moomooland:
Bewick:
Question---- How did Tom rate the DB 8 speed box compared to the Fuller 9509, I personally wouldn’t touch the DB 8 speed as I’d had enough of the DB 6:600 behind the ■■■■■■■ 220 although the DB 6:600 was fine behind the LXB 180 and the 150 LX never had a moments trouble. Cheers Dennis.Here’s an in-depth reply Dennis courtesy of Tom Riding…
"Hi Dennis,
Your question is easy to answer but I think the answer demands some explanation.
The 9509 was in the long run a much better gearbox than the Brown 8 speed and subsequently the 11609 with its different gear profile was even better.
The 9509 would eventually get worn after big mileages and would need repair but we never had any trouble with the 11 series.
However in early 1973 when our first 8cyl Gardner was delivered i had the choice of the 8 speed Brown or the Fuller 9509 gearbox.
Because of my support for British industry I chose the Brown, it was simpler and lighter, but we were soon in trouble.
The spool valve was controlled from the gear stick by a single wire which soon broke and the air valve used to come loose and stop working.
We changed all this and fitted Fuller switches and this problem was over.
The selector forks were a complete reversal of normal Brown practice and these failed regularly with a part that could fall off and create disaster. The combined shaft and pinion had very small teeth on the gearbox side and this could cause drive failure. I seem to remember (this was a long time ago) that the syncromesh cone in the range change unit at the back of the gearbox could also fail.
I developed a good understanding with the man in charge of gearbox design at Browns and he assured me that they would sort out the problems and he supplied me with a spare gearbox.
When one failed we just put it in the ■■■■■■ van and took it to Huddersfield where it was repaired free of charge.
This went on for a while until because of lack of sales they decided to stop making them.
I then of course bought new tractors with the Fuller box.
We eventually replaced the Browns with Fuller boxes as they failed but used the usable parts out of the old units as spares.
In my humble opinion ,with the will and desire, the box could have been sorted from the start but this episode was typical of the British disease at the time.
The whole country was going to hell in a handcart at this time and has continued this way ever since not least in this Brexit ■■■■ up.
Regarding the 6 speed Brown box, this wasn’t bad, but did fail on the overdrive gear and bush after considerable miles.
However, it didn’t fail on the road and once removed it was normally reasonably quick and easy to repair.
I was never really a fan of overdrive gearboxes and would rather have a 3.7 :1 rear axle with a direct top gearbox but this arrangement wasn’t available until much later.
I trust I have answered your question but I do waffle on a bit because there are many factors that affect decision making and they need an explanation".Regards Tom.
I wonder if Tom Riding ever considered fitting along with the 5 speed David Brown box an Eaton 2 speed axle , or was it that Eaton did not produce an axle which could take the torque loading with the higher powered engines ?.