WD restoration/refreshening

I've had a chance to sleep on it and have decided to pull apart the WD I bought yesterday apart, fix the transmission and cobbled electrical and give it a fresh coat of orange. The guy I got it from said the past owner before him was brush hogging and hit something. The transmission seems to have locked up. The tractor will stall as soon as the clutch is released, both with the hand clutch engaged and disengaged, neutral, in gear does not matter. It appears he has had the pto gear box off, so I suppose I will start there and see if I can see any carnage up inside.

I am guessing I am going to have to split this tractor regardless of what I find. I suppose the first step will be getting the loader frame off of it so I have more room to work.



Edited by AC WD45 - 02 Jan 2024 at 1:49pm

Shifter is sloppy but it does seem to shift in and out of gears OK. I am going to pull the shifter and housing and get a good look at the shift forks. The tractor seems to roll around in Neutral, but will not run unless I hold the clutch in. This issue is present bomatter what gear or combination of clutch I try, as soon as I release the foot clutch it bogs out and dies.

You've got PTO gear issues up inside.

Well, I got the loader frame off tonight and set it aside. It will go on the WD45 in the spring. I began my first visual assesment of the tractor to get an idea of what needs done. The list of what I found on my first once over is included in the photos. Tomorrow or this weekend I will see about what is locking up the transmission. I did notice the block has been repaired at some point. It seems to be holding but I think I will have it ground out and a more thoroughrepair made.



Till next time!

EPALLIS wrote: Thanks for saving another Allis Chalmers WD!  It is appreciated.  A WD never dies, it just loses compression.

I have always been a believer in "if it can be saved, it should be saved". I have watched some real basket case tractors come back from the dead, and this one isn't even close to dead yet!

Looks like a fun project, and your list looks familiar to what I had to do to one of my wd45s. Save yourself a lot of trouble and while you are replacing the wiring harness switch it up to electronic ignition, B+B can fix you up with that too, you won't regret it. Too hard to locate good points and condensers in this day and age. They also make LED bulbs that go into the original bulb holders.

To bad that tractor is not in my shop. I have every part you need. I took a -40 engine apart from a 1952 WD yesterday. $50 for the block. It has a very small crack between 2 and 3. 

Edited by Lon(MN) - 04 Jan 2024 at 6:19am

You've got some work ahead of you if you going to bring it back to match your 45.  Some serious farmer engineering gone on there.  Good luck in unwinding that if that's the direction you're headed.  Who knows what mysteries you'll find.  Got to get to move first.

Well, I pulled the PTO gear box off, found nothing. Everything appears to be in good shape, hand clutch seems to be functioning. Checked main clutch, appears intact and functioning. Went ahead and pulled the shift tower, noticing it wouldn't shift to third. Well, thay issue was immediately diagnosed as a bad shift fork slide. I'll clean up the rust and see how it functions after, but I may just replace with a good used shift tower.

From there, I was able to inspect the transmission. Everything looks to be in fairly good shape for a 72 year old tractor. That said, it still seems to be locked up between the transmission and the main clutch. The tractor will roll fine in neutral. It will turn over and even start with the clutch pushed in, but as soon as I let off the clutch both in Neutral and in gear, it bogs out and stalls. I'm thinking the next step is going to be splitting the tractor to get the pto/hydraulic/hand clutch chunk out and get a better look, unless one of the experts have a better suggestion G_1704404825226.jpg[/IMG]

DrAllis wrote: The problem is ahead of the hand clutch and under the starter.

I assume you're seeing something I am not?

In the picture of the pto gears, it looks like a gear tooth or something is wedged between the  pto gear and housing,  and the housing is cracked.

Try what Doc says…
Have you pulled the inspection plate/ grease hole off?
To see if you can see anything?

Ted J wrote: Dave H (NE) wrote: In the picture of the pto gears, it looks like a gear tooth or something is wedged between the  pto gear and housing,  and the housing is cracked. Is this what you mean Dave?  In the lower right hand corner?  Looks like it's cracked to me also and you can see a piece sticking out. [/IMG]

I see what you are seeing. That's what I thought iy was too, but it's nasty RTV silicone from who ever had it apart last.

DrAllis wrote: Get a bar against the hand clutch O.D. (foot clutch locked/released) and turn the top towards the RIGHT (clockwise) sitting in the seat. Maybe a large punch and 4 lb hammer. Something is wedged.

That's the plan once I get out of work. We're in the slownseason so I should be back at it by noon
Will post back with any results/findings.

There's your problem. Looks like a split maybe ??? Not there to see.