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Wanted: tips for the bent screwdriver trick UPDATE


MikethePlumber

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Hey guys, The Big 10 has been stuck in reverse for over a month now. I've tried the bent screwdriver trick and have had no luck. I cannot see the fork I am trying to get at through the filler plug hole. Any tips for this trick or tips on bending the screwdriver correctly would be great! Thanks, Mike
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Since its stuck in reverse, the rear shift block needs to be pulled back to the center - towards you. The top of the shift blocks are about 1" below the upper fill plug you are going in through, so you want to angle the screwdriver down. I successfully did my B-210 last summer without removing the pulley like a did on my 7013S Shuttle. Here is the B-210 post: http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=117998&SearchTerms=screwdriver and here is the screwdriver I used. The B-210 was also stuck in reverse, but if it had been stuck in 1rst or 3rd the screwdriver would need to be bent in a mirror image of this. moving the shifter around while I was "probing" with the screwdriver helped in this case. It can be frustrating but keep at it and you will get it. Or you can bring it up here! LOL Good Luck!


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Bob and Jim - I'll have to rewatch Zippos video as maybe I missed something. Jim, glad you got it on the first try. Larry - I see you've got alot more bends in the screwdriver than what I saw on Zippos video. I also see that you put a bend in it to help clear the drive pulley. I guess I'm headed to the Dollar Store to buy a bunch of cheap screwdrivers, and start bending them up. If I bring my Big Ten up to your place, do I take your Big Ten home until mine is fixed?? LOL Would it help to get the rear wheels off the ground and move the tires back to move the gears around inside??
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quote:
Originally posted by MikethePlumber
.... If I bring my Big Ten up to your place, do I take your Big Ten home until mine is fixed?? LOL ....
Well, if the price is right, anything is possible. To bad, I went by Manchester last week with an empty trailer. I could have dropped it off. :D
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I'm pretty sure you can't really see too much, it goes by feel. Get a look at a drawing of the shift linkage. Watch zippo do it. Take a light and look in there a bit, see what you can see. Then relax and do it. You'll get it. Beats taking it apart:D
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Why are these machines getting stuck in the first place? For mine, it was stuck in third which is close to the fill plug. It was stuck so bad I had to stick a straight screwdriver in and with a hammer knock it back to center. Simply trying to push it back to center with the bent screwdriver would not work. So needless to say my transmission is now split in two and I need to figure out why it keeps binding up.
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Francis, 40 years of use and abuse would be my first guess. In 25 years of running 3 speed A/C's and Simplicities, I have only had it happen one time. That was a very worn B-12 in a near panic situation. I got too close to a ditch and tried to get into reverse before I was stuck in the mud. Needless to say, I did not back up and I did get stuck. The bent screwdriver was needed after a tow out of the mud. I read your other post and and wish you well in your repair. You may have something bent causing your binding problem. Jim
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This should help explain what's happening inside the tranny when you get stuck in gear. http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=12052&SearchTerms=shift Page 3 has tranny details. http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=10303&whichpage=3&SearchTerms=Jigsaw
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quote:
Originally posted by thedaddycat
This should help explain what's happening inside the tranny when you get stuck in gear. http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=12052&SearchTerms=shift Page 3 has tranny details. http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=10303&whichpage=3&SearchTerms=Jigsaw
Kirk, Thanks for the links. Seeing some pics of what I'm fishing around for sure will help. I'll be making my trip for "dollar store screwdrivers" tomorrow so I can bend up some new ones to get back at the tranny. -Mike
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Okay, so I got the transmission out of reverse and back into neutral. What I found was that I must have moved the shift block with the screwdriver from reverse to second and didn't know it, so this whole time I've been trying to pull the shift block, but I needed to now push the shift block back into neutral. Here are some things I learned from this process: 1. Get that pulley out of the way if you can. My tractors rear pulley is an 8", and once I removed the pulley, I could actually see into the hole with a flashlight. I sprayed WD-40 into the hole to clear the dark grease off so I could see more clearly the parts inside. 2. A hand torch is more than sufficent for heating up screwdrivers to bend them. I was out of oxygen on my oxy-acetylene torch set up, and had to result to a hand propane torch. It worked fine and that was all I needed for heating the screwdriver to make bends. 2A. The mounting holes on my sickle bar make a fine jig for bend the heated screwdriver. 3. I copied Larry8200's bent screwdriver design. I tried both the slight bent screwdriver as found on Zippos video, and Larry8200s design with more profound bends. Larrys design seemed to work better for me. 4. Use this site!! What a valuable resource this site is. Everyone responding to my post, sending private messages, and the ability to search similar posts was invaluable to getting my tractor fixed. Pictures were a huge help. I couldn't have done it without you guys!! thanks, Mike
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