K321 Balance Gears question

[sawdustdad]

The hydro on my 149 was leaking at the cork gasket, so I pulled it and replaced seals and welded on a new trunnion bracket. Got it all back together and decided since I had the engine unbolted, and was going to change the oil anyway, I'd pull it, remove the oil pan and pull the balance gears.

Got the bottom gear out, no sweat. Looking in the engine, I'm not sure the top gear will come out, even if I do get the snap ring off. I don't want to pull the crankshaft to do this. The gears and needle bearings are fine. If I can't get the top gear out, I'll put the bottom gear back in or run with only the top gear.

Questions:
1. Can I get the top gear out of this K321 w/o removing the crankshaft?
2. Can I run the engine with the top gear alone?

I really don't like the idea of breaking the gears with a chisel for fear of contaminating the engine with small metal pieces. The engine runs good and doesn't use oil. I'm not ready to take it apart. I can put the bottom gear back in. I ordered shims and some replacement lock rings from McMaster (plus a better set of lock ring pliers!) in case that's what I need to do.

Other threads on this forum have conflicting information about Question #1 and I haven't seen any discussion of #2.

Thoughts? Jonathan? Sam?

[ol'George]

Just my opinion:
If it were mine, and the gears are tight in the bearings I'd leave both in.
you should not just remove one as it will be "unbalanced"
Many engines are still running with balance gears. but the problem is when the bearings give up after many hours it is a
catastrophic result.
Some do well using a chisel but I don't like that approach.

[Sam Mac]

Sorry but I don't have the answer for this one. Merk & dvogtvpe would be my go to guys

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by sawdustdad

Questions:
1. Can I get the top gear out of this K321 w/o removing the crankshaft?
2. Can I run the engine with the top gear alone?

1. I do not know. I have never tried.
2. NO. Both or none.

IMHO, if the bearings in the gears are good, I'd think they would be fine. I know they cause problems, but if the bearings are good there really is no reason to be scared of them. I'd put it back in.

Maybe Merk or Don will know a trick to take the top one out.

[dvogtvpe]

I agree, both or none. try driving the top pin for the top gear out. you have to drive it inward. take the rod cap off. push the piston up. should come out

[sawdustdad]

Thanks, dvogtvpe, that's what I was looking for. In order to do that, I'd have to remove the PTO and starter pulley to get to the rear of the block. I need to replace the center button on the PTO anyway, so I might just do that.

To drive the pin through the block, is there any special technique or is it just a punch and a BFH. I don't want to crack the block! Is it any tighter than the camshaft pin, for example? or similar? I'd drive it back into place after removing the gear.

[Diz Jr.]

I got mine out.
just kept rolling the crank around and working the gear off of the pin.
It would get to a point were it wouldnt move. Just kept rolling the crank back and forth till you find a loose spot and was able to move the gear a little more till it finally came off.

[sawdustdad]

I decided to put mine back in. Buttoned up the oil pan, put the engine back in the tractor and reassembled the rest of the tractor. filled it with oil and hytran. Just need to run it and adjust the hydro neutral.