L345DT in need of TLC

biffog · Dec 11, 2019

The gasket repair seems to have worked, fingers crossed.

I have another question

- I'm slowly working through all the issues on this tractor
It looks like the front end was removed at some stage, maybe to fix a water pump. There is this extra spring attached to the speed controller and whats looks like an extra home made welded rod to to stop the machine. I assumed the spring may have been replacing a governor spring which can be damaged if not removed (and judging by the careless nature some of the"characters" who have worked on this machine put things back together that would not be a surprise) and the new stop rod was a replacement for something that got broken. Looking at the operators manual my tractor has a pull straight back to stop type lever like the L355, not a pull up to stop lever. This may be because it has an after market cab. If someone could post what it should look like at the speed control plate, I can reverse engineer from there.

biffog · Dec 11, 2019

by the way I checked the governor and start spring and both are intact and correct type, I replaced anyway.

North Idaho Wolfman · Dec 11, 2019

Here is the best I can find of the linkage, maybe someone with this model will post a picture up of the actual setup.

rbargeron · Dec 11, 2019

Here's a pic of the control lever area - right click for slightly bigger view.

biffog · Dec 11, 2019

thanks for the info guys, do you have a picture of the actual speed control plate, same location as my picture but with the correct setup

rbargeron · Dec 11, 2019

There's a picture here of the speed control plate 15221-27110.
No springs - pretty simple. The end of rod 15 above goes in the hole.
Hand throttle stays in position by friction.

North Idaho Wolfman · Dec 11, 2019

In my picture 11 and 17 is where they attach to the speed control plate.

That model only has one control rod, not the two like yours.

biffog · Dec 12, 2019

Ok, understand it now, was looking at the parts diagram wrong.
So basically the handle you pull up just pulls the rod back a bit further than the accelerator and cuts fuel supply to kill the engine.
My foot accelerator is a little different because of the floor of the cab, they seem to have tied it into this mechanism and added an extra engine stop rod.
Maybe I'll just leave my "hybrid" solution and remove the spring, see how it works and clean it up. Principle is the same but the spring is fighting the hand accelerator and it keeps dropping off rev's.

rbargeron · Dec 12, 2019

Maybe try tightening the 3 and 4 spring washers & nuts) for more friction.

biffog · Dec 17, 2019

I'll park the accelerator for the moment - need the engine running to figure it out better.
Over Christmas I'm planning to work on the front axle, both axle cases are leaking oil at the joint where the wheel turns, one very badly. I have purchased the oil seals and o-rings in the parts diagram below, just wondering how much disassembly I need to do to replace these - seems pretty heavy in the WSM. Can I just open the axles case at the top of the shaft, release the split ring and bearing, then drop the shaft out the bottom?

Also, the 4 wheel drive does not work, not sure why, I'm expecting it is going to be the driven gear in the transfer case, but would like to test out the front end with it off the ground. I remember somebody had a simple test they did but cant find it.
If turn one wheel by hand should the other turn with it or slip? If I turn a wheel should the prop shaft turn all the way back to the transfer case?

rbargeron · Dec 17, 2019

biffog said:
...... wondering how much disassembly I need to do to replace these - seems pretty heavy in the WSM. Can I just open the axles case at the top of the shaft, release the split ring and bearing, then drop the shaft out the bottom?
View attachment 46326

I've not had L345 front hubs apart for seals. The WSM I have shows the top knuckle removed - and the split ring 013 taken out to get the bevel case off. The bottom cap and top bearing are removed to allow the shaft to be "tapped up" lifting the ring out of its recess. With ring 013 removed, bevel case and shaft slide down and out, leaving the upper-middle bearing and its snap ring in place, but exposing the seals. Attached diagrams help a bit. See next post for 4wd comments.

rbargeron · Dec 17, 2019

biffog said:
.......also, the 4 wheel drive does not work, not sure why, I'm expecting it is going to be the driven gear in the transfer case, but would like to test out the front end with it off the ground. I remember somebody had a simple test they did but cant find it.
If turn one wheel by hand should the other turn with it or slip? If I turn a wheel should the prop shaft turn all the way back to the transfer case?

