350B final drive fill plug

Boom-Boom · Post by **Boom-Boom** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 2:33 pm

Having trouble locating the final drive fill plug on my 350B. Page 44 of the owners manual (OM46859) has a picture which shows the "Front Filler and Check Plug" to be a square drive pipe plug on the front of the final drive housing. But when I look for that on my machine I don't find one where the picture shows. The manual also shows a picture of the "Rear Filler and Check Plug", but the arrow just points to the back of the housing and I don't see a plug there on my machine either.

Page 203 of the Service Manual (TM1032) shows an exploded view of the final drive assembly and shows the fill plug, but doesn't show where it goes in the housing.

I've check both right and left finals and don't see a filler plug anywhere. Maybe it's just covered in dirt and I can't see or feel it. The drain plug was easy to find.

Can someone describe or post a picture of where the fill plug is?

dozingdozer · Post by **dozingdozer** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 11:05 am

can you fill using pipe/channel with the dip stick? if it is like my 350c ,you have to use this to fill. 10 gals takes awile but it works. if you put a bent wire in to provide a breather space and then put a funnel in the tube it goes much faster. dd

tjdub · Post by **tjdub** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 12:05 pm

I realize that the 350 final is probably totally different from my 450, but on newer 450s (not sure if B or C?) Deere started putting the filler plug on the final on the back of the machine for easy access. My old 450 doesn't have it, and filling the finals is not a fun job if you don't an oil pump.

I filled mine using one of those flex-hose funnels that you can turn off by twisting the hose. The hose was barely long enough to reach, so I could only put about 3/4 qt of oil in per funnel fill. It took a loooooong time. to fill them that way.

For what it's worth, on my 450 there are TWO pipe plugs there on each final. One on either side of the spindle cover. I'm not sure why there are two.

Boom-Boom · Post by **Boom-Boom** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 3:15 pm

Thanks for the help. Unfortunately this still doesn't solve the problem. The 350C has wet clutches and the trans, finals, and clutches all get filled from the filler neck like dozingdozer said. The straight 350 has the filler plug on the final drive gear oil pan just above the drain plug like where the big arrow points in tjdub's picture.

The 350B has dry clutches so the trans gets filled from the filler neck and the finals get filled from a fill plug on the final housing, not on the oil pan like on a straight 350. I keep looking at the picture in the OM, but I don't see that plug on my 350B's final housing. The OM says each final should take 3qt of JD303. If i find it this weekend, I'll post a picture. If I can't find it, I'll figure a way to gravity feed oil in through the drain plug.

tjdub · Post by **tjdub** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 10:29 pm

Maybe your 350B has finals from a 350C? Just a guess, but if the clutch housings and finals share the same oil on a 350C, that might explain why there aren't any filler holes. That seems pretty far-fetched, but you never know

Post by **Lavoy** » Fri Jun 24, 2011 8:47 am

Not as far fetched as you think. My brother has a B model that we have never found the fill plugs on either.
Lavoy

dozingdozer · Post by **dozingdozer** » Fri Jun 24, 2011 8:59 am

dont know if it will help but i was starting to take off stone guards because i could lnot ocate drain plugs on my 350c finals. before going at it again, i checked the parts manual and voila! found about an inch of caked mud, soil etc. had blocked them and they were right in front of me all along. no hassle although some one replaced the 3/8 square plug with a hex. dd

Boom-Boom · Post by **Boom-Boom** » Fri Jun 24, 2011 10:39 am

I spent about 15mins cleaning the caked on mud off the final housing, but didn't see a plug on either the right or left side. I guess I'll look a little harder w/ a flashlight tomorrow.

I also had the thought that maybe I had 350C final housings on my 350B. The housings on my machine do not look original. Maybe that's why I can't find fill plugs anywhere.

Also from the SN lookup I found out some late '75 350B's did leave the factory w/ wet clutches like a 350C, but my serial number shows it was built in '74. But that doesn't mean someone didn't swap the final housings later.

Lavoy, how does your brother check and fill his finals w/o fill plugs?

Post by **Lavoy** » Fri Jun 24, 2011 1:31 pm

Last time I did it, I pulled the pinion shaft cover off and dribbled it in past the pinion gear, total pain.
Lavoy

crawler123 · Post by **crawler123** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:35 am

I hate bringing up an older thread but..

I can't find the final drive fill plugs on my old 1971 450B either. They are not covered with dirt, I just can't find fill plugs anywhere.

Why would Deere do this? They have drain plugs, those stick out like a sore thumb.
There is no way to determine or know what the fluid level should be.
If like Lavoy said there may not be any fill plugs then I would expect to find these finals empty.
Once again, why would Deere do something like this???
Am I missing something in the manual?

LeonardL · Post by **LeonardL** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 11:36 am

Every 350B I was ever around had fill plugs. They were sometimes covered by the brackets for the draw bars. But they should be in that general area on the side that faces the clutch housing / transmission. Some had a front and rear plug so that no matter which side the final drive was mounted on, there would be a plug accessible from the rear of the machine. Others would only have the one plug and they bored them to be mounted right and left. Some finals have been replaced or accidentally switched without the knowledge of them being right and left. Other than the plug placement there is no difference. You might look to the inside front of the final drives to find this plug. Some machines have rock guards and counter weights that can hide these plugs. They are a flush mount plug and can easily hide with dirt and debris. I have had some be so packed with dirt that I would have sworn there was no plug. I'm not saying that it is not possible. Sometimes Deere... God love them... would do things to make one scratch his or her head. All I'm saying is I never saw one that didn't have a plug.
On another note, a 350 C final drive is different than a 350 B. They are completely different with completely different clutch and brake systems. Only a straight 350 or a 350 B final drive will interchange. 350 C and 350 D are the same.

GlennP · Post by **GlennP** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:43 pm

Same experience as Leonard. I couldn't find my fill plugs on my 350B until I dropped the skid plate and brackets.

crawler123 · Post by **crawler123** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 12:38 pm

Just found my final drive fill plugs for the 450B. Looks like there are actually 2 of them. They are next to the final drive spindle bearing quill. There are two half inch drive pipe plugs on either side of the quill. They were covered in oil packed dirt and very hard to see.

crawler123 · Post by **crawler123** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 7:10 am

I didn't see anyone respond to this so I just wanted to make absolutely sure these are the fill plugs on my 450B.
They are just to the left and right of the big spindle bearing quill.
thanks

LeonardL · Post by **LeonardL** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 7:46 am

I'd say you found them dude!! It certainly won't hurt to remove them to see. The parts break down says there should be two of them.

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