198? Lull 844-T-34 4x4 not engaging

[Knel]

So long story short, I bought an old used unit to use on a remote island off the coast of Florida and I have it on the beach right now. Im constantly getting buried in the sand. The 4x4 isn’t working, front drive shaft spins but doesn’t engage. I’m not currently next to the equipment as I post this and stupidly didn’t take a look at the front hubs before I left. Can these front hubs be manually locked and unlocked? And if so, how? And what tools will I need to bring in the AM to do it?

Thanks y’all!

 

[tractormech]

Chances are the plates in the posi unit "no spin" I think Lull calls it are worn out and the axle side gears are not engaging with the spider gears, Do you hear a clunk clunk clunk from the front diff with the driveshaft turning? If so you will have to pull it out and fix it.

 

[tractormech]

Some older Lulls didn't have a posi in the front just to be clear.And....there's no way to manually "lock the hubs" in like a truck.

 

[Knel]

No sounds from the front axle. The guys I bought it from used it strictly on concrete so I figured maybe they disengaged it?

Is it possible to disengage?

 

[Knel]

And they don’t turn once so ever, because I lifted the front end up with the boom pushing down to pull myself out of the sand quite a few times and those wheels don’t turn once so ever.

 

[tractormech]

But the driveshaft is turning going into the front diff and the rear wheels are turning correct?

 

[Knel]

Yup that is correct

 

[tractormech]

If it isn't a posi unit a broken or stripped axle will make it not pull...you need model and serial number to check and see what you have. The ring and pinion could be stripped,axle side gears and spider gears stripped,any number of things. see if axle shafts are tuning going into the wheel ends-that'll let you know if the problem is there-(I seriously doubt that's the problem though). get a bucket and pull the drain plug and catch some oil...if you see or hear pieces clunking or the oil is shiny with ground up metal you are done dealing. It has to be pulled out. My guess is all the guts in the diff are stripped out. pull the plug first....that'll usually tell the story.

 

[tractormech]

If it is bad you can probably buy a salvage diff cheaper than you can fix yours

 

[Knel]

It’s strange that it makes zero noise. There’s no possible way to disengage it?

 

[tractormech]

If all the teeth are off the pinion gear it just spins.....no noise. If the yoke on the diff is being turned power is being delivered to the diff. As I said before pull the drain plug and see what the oil looks like.I don't know of a way to disengage it. if the driveshaft is turning the diff would pull if there wasn't something wrong,

 

[Knel]

Ill check it tomorrow!

 

[tractormech]

Did you find anything out yet?

 

[Knel]

I went out and looked at it again. Obviously as we suspected no way to engage the 4x4. None of the front wheels move at all. I was too busy working it that I didn’t pull the plug.

 

[tractormech]

It's almost useless in that beach sand with no front end pulling. Good luck.

 

[Knel]

Actually I’m getting it done, I think I blew the head gaskets tho lol.

 

[tractormech]

Well,the good times just keep coming. That's old equipment-you're either working with it or on it but it wasn't 80k to buy it so there you go. I'd be happy to have one available anytime I needed it no matter how old it was.

 

[Bls repair]

When you jack up the front wheels how hard is it to rotate them? When you spin one does the other try to turn? Are front axles in?