H road gear problem

I recently bought an H Farmall. Being only 25 mi from home, I decided to road it home. It doesn't want to stay in 5th gear, but it doesn't take much to hold it in. Where should I start looking for the problem. (I'm new to Farmall) Thanks in advance. Dale

5th gear is likely worn out from grinding from 4th to 5th over the years. I had to replace mine about 35 years ago. The gear is available from this site for $104.22. Not too hard to replace.

Could also be a bent shift fork, bad shift detent ball or groove, or the pilot bearing. I have all of the parts used if you find you need anything and don't want to buy new.
Zach

I would start by pulling the shifter (only 3 bolts). If the ball end is worn weld up the ball end and reshape to the proper dimensions (there are pics and dimensions on this site).

I would also check the shifter for slop in that spring area. There is a even sloppy shifter kit on ebay for like $30 to $ 40 dollars since those ole Farmalls are so notorious for it. You can make you own remedy if its sloppy as well.

If your lucky correcting these 2 items will fix it.

If your not so lucky then you will have to dig deeper. FWIW 5th gear on a farmall h or m is not another matched gear set like gears 1-4 are . 5th simply sorta locks the 2 shafts to spin together which is why the shifter shifter lever travel is about half or less than it is for all the other gears (even when all parts are within specs). It was a very clever way from a manufacturing perspective to gain a 5th speed without adding the cost of another matched gear set. That said, that clever engagement system is more prone to wear than a matched gear set would be - especially if that tractor has had many years of hotrod shifting from 4th to 5th gear when moving which was often typical on an h as many will not take off from a dead stop in 5th gear.

Parts diagrams are available for free viewing.

It also could be excessive bearing wear. Hopefully the shifter kit fixes it or it could be expensive.

Here is a pic I made of what a good shifter should look like.

Randy