Homelite/7016 differential.

[kwt 298]

Is there a way to get less slip between the tires? It doesn't look like there is a nylon plug adjustment. My 73 Vickers Homelite has a welded diff, so I'm not used to any wheel spin.

[Bill725 907]

I was told long ago by a person who had a Simplicity tractor puller, he added a second set of springs in the differential. I am not sure if he removed and replaced the spacer between the differential pinion and the existing spring with another spring. Maybe one of our tractor pullers can shed some light on this subject.

[kwt 298]

I'm pretty sure that I can lock the diff by rearranging the gears. I'm wondering about limited slip.

[gwiseman 1,443]

1 hour ago, kwt said:

Is there a way to get less slip between the tires? It doesn't look like there is a nylon plug adjustment. My 73 Vickers Homelite has a welded diff, so I'm not used to any wheel spin.

I'm pretty sure you will need to shim the springs inside the differential to adjust. Take a look at this post regarding shimming non-adjustable differential: https://simpletractors.com/forums/topic/50115-7000-series-differential-question/?tab=comments#comment-50118  

I've only had 1 of the later differentials apart b/c I had the opposite problem: positrack. I found someone had been inside and used an off the shelf spring and that didn't work well. FYI - springs are NLA. 

 

[TimJr 206]

Improperly assembling the inboard differential sun gear and spacer will lock it up, but also causes poor tooth engagement between the sun gear and planet gears, which would weaken the whole set up.  Basically what happens is the sun gear that drives the axle shaft gets put in the wrong place and straddles each side of the differential planet gear sets, locking it up.  I think it also ends up with the sun gear not fully engaging the axle key.

As for tractor pulling - you will get mixed opinions on this.  I would not want the rear end of a puller locked - I don't believe you would be able to "steer" it with weight shifting as well as you can with an open diff.  Also, the clubs I ran with had specific rules against locked diffs - they were not standard on any garden tractor and none were allowed.

I would think a locked diff on an everyday use tractor would make for one that tears up the lawn when turning (since the rear end can no longer differentiate) and may not steer well at all on slippery surfaces - it would just try to push straight.

[MikeES 417]

I witnessed many "out of bounds" garden tractor pulls with a locked diff, for safety reasons most pulls do not allow a locked differential . 

With our pulling tractors we broke a diff with the springs in place.  I removed the springs and put in the spacers, and put a thin washer between the sun gears so they engaged the planetary  gears completely, no breakage after that.  And we never had the "one-wheel wonder" like the Cub Cadets have, always spun out with both wheels turning.

[kwt 298]

An FYI. The axle on my 73 Homie was always locked since around 1993 when I procured it from my uncle after my grandfather's death. Eventually (like last year) my wheels wouldn't drive. I took the diff apart and found the gears had been locked from damage and the damage finally broke loose. I basically bypassed the whole mess and was back in business.