Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken41
This is how far I had taken it apart, I took the dash frame out to clean up and paint the battery tray. Once the front half of the tractor is done I will move on to the back half.
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I'll highly recommend taking the rear end out of it and tearing it down, re-sealing it, and adding red loctite to the differential bolts. That's the most common way those 3240s die.
They switched from bolts that had the retaining compound on them already, to adding their own during assembly, and a good majority of them in 2001 or so were built without retaining compound on them due to factory whoopsie. Over time they will back out, and either break off or fall out and get trapped between the bull gear and the cast iron casting and crack the casting and then you're going to need a new rear end casting. The last couple 3240 diffs I've had apart, I didn't even need a tool to remove any of the 4 bolts.
Also a good time to inspect the diff lock assembly to see if the engagement fork is worn or if the dogs are all intact.
Put it all back together and then take the gerotor housing off and add a second shim to it to increase the running clearance for the charge pump, which is another common failure point.
You'll need the following seals (SKF part numbers is what I"m posting here):
2x 11930 (axle seals)
1x 4931 (Diff lock shaft)
1x 25X52X7 HMS5 RG (brake shaft).
And then you'll need a hydrogear p/n 2000044 shim (I'd get 2 just in case you tear the old one).
Do all that and the rear should be more or less bulletproof (or at least as bulletproof as that design gets).
The other mod you can do is replace all the plastic "bearings" they used for the linkages with oililte bushings. FF520s and FF620s should cover most of it while a couple of FFB-1012s might be needed. I can't remember how many of each of those. You'll need to drill out some holes where all of those go, but it really firms up everything and should last a lot longer.
The 3k series aren't perfect, but if you do that stuff to yours, there's really not too much else that commonly fails on them. Vacuum actuator for the PTO is maybe next. Engines are kohler commands and are as solid as they come. The BDU-21L is the same hydro pump they used on a fair few cyclops machines and they've been using that and the BDU10 now for nearly 30 years and they are great pumps. The rear is definitely less beefy than the older GTs, but it's plenty strong for what you use a GT for. Same design, more or less, is in the XT3 today, so it's got nearly 25 years on it now.
Decks are the best cutting decks I think Cub ever put on a GT. The front attachment system (if you get that) is awesome, though it does stick out a bit further than the older stuff. The tiller is killer as well.
Here's a link to the service manual that can walk you through most of it.
Congrats and good luck! Gorgeous looking 3240.