If you block one wheel and turn the other, the shaft should turn. With 4wd engaged and trans in gear, prop shaft shouldn't be free to turn.

Shaft/coupling/splines are sometimes rusted/worn on these models.

biffog · Dec 18, 2019

Thanks for the info, I'm hoping it is just a worn spline, fingers crossed...

biffog · Jan 22, 2020

Hi Guys, update on front axles. So I disassembled the side with the bad leak, and much to my surprise when I removed the steering arm the entire axles housing fell off. When I looked inside I was missing both upper bevel gears and the "yoke" shaft, there was no oil seal and no collar with the o-ring. This probably explains why the 4 wheel drive does not work...
I checked the other side and the yoke shaft and bevel gears seem to be present, but I can turn the wheel with the transmission and 4 wheel engaged, so probably more problems further back with 4WD.
I got the collar and o-ring along with the seal and managed to put it back together, I also replaced the shim on the steering pin, haven't tested it yet, but its pretty tight.
So I went to the other axle to replace the oil seal and I cant disassemble it. I'm at the step where you tap up the bevel gear shaft to remove the top bearing and collar, I cannot get the shaft to move up. Is there a C clip I need to remove or something I am missing?

I have tried removing the whole axle case from the front axle housing and this is also seized together....I have put a piece of timber on the top of it and hit it with a sledge and it will still not move. Soaked it overnight with thread unlocker and plan to try some heat later, any other ideas to get it off.....

biffog · Jan 27, 2020

I got the axle case off, its a tube within a tube so you need to open the gap with a chisel, then you can slowly lever it off until the o-ring pops out.

The c clips are two half moon clips with a lip that sit into a groove in the shaft and and compression fit into the bevel gear to keep it in place. You could probably get them to pop out and put them back in when finished without removing the axle case, but it will be difficult. Also "tapping" the shaft up to remove the clip and down to remove the bevel shaft is open to interpretation and probably depends on the condition of your machine, I used a dead blow hammer and had to give it a lot of welly. Anyway seal replaced and reassembled, waiting for top bearing. Of course I should have taken photos but I can explain it in the drawings if anyone needs help.

biffog · Feb 10, 2020

Hi all, on my L345DT the tie rod knuckle on the left hand side at the wheel end is heavily worn.

My tie rod is welded at both ends, as opposed to the drag link which has screw in adjustable ends, is this normal?

Kubota wants $300+ for a full tie rod, the end doesn't seem to be available as a part.
Anybody cut the end off and replaced it with an aftermarket part?
I could pick up a massey tie rod end for $20

D2Cat · Feb 10, 2020

I had a B8200 tractor I added power steering to and needed to adapt the tie rod. I took the tapered end to the local auto parts store and asked them to match it up. I then welded that to the existing rod. Absolutely no problems with it.

When welding a round rod here is a method that provides maximum strength.

biffog · Feb 10, 2020

Yep, that's what I was thinking, as long as the taper is the same it should work fine.

Thanks for the tip on welding, that looks a lot stronger than just a straight face to face weld

D2Cat · Feb 10, 2020

Biffog, if you have a parts house that your frequent it's probably your best bet. They'll take the time (ususlly) to measure and check some boxes of parts for a good fit.

The welding tip I got years ago from my F-I-L. He, his two brothers, and their dad were machinist and had their own shop. I learned more hanging out there then I could from school!

GeoHorn · Feb 10, 2020

Another method is to slip a short piece of tubing over the joint as a sheath and weld the tubing to the rod. Best practice in this case is to “angle” the ends of the tubing in a “scarf” type joint, I.E., cut the ends of the tubing at a 45-degree angle rather than straight across so that the heat of welding isn’t circumferential like a “butt-splice” but is at at angle. Hope that makes sense.

L345DT in need of TLC

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