# jd 300b



## gramesj (Dec 14, 2017)

Hey everyone. You'll never believe it but I've got tractor problems. Lol. I bought a JD 300b last week. The guy was pretty up front about the issues he knew of. The main one was that it had been flooded. I'm down here in Louisiana and we had a couple big floods last year. The guy said when he found the tractor all he could see was the top of the backhoe. He drained the diesel and changed the fluids in the motor. He started it up for me and it sounds good. The problem is with the hydraulics. He said that when he fired up the tractor that everything worked but started to slow down then finally quite. So yeah there was water in the hydraulics.
Anyways we loaded up the tractor and I took it home and drained the hydraulics and changed the filters. I drained the lines from the backhoe to pump, the front half. fired up the tractor and everything works except the forward gears. It will go in reverse but not forward. The tractor has a reverser on it and like I said the reverse works but won't go in forward. Also the breaks won't work either. After that I checked the hydraulic fluid and as expected it was milky again. I knew I would have to flush the hydraulics several times to get it really clean. So I changed the fluids a second time and new filters. Also the first time I removed the hydraulic sump cover under the seat and flushed the thick gunk with diesel fluid and dried it before adding new hydraulic fluid.

So, does anyone have any idea of what the problem is? This is my first tractor with a reverser on it. My other tractor is a ford 1700. Any help would be really appreciated.


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## RC Wells (Dec 26, 2008)

The JD has a pump screen in the sump. Any moisture breaks all the old clutch and break particles loose, and they stick and obstruct the screen.

Go to John Deere's website and do a parts diagram search on the serial number of your tractor. The illustrations will assist you in locating the screen.

If that is not the problem you will be looking at splitting the tractor and rebuilding the reverser. Water raises cain with the valves and clutch packs, leads to particles sticking everywhere and rust on machined surfaces.


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## gramesj (Dec 14, 2017)

RC Wells said:


> The JD has a pump screen in the sump. Any moisture breaks all the old clutch and break particles loose, and they stick and obstruct the screen.
> 
> Go to John Deere's website and do a parts diagram search on the serial number of your tractor. The illustrations will assist you in locating the screen.
> 
> If that is not the problem you will be looking at splitting the tractor and rebuilding the reverser. Water raises cain with the valves and clutch packs, leads to particles sticking everywhere and rust on machined surfaces.



Thanks for the heads up. I found the screen on the first flush, Cleaned out as many hydraulic lines as I could get to. I put new fluid in and started it up, tractor still wouldn't go forward. everything else runs like a champ. I checked the fluids and as I thought I had some water left in the system still. I had to do another flush with new filters. And still the tractor won't go forward. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to split the tractor to get to the reverser. I'm not looking forward to this. I'm going to tear apart the reverser control valve first and see what I see.


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## tractormike (Jan 12, 2017)

there are a lot of potential issues here, too many to asses without seeing the machine


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## bstherapist86 (Dec 8, 2021)

gramesj said:


> Hey everyone. You'll never believe it but I've got tractor problems. Lol. I bought a JD 300b last week. The guy was pretty up front about the issues he knew of. The main one was that it had been flooded. I'm down here in Louisiana and we had a couple big floods last year. The guy said when he found the tractor all he could see was the top of the backhoe. He drained the diesel and changed the fluids in the motor. He started it up for me and it sounds good. The problem is with the hydraulics. He said that when he fired up the tractor that everything worked but started to slow down then finally quite. So yeah there was water in the hydraulics.
> Anyways we loaded up the tractor and I took it home and drained the hydraulics and changed the filters. I drained the lines from the backhoe to pump, the front half. fired up the tractor and everything works except the forward gears. It will go in reverse but not forward. The tractor has a reverser on it and like I said the reverse works but won't go in forward. Also the breaks won't work either. After that I checked the hydraulic fluid and as expected it was milky again. I knew I would have to flush the hydraulics several times to get it really clean. So I changed the fluids a second time and new filters. Also the first time I removed the hydraulic sump cover under the seat and flushed the thick gunk with diesel fluid and dried it before adding new hydraulic fluid.
> 
> So, does anyone have any idea of what the problem is? This is my first tractor with a reverser on it. My other tractor is a ford 1700. Any help would be really appreciated.


DID you ever get this problem Solved, I have an 83' with the exact same problem. Any info would be great.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

bstherapist86 said:


> DID you ever get this problem Solved, I have an 83' with the exact same problem. Any info would be great.


Welcome to the forum. This is a pretty old thread and some of the above members are no longer frequenting this site. Perhaps someone will see this post now that it is seeing a bit of activity, or you can start your own thread if you like.


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## Tx Jim (Jul 28, 2020)

*bstherapist86*
Welcome to my TF
What type maintenance has been performed on this tractor? Has hyd filters & sump screen been checked/cleaned? I suggest to check operation of reverser control linkage due to long history of linkage failure for similar models


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## Bobby Dunn (Mar 27, 2019)

Tx Jim said:


> *bstherapist86*
> Welcome to my TF
> What type maintenance has been performed on this tractor? Has hyd filters & sump screen been checked/cleaned? I suggest to check operation of reverser control linkage due to long history of linkage failure for similar models


Hello are you still looking for help ?. I have had to rebuild my reverser. so maybe I can help. Though I am not sure how close, mine is to yours. On the forward and revers valve body there should be two plugs on top side by side they are for checking the pressure. The forward clutch pack is in the front of the transmission. You can still buy the steel's and clutch's if that is the problem. Check the valve body first. It could have stuck the part that run the forward clutch pack. I am writing this has it may help others has well as you. All my very best.


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