There is zero learning curve to doing a trans in a Farmall. It is all really simple.

(quoted from post at 19:08:30 05/07/13) Hey "Bert, when you get home we"ll go to a couple salvage yards here I know about, there"s a line of 8 or 10 H"s. [Welcome to the web site.]
Geo.

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My big brother loves me!

(quoted from post at 18:33:47 05/07/13) If you are needing parts, there is a guy that advertises on Craigslist in Kansas City that parts out Farmall tractors. He is located just north of Harrisonville. I have done business with him twice, and have family that have done business with him, all completely satisfied.

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I believe I emailed him. If it's the same person he said he had "a good one" for $450. Since the two I have seen on ebay were $275 and $300, I am a bit reluctant to pay $450 for one.