I was finally able to take the new/ old 5635 out to play this weekend. Ran it for 12 -14 hrs but it had this annoying knock in the chain case.Also when I had it in high gear it felt like it was binding or a bearing was on it's way out.The drive stick did not feel right with a sort of delay when you changed direction.Made the drive controls feel jerky. The other stick that controled the hydraulics was tight and smooth.
It had one small oil leak on a line to the heater core but tightening up a clamp solved this With 700 hrs the previous owner had changed the oil and maybe the hydraulic fiter. the fuel filter was original and the machine is eight years old.
The chaincase covers had never been removed so I knew the chains had never been adjusted.This model of Gehl has a single chain driving each wheel, where in other skids it is usually a single chain that drives both wheels. This setup is seems to be a good idea in that you break a chain,you can still move the machine to a better place to repair.It's not as easy to adjust as the the new Gehls which have gone to the bowtie chain system with the single chain and can be adjusted without going into the case.My Mustangs were this way and pretty convenient.
In the upper pic you see what the oil looks like when you don't change it for 7years.The high humidity and large temp changes cause condensation inside the case and turns the oil a milky color. The bottom pic shows what my problem was. The right chain adjustment nuts had come loose and was sliding up and down the plate it was attached to when you changed directions. The pic shows how I found it , the adjustment bolt should be parallel to the top of the case like the one on the left.The slop gave me all the bad feedback in the stick and the growling noise at high speed.Once I had the chains adjusted the drive controls were smooth.I did my finger test on.the old oil in chaincase and did not feel any grit and also checked for metal with a magnet before I replaced the oil and was confident water was the only thing in the oil. I did rinse the chain case with deisel to get as much sludge out as possible.
The manual says to adjust until there is between 1/8" to an 1" of rotation in the wheel. Too tight and its hard on the bearings, If I have the case open , I will adjust each chain to where I have about an 1/2" deflection in the lower section of chain. The adjustment nut will take an inch of slop out with just a turn or two.After the initial chain adjustment,tighten the locking nut and check the deflection again. It may take two tries to get it right
I found one of the best ways to remove the old gasket is to put a razor knife blade in a pair of visegrips. The blade is brittle and can break but really gets under the gasket. Scott
It had one small oil leak on a line to the heater core but tightening up a clamp solved this With 700 hrs the previous owner had changed the oil and maybe the hydraulic fiter. the fuel filter was original and the machine is eight years old.
The chaincase covers had never been removed so I knew the chains had never been adjusted.This model of Gehl has a single chain driving each wheel, where in other skids it is usually a single chain that drives both wheels. This setup is seems to be a good idea in that you break a chain,you can still move the machine to a better place to repair.It's not as easy to adjust as the the new Gehls which have gone to the bowtie chain system with the single chain and can be adjusted without going into the case.My Mustangs were this way and pretty convenient.
In the upper pic you see what the oil looks like when you don't change it for 7years.The high humidity and large temp changes cause condensation inside the case and turns the oil a milky color. The bottom pic shows what my problem was. The right chain adjustment nuts had come loose and was sliding up and down the plate it was attached to when you changed directions. The pic shows how I found it , the adjustment bolt should be parallel to the top of the case like the one on the left.The slop gave me all the bad feedback in the stick and the growling noise at high speed.Once I had the chains adjusted the drive controls were smooth.I did my finger test on.the old oil in chaincase and did not feel any grit and also checked for metal with a magnet before I replaced the oil and was confident water was the only thing in the oil. I did rinse the chain case with deisel to get as much sludge out as possible.
The manual says to adjust until there is between 1/8" to an 1" of rotation in the wheel. Too tight and its hard on the bearings, If I have the case open , I will adjust each chain to where I have about an 1/2" deflection in the lower section of chain. The adjustment nut will take an inch of slop out with just a turn or two.After the initial chain adjustment,tighten the locking nut and check the deflection again. It may take two tries to get it right
I found one of the best ways to remove the old gasket is to put a razor knife blade in a pair of visegrips. The blade is brittle and can break but really gets under the gasket. Scott
