Sticky shifting / fluids overhaul

Ok, not familiar with the 12, but working from small knowledge of the 212. Do you have a parts & operators book? Stiff/frozen shifting in cold weather tells me the oil is too thick, old, or has water in the case. Also water in the case condenses inside the trans top and rusts the works. You might look into the gear selection lever for lube on the lever ball/pivot & mechanisms. Tap the drain for a sample, if you have never changed the oil then it is likely very old.
Oil weight? For cold like you say, ask your dealer, consult the operator book, or a kind member might offer a suggestion.

I agree with Eddie. This winter, I would drain the transmission and refill with a tractor hy-tran fluid to run until hot weather and to act as a cheaper flushing fluid. Then assuming you get it shifting properly, you may want to refill with a 50 weight gear lube as specified for many modern heavy truck transmissions these days.

Sorry I cannot help you on the plugs to drain and check level etc. Had a '53 212 for a few years but too long ago to remember how it was checked and filled. I would bet it holds more than 5 gallons though! I am thinking the transmission lube will likely equalize with the rear end housing so you may drain both at the same time??????

I am surprised it has a reverser since our 12E does not. Coming from experience on D6 tractors of that era, I find the lack of a reverser on the 12E mystifying. The 212 I can somewhat understand with it being the baby model in the lineup.

Well, when it comes to cold weather, the current situation is very much an outlier. Here in the Pacific NW (near Portland, OR), the average high and low in January are 47° and 36°, respectively. We generally get anywhere from one to four or five days of actual snowfall each year, with accumulations between half an inch and, on the very rare year 36". But most typical is perhaps 6", 12", and 18" - 24", each about every third year. So the recent two or three days at 25° with 16" snow, although it occurs briefly perhaps every second or third year, and even more rarely, perhaps every five or six years, gets down to 10° for a few days, freezing temperature are relatively atypical and do not last long. It is just that when it does get that cold, I need my grader to work. With our current snow event past, I see lows above 30° for the next two weeks and highs in the high 30's to mid-40s.

I expect that others might interpret "cold weather" as anywhere from 20° to well below zero for weeks on end. Given the generally moderate climate, is there still a need to use cold-specific fluids? I will do that so long as I do not have to bounce between those and others. I suspect the bigger problem is that this machine probably had zero maintenance in the last few years. I know the guy selling it had it up for sale for maybe two years, and he bought it from a hazel nut grower that had bought it new many years ago for farming in the moderate Willamette Valley.

Hi Team,
am confused with terminologies like Johnson Bars and the like.

From memory of 99E's and later No12's etc. the Inner H pattern moving gear lever shifts gears for the Forward and Reverse speeds in the main box, and the Outer For and Aft only moving lever is only a High and Low Range for use with the gears in the main box to double the ratios available.
I stand to be corrected.
From your later explanations I feel ice is what is causing most of your shifting problems. Ice coming from water introduced into the higher and more remote areas of the Trans. by the process of condensation and/or deteriorated gear shift linkage boots at their entry points to the Trans. Case.
Unit needs warming by low, gentle heating of the Trans. cases and maybe more so the linkage housings to melt the ice and thence drain and flush with cheap oil, or operating with the gears you can get--likely hard to do with your current ambient temps.

Also suggest to service the Trans. breather on the top left rear face of the rear axle housing at the square cover/fill/level plate.
The rear axle housing fill and level plug is on the elbow on the rear axle cover plate--drain plug is under the same case.
Drain for the Trans. box is near the cross member mounting on the Trans front support beam. Level plug should be nearby on one side or the other of the Trans. Box.
Note grease points on all gear shift linkages to keep it all moving freely when the ice/moisture has been dealt with.


Operators Instruction Book I have for 9K and 7T machines is Form No 9008, Dated 10-45.
The illustrations on the foldout strip page in the OI Book for said drain/fill plugs is a bit of a dogs dinner to enable meaningful copying of the pictures--hope my explanation helps locate them.

Cheers,
Eddie B.


Cheers,
Eddie B.

I've used my late 8T in -20C weather. It's a bit stiff at first, but nothing like you're describing. I would get it somewhere warm and change the oil and look for where the water is getting in.