8 Speed Low Gear Shifter

[MaineDad 87]

Guys,

My neighbor's C-145 8 Speed is not working. The high/low shifter will not go into either high or low. The gear shifter works fine. Is it a small drive pin that hold the high/low shifter in place? Any thoughts on what I could do to help?

[TT-(Moderator) 1,169]

The high - low shifter handle is held to the shift shaft by a roll pin but I have yet to see one shear.

More than likely it's either the shift fork - or the part of the shift shaft assembly that engages it - that bent. Both pieces can only be serviced/repaired/replaced by removing the transaxle and splitting it apart.

[MaineDad 87]

Is there a shifter fork for the high/low shifter? I checked the forks for the gear shifter and it is fine.

[MaineDad 87]

One more point to mention, is that the tractor will still roll like it is in neutral even with the shifter in gear. But if the high/low shifter is stuck between, should it still be able to roll?

[TT-(Moderator) 1,169]

Before you jump too deep, does the range selector try to move? Is it sloppy or real hard to move?

Have you checked axle/hub keys and/or the input pulley key?

As for the rest of it............

There's a shifter fork, a sliding gear on the input shaft, a cluster/reduction gear, and the shift shaft (with the arm inside) that sticks out the top. Along with the certain gears on the input shaft, that more or less makes up the high/low range assembly.

Normally they will be stuck in one of the two "ranges" and will still drive through the transmission. Contrary to some people's belief, there is no neutral position between high and low range, so it should try to move - or at least grind.

If you can't find anything wrong with the shifter or the pin holding it to the shaft, you'll need to split it open and look inside. Not much more you can do. :thumbs:

[MaineDad 87]

Thanks TT. The shifter moves with not much effort.

I checked the drive pulley key and that's fine. I even changed the clutch spring because it looked like the original spring. We removed the rear tire on the right side and the hub looked fine. Will have to take a closer look.

[MaineDad 87]

Update: Both axle hubs and keys are fine. Drive pulley key is fine too. I did notice that with the drive belt removed from the pulley, I could spin the pulley by hand with absolutely no resistance. It would not turn the axle at all. So...

We removed the tranny and it took forever to split it apart. By the time we got it apart, we were both hungry and cold, so we did not spend much time finding out what the problem is. But I did notice the high/low mechanism had a ton of play. We'll hopefully dig back in tonight.