1650 - Differential slop / backlash question
 

This past weekend I finished reassembling the new-to-me 1650 that I had replaced the iso mounts, added the cross brace to the engine brackets, and worked on the steering. It was a lot of fun mowing with it finally but I really need to address the trunnion lever to smooth out the hydro response. I also noticed fairly significant backlash when changing from forward to reverse. The backlash was likely exagerated because of the trunnion lever issues but I'm wondering if this is something that can be corrected fairly easily?

Nothing??? hmmm.... here's another way to describe it.... If I set the parking brake (which I adjusted easily thanks to this forum) I can push the tractor forward and backward enough to indicate there is a lot of slop or backlash in the diff. I'm not sure if this can only be tweaked with shims or if it's normal or what, but any advice from the experts would be great! Thanks, Chris

Chris

I'm assuming you have the internal wet brake on your 1650. Lots of things that contribute to "slop" axle to spider gears, spider gears to carrier, ring and pinion, reduction gears. All of this is part of the slop. Pull the rear cover and if nothing is bad and it's not making noise I'd leave it alone.

Correct... I have the internal wet brake. I'll pull the cover off and take a look... and if nothing looks wrong I'll leave it alone. I'm guessing that once I get the trunnion lever / springs smoothed out it will be less noticeable. Thanks for the advice!

The backlash can be adjusted with shims. This involves taking the axle tubes off so you can remove the bearing blocks and add/remove shims. I think MattG has a write-up on his site, it would be good to take a look at.

The backlash does not need adjusting unless the pinion shaft, carrier, or bearings were changed. What he likely means by 'backlash' is that the hydro is jerky when going from forward to reverse, which is a trunnion slot/linkage problem and has nothing to do with the inside of the transmission.