Deere 450c trans case

[matthis]

I'm helping a friend of mine with a John Deere 450C Dozer. He bought it, knowing that the transmission case was cracked, but had gotten such a good deal he couldn't turn down. He has found a complete transmission, to do a swap, but looking at the shop manual pictures, the tracks and the track frame are removed.
Can a person pull the transmission case, and final drive assembly all in one piece, then remove the final drives.
Or does the final drives go thorough the frame rails to the transmission.
Im aware of all the other stuff a person has to pull to get at the transmission, but looking for the easiest way to swap out the transmission.
Id appreciate any advice on this operation, as I've never done it before, and knowing that this is a common problem, someone out there must have found an easy way to do it.

 

[td25c]

Oh Boy ! This brings back memories matthis . My buddy's 450C had the same trouble . I think if you go by the book you pretty much have the whole tractor in pieces . We busted the tracks ,unbolted frame from rear housing , bell housing & top deck fuel tank station . We left the engine & deck station in place buy suspending them from the trusses in the shop . Then placed a floor jack under the front of the transmission housing and some lumber under the sprockets . Used a come a long winch to roll the whole assembly out the rear on the sprockets until we were clear of the rest of the machine . Seems like I remember having to crib up under the front of the tractor as well . This has been about 15 years ago . It was quite a job . Now I have left out many details of other items removed . At least once we got it rolled out it was pretty easy to work on . It also helped that we had an overhead bridge crane to lift the finals & transmission . I'm going off memory but will try to help any way I can . Sounds like you have the shop manual so that will help.

 

[lantraxco]

The side frames that bolt to the rear housing and support the engine are usually busted up at the rear end. Deere had several updates, but in my experience they all would fail eventually. Of course if you didn't have semi-housebroken apes wearing cowboy hats running them, a 450C was a damned good reliable machine.

 

[matthis]

Well, we removed the tracks, and split the transmission from the bellhousing, which was the wrong thing to do, as we broke the rod to the throw out bearing, and wrecked a spring. However those 2 parts are replaceable. Trans and rear end is out, and after looking at the rest, we pulled the motor and bellhousing. Figured out that trans and bellhousing must be put together then installed. When we get trans case replaced, will install with bellhousing, and then the motor.
The rear of the frame rails are cracked, and need to be re welded. There is a huge weld up on the inside of the frame rails, which I believe came from the factory. But it cracked, which also cracked the trans case too.
Lantraxo mentioned some Deere updates, and I would be inerested in knowing where I could find them. It would be nice to have a proven remedy for this problem, as it is quite an undertaking to fixing this common problem. ( Other than replacing the semi-housebroken apes wearing cowboy hats)

 

[td25c]

Hate that you had trouble with it matthis . At the upper left hand side of the bell housing there is an access port we went in to remove the nut from the rod that comes off the throw out shaft up to a modulator shaft on the front of the transmission . Was also able to unhook the throw out bearing return spring from the access port . Seems like I had to make a tool to do that . It was close quarters working .

 

[lantraxco]

Not sure there was ever any literature on those frame rails, but we replaced several sets over the years and the replacements would have different welds and reinforcements on them. The last ones I recall had a pair of overlapping semi-circle gussets on the inboard side of the channel welded to the heavy bolt plate and the channel. I also recall they still cracked out after a time, but that may have been the individual machine/operator combination. I hestitate to say this, but check with your local Deere dealer, the service department may still have somebody that knows something about these. Good luck!

 

[matthis]

We got a new transmission, had it checked out before installing, and installed it. We filled up the oil, started it up, without the tracks on. So we could check out the function. It seemed to work at first, but then the rear hubs quit turning. We reved the engine up, and they begin to rotate again, but when we put a wood post against the hub, it would quit turning. It's acting like a car with very low transmission fluid. We checked the filter, and that looked good, but the oil was quite foamy. I believe that should settle down, after a bit, because we had all the lines off, and cleaned out. Is there something were overlooking, as to why it's acting up. The place that sold us the transmission, said they checked it through, to be sure it was good. Also is there a good and easy way to adjust the clutch? The book is vague, and while it was apart, we put a new clutch in. Please any help would be greatly appreciated.