Another question about using the clutch

[ptsg]

Somebody who is just learning should forgo this advice.

Why? Aren't mostly of the OTR trucks in US with manual transmissions unsynchronized? Are they stopping every time to change gears?

 

[sandman2234]

When I had the little Kubota B7000 and now with the Agria, both unsynchronized transmissions, I shift the main gears on the move all the time.

Once you get the hang of it, you can do it easily without any grinding. On the Agria, I can also shift between ranges on the move.

Foot throttle helps a lot too but not a requirement. Throttle down, shift, throttle up and keep going.

To add to what DarkBlack said, some tractors (I learned this the hard way with a Ford 7710) do not want you to shift while moving. The manual said not to, I knew I was pretty good at it, did it and ended up locking it up between two gears (in the middle of the road during rush hour traffic). Now that was a huge teaching moment for me, a guy who shifts a truck for a living daily and can float or double clutch pretty close to the best of them. Read your manual and make sure your particular tractor is actually designed to be shifted on the fly, otherwise come to a stop and drop a gear. Or better yet, do all the wide open areas in one gear and then go do the up close and personal areas in a lower gear?
Bottom line, learning about a clutch needs to be done from someone who actually has good experience with one. Good luck!
David from jax

 

[sandman2234]

Why? Aren't mostly of the OTR trucks in US with manual transmissions unsynchronized? Are they stopping every time to change gears?

Those transmissions aren't being shifted by people learning on their own, most are highly supervised in a yard to learn how to shift those transmissions. The trucks that suffer that learning curve of students seldom make it to old age, as the transmissions are wrecked because of it. Now, do we want the O/P AlbertC to trash his transmission during a learning curve?
David from jax

 

[ptsg]

Those transmissions aren't being shifted by people learning on their own, most are highly supervised in a yard to learn how to shift those transmissions. The trucks that suffer that learning curve of students seldom make it to old age, as the transmissions are wrecked because of it. Now, do we want the O/P AlbertC to trash his transmission during a learning curve?
David from jax

I don't want anyone to trash the transmission. I'm saying to use the gearbox, it has gears to be used.

Throttle down, press clutch, shift, release clutch, throttle up, keep going. Simple. I don't understand why handling a simple clutch and a gear transmission often sounds like a super difficult task on the forum.

 

[IndyIan]

First let me say, obviously I didn’t grow up around tractors so forgive my ignorance. As I said I have a NH 3930. Been using it for about 10 hears to bushhog my grass pastures. It is level ground but I do have patches where the weeds or noxious grasses are thicker. Also has a some obstacles like trees and stumps. I put about 25-30 hours per year on it. Have not had any problems with the tractor other than battery replacement about 10 years ago.

When cutting, I do use the clutch a lot to slow the tractor down to slow down to avoid and go around obstacles like trees or stumps. In certain areas I have to do a lot of slowing down while turning to avoid said obstacles. I usually put the tractor in a (what seems to me to be an appropriate speed) and usually leave it at the selected gear for the entire time I am cutting the pasture. I do depress the clutch partially to slow down when making these twists and turns while avoiding the obstacles. I’m now concerned that I may be overusing the clutch. I’ve not had any noticeable problems with the clutch, but as I said am now concerned that my technique may be harming my tractor.

Any advice for me? Thanks

Try to minimize the slippage, and you've done 300 hrs doing what you are doing, so it can't be terribly bad. But you probably won't get 3000hrs more hours out of that clutch either.
If you were farming and making round bales, you'd have to slip the clutch a fair amount to start each bale, or cleaning manure out the barnyard so they can take a bit of usage.
There may be a way to inspect the clutch, see how much is left? If new was 6mm and you are at 5mm, maybe just carry on!

 

[ruffdog]

What you're doing with the clutch has it's downsides, yes, but if you're also having noticeable issues while operating, you had better check your pedal adjustment before using it again. It may well be at the point where further damage is just around the corner. It MUST have some free play in the pedal or a new clutch is in your near future. It may be anyway, but give it a chance. You should be able to push the pedal down with two fingers an inch or so before the resistance becomes too great for the two fingers. You should feel (and probably hear) the throw out bearing contact the release levers at that point. If you can't do that, then look under the foot plate for the adjustment clevis. Remove the pin, unscrew the clevis a few turns and try again until you have achieved that.

Very good post^^^. Being the the clutch (and throw out bearing) has been strenuously used, check for free-play. Riding the clutch (or no free-play) can cook the grease out of the bearing and make it fail sooner.

 

[LouNY]

Try to minimize the slippage, and you've done 300 hrs doing what you are doing, so it can't be terribly bad. But you probably won't get 3000hrs more hours out of that clutch either.
If you were farming and making round bales, you'd have to slip the clutch a fair amount to start each bale, or cleaning manure out the barnyard so they can take a bit of usage.
There may be a way to inspect the clutch, see how much is left? If new was 6mm and you are at 5mm, maybe just carry on!

Maybe a second or two max, and that is with an older geared tractor with the power shuttle push and go and the "wet" clutches are good.

 

[sandman2234]

I don't want anyone to trash the transmission. I'm saying to use the gearbox, it has gears to be used.

Throttle down, press clutch, shift, release clutch, throttle up, keep going. Simple. I don't understand why handling a simple clutch and a gear transmission often sounds like a super difficult task on the forum.

Having taught new students on how to shift manual transmissions, I can understand why teaching to shift while rolling in a non synchronized transmission can be problematic. A difficult task, no...not really but it does take someone holding your hand explaining what you are doing wrong, as you do it rather than you doing whatever you can figure out to "stop the grinding".
For people who grew up around equipment that needed shifting while rolling, a tractor isn't a big deal. Some people who are mechanically inclined enough to be able to understand the what and why's of how a gear change is affected by motor rpm. This isn't as easy for people who grew up with nothing but automatics and away from other industrial equipment.
If you say it is easy, consider yourself blessed as having grown up around it, got taught by someone who made it easy, or are very mechanically inclined, because it isn't easy for a lot of people.
I got a crash course in different over the road transmissions. Learned on a 5 speed Mack day one, and on day two my instructor didn't show up. We were hauling mail and the boss gave me keys to another truck and told me to go, but be careful. I called him 20 miles down the road, saying I couldn't get the truck to go over 29mph...(he knew it would run 90mph). After a few minutes of discussion, we finally figured out that I was shifting it into high gear (5th) and he suggested I go back and try again, and this time when I got to 5th, reach around on the front of the gearshift and pull that little button up and run those 5 again. Dang if that didn't help!!! That was 44 years ago, and many different transmissions with different gear patterns and temperaments.
David from jax

 

[lman]

I don't want anyone to trash the transmission. I'm saying to use the gearbox, it has gears to be used.

Throttle down, press clutch, shift, release clutch, throttle up, keep going. Simple. I don't understand why handling a simple clutch and a gear transmission often sounds like a super difficult task on the forum.

You can't throttle down while the mower is putting a load on the tractor. The tractor should stay at pto speed.

 

[LouNY]

You can't throttle down while the mower is putting a load on the tractor. The tractor should stay at pto speed.

So clutch in, brake, shift, clutch out and done.