Any Stuck Clutch Tricks Out There

[Steve777]

I'm pretty used to setting the lever that holds the clutch open in the winter, but typically it hasn't been necessary here in our dry summers. Well we got 6" of rain last month and may be close to that this month at the rate we are going. And when I went to use the tractor today, I found the clutch plate stuck to the flywheel. The usual trick of running it against an immovable object didn't work to pop the clutch plate free. I even tried putting the front bucket up against 15T of dirt that I just brought in, and it did was spin the tires and dig holes.

I was wondering if there are any more tricks to try before I bite the bullet and open it up to look at/replace the clutch? Perhaps trying this same trick in a higher gear might be more effective? Anything else?

TIA

 

[Soundguy]

block the clutch for a day or 2.. sometimes they just pop loose on their own.

past that. lock brakes, and if you have a mower.. attach it. engage pto.

now.. set in seat and rig a way to bypass starter, fuel off. just set there with clutch blocked, brakes locked.. pto engaged on a good load like a mower.. and use your rig to just bump the starter.. just hit it.. .. I havebroke some realy stuck ones free just after 10 bumps..

be safe. be in the seat.. belted intot he rops.. nothing in front of the tractor in case it started.. etc.

ps.. use high gear...

post back for more tricks if that fails..

 

[Steve777]

Thanks Soundguy. Actually broke it free before seeing your post. Did it by putting the front bucket into that 15T dirt pile and hit the brakes. Took a few tries, actually about 20 mins or so of tries, but that seems to have done it. Had not thought about doing it with just the starter, have to give it a try next time (if there is one).

 

[Soundguy]

slip it a bit if you havn't already.

keep a wood block handy.. sometimes when they rust stick.. they get prone to it after that even more.

 

[skylarkguy]

Glad you got it unstuck...I heard recently that if a person plugs any holes in the bell housing and fills the thing with several liters of coca cola it frees up stuck clutches after sitting for a couple days. Anyone hear of this? It sounds a bit messy to me. Either it frees up and now you have to burn off all that sugar syrup or it doesn't and you have to now deal with the mess while taking it apart.

 

[Ilikeurtractor]

I've heard spraying WD-40 or oil on it can work. I can see where the coke trick could free it. Each of these brings further issues as you pointed out. If you're to the point of having to do those things you probably just need to break it apart and fix it right. I had a clutch that wouldn't release on me and it wasn't the result of the disk sticking to the plate, just the clutch assembly wouldn't slide on the spline. It needed just some clean-up and a little grease on the spline to work right but I broke the old disk upon disassembly so I put in a new one anyway.

 

[ultrarunner]

I don't know about any oil type products...

Replaced a lot of oil soaked clutches because of problems...

 

[Soundguy]

i've used spray oil a few times to help.. but then also followed with brake cleaner.

I might have heard of someone washing down with something thin like naptha that will flash off fast once you drain it.. though never done it myself..

 

[Steve777]

Coke might work. Coke is high in phosphoric acid (main ingredient in Naval Jelly rust remover); used to use it to remove surface rust from sheet metal. So I can see it loosening the rust in there. The concern I would have would be how much is it eating away the non rusted metal and seals.

If you do use it, I'd only leave it in there for a short while and rinse it out well...

 

[Gary Fowler]

Unless it is stuck really bad, just rocking it back and forth with it in gear will usually break it apart. This works better than forcing it against an object unless you can do it in forward and then reverse. The back and forth action seems to stress it just like bending a piece of wire back and forth till it breaks.