Vintage Tractor Engineer

I’ve just got my 1953 MF 28 running, but have struck a problem. It has jammed
in gear, 3rd or 4th, not sure which. Happened after I had it in reverse for about 70m, took it out of reverse facing slightly downhill, and then it somehow got stuck in gear. The next job was to change the gearbox oil which looks milky. Looking in the oil port - can’t see any obvious problems.Thanks,Derek

I think I’m correct in saying that the the Ferguson 28 is the equivalent of what we call the TE20 in England or the TO20 in the states (correct me if I’m wrong) - in other words the ‘Grey Fergie’.

Is the gear lever tight or slack? If it is slack then the gear lever will have come out of the selectors. If it is tight then it may be that it all needs realigning. Either way you will need to remove the gear lever, check it for damage and make sure that all the selectors are alligned in their central position. If one of the selectors is out of its central position (therefore the tractor is in gear as you say it is) then you will need to take it out of gear before refitting the gear lever. You may need to use a pry-bar to take it out of gear whilst gently rocking the back wheels to-and-fro to help it release out of gear.

If all the selectors are lined up and it is still in gear it points towards a broken selector. You will need to take the gearbox top off, split the tractor between the gearbox and rear transmission housing so that you can take out the selector rails. It is, however, rare for a selector to break.

Hopefully it should be a relatively easy repair.

Steve.

Steve,

Thanks for that info - yes the TE20. The gear lever was loose, and as you suggested it was a problem with one of the selectors that the selector must have jumped when I was swapping between forward and reverse gears. It was simple to take the filler cap off and pry the far selector back into line - problem solved. Simple - when you know how.

Thanks again

Derek

Hi, I have a ford 4000 diesel, and I want to fit a front blade which has a push pull ram fitted, the tractor has an external hydraulic connection point which operates thru the spool valve fitted from factory, but as I wish to operate a double ram there is no where for the oil to return to the diff housing.

I have bought a double spool valve but the only place I can see a way to return the hydraulic oil is is back thru the filler plug on the rear axle. Is there something I’m missing and would this be ok.

Thanks, Ross Kerle.

Hi Ross,

I’m not that familiar with the 4000, but our neighbour has a Ford 5000 with a similar system fitted at a Ford main dealers to operate his front end loader. This 5000 tractor has the oil return routed back in through the filler cap just as you were thinking and it works fine. So if there is no other obvious return point then I would use the filler plug.  The photo below shows the adapted filler cap with the integrated oil return on the Ford 5000.

P.S. The simplest solutions are sometimes the easiest and the best!

Steve.