Gang,

bought a 52 d2 5u yesterday in my area and will take a couple weeks to get back home. Guy has done lots of work to it over the years: clutch, steering clutches, some minor things and was used at his hunt camp to maintain the road in.

says the pinion would not engage and am taking one of of my parts d4 this aft and will swap it in. Saw the good videos from sasquatch on rebuilding them.

based on my very little understanding of how they work i would have thought that the pinion would at least stay engaged if you held the handle in the proper position. Actually now that i type this, the engagement leaver does not seem to be pushing the pinion forward but was only a cursory look at it until i go back or get it home. Undercarriage was in good condition.

Would it not be best to pull start it to load it and get it home? Parts from D4 will likely fit but it is a fairly complex operation to do in the field.

the engagement gear,latches and sleeve may have become loose due to the bolts working out