Dont ride the clutch!

[jlsmith]

Over half of all clutch repair I do is from customers riding the clutch or using the pedal as a foot rest. All you are doing is putting pressure on the disk and wearing it down. Just a friendly reminder to keep your foot on the deck and not the pedal or Ill be seeing you lol.
Jeremy :laughing:

 

[Mark Page]

My last 2 Masseys had foot rests or pegs which were great when mowing for hours or when goung down steep hills. My new 2615 does not have them and I find myself doing exactly what you are warning about.
As my Grandmother used to say "Those who will not listen must feel." Having to replace a clutch disk, pressure plate or throwout bearing would definitly make me feel it in my wallet.

 

[jlsmith]

That is one thing I love about my MF285. It also has a foot rest and I can kick back for hrs on it. My other MFs dont have it but I got use to keeping my foot on the platform. Another problem is front end loaders. People want to hold the clutch down while the operate the loader and all that is doing is eating away at the clutch also.

 

[brin]

That is one thing I love about my MF285. It also has a foot rest and I can kick back for hrs on it. My other MFs dont have it but I got use to keeping my foot on the platform. Another problem is front end loaders. People want to hold the clutch down while the operate the loader and all that is doing is eating away at the clutch also.

Let ask a question about operating the FEL and using the clutch...I have found myself pressing the clutch down when I am moving the bucket into a pile of dirt to get a bucket load....does that little bit hurt a lot...or should I not put the clutch in at all as I dig into the pile of dirt until I put the clutch in to shift into reverse and back away...? In other words , how much is too much ? When I bush hog I never ride the clutch or at any other times....just when using the loader and I have been wondering about that....Thanks.

 

[Renze]

Let ask a question about operating the FEL and using the clutch...I have found myself pressing the clutch down when I am moving the bucket into a pile of dirt to get a bucket load....does that little bit hurt a lot...or should I not put the clutch in at all as I dig into the pile of dirt until I put the clutch in to shift into reverse and back away...? In other words , how much is too much ? When I bush hog I never ride the clutch or at any other times....just when using the loader and I have been wondering about that....Thanks.

Use the clutch to clutch/declutch, not as a torque converter by letting it slip in a too tall gear. the throwout bearing can take these seconds, no problem.

 

[jlsmith]

Let ask a question about operating the FEL and using the clutch...I have found myself pressing the clutch down when I am moving the bucket into a pile of dirt to get a bucket load....does that little bit hurt a lot...or should I not put the clutch in at all as I dig into the pile of dirt until I put the clutch in to shift into reverse and back away...? In other words , how much is too much ? When I bush hog I never ride the clutch or at any other times....just when using the loader and I have been wondering about that....Thanks.

The correct way to do it is to take the tractor out of gear and let the clutch out until you are done scooping or whaterver with the loader. In the real world this takes to long and is a PITA to do. So most people hold the clutch down while they work the loader which over time and depending on how ofter you do it will wear the clutch down. I have seen clutches many years doing this and ive also seen then wore out in as little as 150 to 200 hrs.

 

[Johnp33]

I worked on trucks not farm equipment , but when I was an aprentice we had drivers that would use the cltch pedal as a foot rest, these were off hyway trucks hauling logs, and it took a lot of work to change the clutch, in those units. One of the old hand told me to drill a hole in the clutch pedal. and put a 1/2 inch bolt with about 1/4 inch of threads sticking threw. If you leave your foot on the pedal it will feel like it is boring a hole threw your foot if you just clutch it properly you have absolutly no problems.
It worked on every unit I have ever done it on, about 50 units

 

[jonyyuma]

Thats a real interesting way to get the foot off the pedal. I remember driving a jeep, Sarge," Said put you foot on the floor between gears and don't even think of resting it on the clutch? "

 

[hydro2]

Over half of all clutch repair I do is from customers riding the clutch or using the pedal as a foot rest. All you are doing is putting pressure on the disk and wearing it down. Just a friendly reminder to keep your foot on the deck and not the pedal or Ill be seeing you lol.
Jeremy :laughing:

Thank you, that is exactly what my dealer told me.

 

[whodat526]

I have seen clutches many years doing this and ive also seen then wore out in as little as 150 to 200 hrs.

yep i have a buddy that has put 3 clutches in the last year in a nh6610s 4wd he uses it everyday doing loader work

 

[AGGIE00]

This is where I love a wet clutch and reverser. When scooping from a pile I push and lift through the pile at the same time so that the tractor doesn't stop forward movement until the bucket is full and above the pile. CHoose the correct gear when you engage the pile and no clutching necessary with a reverser.

After running backhoes a reverser was a must for me.

 

[jlsmith]

Well I just posted this to maybe help some of the newbies and remind some of the oldies lol. :laughing:

 

[xgraysonx]

I haven't driven a tractor much but I bought my first truck at 14 and rested my foot on the clutch for about 3 years haha until my friend noticed me doing it and told me I'm going to mess it up like that

 

[pat32rf]

If you had an HST none of this would even need discussing.....

 

[whodat526]

If you had an HST none of this would even need discussing.....

show me a 80hp power hst

 

[Dead Horse]

If you had an HST none of this would even need discussing.....

horsecrap. L3710 HST has a clutch.

 

[SPYDERLK]

The correct way to do it is to take the tractor out of gear and let the clutch out until you are done scooping or whaterver with the loader. In the real world this takes to long and is a PITA to do. So most people hold the clutch down while they work the loader which over time and depending on how ofter you do it will wear the clutch down. I have seen clutches many years doing this and ive also seen then wore out in as little as 150 to 200 hrs.

It wears the throw out bearing, and the clutch lift fingers it pushes ... a little. The actual life of the throw out should be several hundred hours holding the clutch disengaged. Thousands of regular hrs as long as you dont rest your foot on the pedal. You usually will be replacing the clutch 1st and replace TO incidenty. What wears the clutch is slipping it to take off or push in too hi a gear -- or causing it to slip [and wearig bearing] by resting your foot on it.
larry

 

[Looking4new]

In my past life I taught guys how to drive big trucks. I would only tell them twice NOT to rest their foot on the clutch. The first time, 'it isn't a hobby horse, don't ride it'. The second time, 'I catch you riding that clutch again and I Will slap you upside the head'. I usually didn't have to tell them a third time. Now remember, that was MY truck and I paid for the repair$. Clutches are not cheap on Class 8 trucks.