440 ic question

[oka in ak]

Great site. I kind of inherited a 1958 440ic that had been sitting on my wifess homestead for over 15 yrs. my father and I got it running and had a friend help us put new steering bands on the left side. The machine seems to run fine, but was wondering what I should look for or check on the machine. I changed All fluids in it, (everything had a little water in it except for the crankcase).
Also someone told me not to use the reverse in the trans. but to just use the direction reverser??
Thanks a bunch. olee

[Lavoy]

Do not use reverser and reverse as a forward gear, avoid pulling heavy loads in reversed in the reverser. Other than that, use whichever you please.
Lavoy

[JD440ICD2006]

Great little machines that will surprise folks with the work they will do.
As Lavoy stated, DO NOT place it in reverse and at the same time use the reverser to make it go forward. That is an expensive mistake.
Also, when using the reserver, depress the clutch all the way and stop before moving the reverser level. Since the parts are expensive IF you can find them, way not take all precautions?
Follow the JD Service Manual for lubrication and proper adjustments. Use caution when filling the rollers not to blow out the seals.

[oka in ak]

So I should leave the reverser in the neutral position while using reverse in the trans?? Also I did not understand about using both reversers in the forward position.
thanks guys olee

[JD440ICD2006]

I know it can be confusing because we have to use the same word (reverse) for two different assemblies on the drivetrain.
First, the Direction Reverser (DR) is the handle on the left of the dash that allows you to go forward or reverse in the same gear.
Next, never ever place the DR in nuetral. It should ALWAYS be knucked in to either forward or reverse position.
Never have the DR in the reverse postion while the gear shifter is in the reverse slot. It will break more than you want to pay for. Obviously it would allow the crawler to move forward while the gear shifter is in the reverse slot, but it is not designed to do that at all.
So, use the DR in any forward gear. If for some reason you want to place the gear shifter in the reverse slot, just make sure your DR is knuckled in to the forward position.

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

The direction reverser is designed to spin the input shaft of the transmission in the opposite direction when the reverser lever is in the reverse position.

This allows all forward gears to be used to back the machine up at whatever speed you were going forward. It's a very handy tool.

To do this, it uses a set of clutch packs to either lock up the assembly for forward, or to use a set of rather small gears at the center of the assembly to rotate the input shaft shaft of the transmission backwards.

If you use the reverser in reverse *and* put the transmission in reverse, then you would be going forward.

If you did this, though, then you'd be putting way too much strain on those gears at the heart of the reverser unit and they are likely to break as a result.

As noted, those parts are pretty darned expensive and you don't want to break them.

With the reverser lever in the forward position, the clutch packs cause the reverser unit to be set such that those gears are not in use. So, not only is there no strain placed on them, they're not being used at all.

All that said, I never understood what one would gain by running the reverser in reverse with the transmission in reverse to go forward. The second gear and reverse gear in the transmission give the same ground speed.....

You always want to be stopped dead before working the reverser lever. If the machine is moving, even a little bit, the force is known to bend the clutch disc ear tabs in the reverser clutch packs. This will cause the sudden loss of the reverser to work at all.

Meaning the machine winds up stuck where it is, unable to move at all. That is a royal PIA and easily avoided by just stopping the machine before working the reverser lever.

Finally, there is no neutral position for the reverser. I know it seems like there is one, as you can get the lever hung in a central position where it's not locked into either forward or reverse.

This is not a neutral position, but one in which the thing can possibly have it fighting with itself and wind up screwing up pretty much all if it's internals.

That's the most expensive proposition of all, and you *really* want to avoid it. If the thing gets hung in the middle, keep the master clutch pedal depressed and work the reverser lever until it does 'snick' into place, either forward or reverse.

I know this all sounds like a lot, but it's really very simple to not have issues with your reverser:

1: Stop the machine before working the lever

2: It has no neutral, so it needs to be either in forward or reverse.

3: Never, ever, run the reverser in reverse *and* the transmission in reverse at the same time.

later!

Stan