hand operated clutch

[accordionman]

HELLO TO ALL,
i just had a knee replacement, and i cannot run
my tractor, because it is a standard transmission.
has anybody come up with a hand operated clutch?
my machine is a KUBOTA L3000DT. i know in time,
i will be able to do this, but right now my knee is not
flexable enough. any ideas, or if someone has done this,
and has plans, or rough drawings, i would appreciate
looking at these.
good luck to all.
accordionman
wlbrown

 

[rus_geek]

First, I've never done this, so this is just brainstorming, but since this is a temporary thing, rather than trying to retrofit for a permanent disability, I'm thinking something fairly simple like this:

 

[Bird]

My first thought when I saw the title of this thread was that you had found one of the old tractors that came with a hand clutch. I had a farmer uncle who had two Case tractors with hand clutches that looked like the park brake lever in a lot of the old trucks. My experience with those tractors was in the early 50s, but I think they were pretty old even then.

I'd suggest that you click on DEALERS at the top of this page and you'll see Carver Equipment. I'd call or contact him via e-mail or private message here on TBN and ask him. I know he's done some customization for handicapped or disabled operators, but don't have the details.

 

[DieselPower]

Shouldn't be to hard to fab up something to make it hand operated. Think of a drivers trainer car that has gas and brake pedals on both sides, one for the driver and one for the trainer. It would be pretty easy to rig up a cable operated handle. I have a couple of gas and brake pedal assemblies that came out of drivers trainers cars if you think you could use some of the parts. Really all you would need to do is replace the pedal with a hand lever and mount it within reach of your hand. The end that attaches to the existing pedal is fairly straight forward. Simply mounted behind the pedal assembly so the cable pulls it down.

 

[RiZak]

I installed on my backhoe a parking brake unit found in a scrap yard and connected it to the clutch. it work well and come very handy when I can't have the BH to move the tractor. I just leave the tractor engaged in the first gear ( max half MPH). Since there is a latching system on the parking brake lever I just leave the clutch dissengaged. I also installed a gas pedal on the BH so I can save money and do precise work when needed.

BTW excuse the frenchmen with poor english writing

 

[Mace Canute]

RiZak, are you sure having your clutched depressed ALL the time like that is a good idea? I don't know for sure but I suspect it is very hard on your throwout bearing in the clutch, I don't believe they are made to be loaded like that all the time. There is quite a bit of pressure on it fully depressed.

 

[BHD]

when I had Knee surgery, I bolted a lever on the clutch of the lawn tractor, (since the pedal support was steel (not cast), I just drilled through it and bent the level to suit,
(this clutch was more a rocking action), Than a down ward action,
it was odd to use as one had to push it forward, to disengage the clutch, but worked well
I use the JD 110 lawn tractor as a rough terrain wheel chair, with a basket on the rear and a place for crutches, I dumped the mower deck off, for more clearance and not getting stuck,

my field tractor I could work with my right foot sitting on the seat at a slight angle, (were on flat ground so brakes were rarely necessary)

planted all my own wheat that year with one leg in a brace sticking out of the cab door, (had the door held open with a rubber strap), (the truck I used happen to have a old 1953 military 6x6, with a hydramatic transmisson, 4 speed, in it, convered to a power shift, rather than an automatic so I could drive it around as well),

 

[RiZak]

RiZak, are you sure having your clutched depressed ALL the time like that is a good idea? I don't know for sure but I suspect it is very hard on your throwout bearing in the clutch, I don't believe they are made to be loaded like that all the time. There is quite a bit of pressure on it fully depressed.

Well... The idea came from the tractor itself as there is a latch installed under the clutch pedal (same as the brakes) so i thought it could be very usefull to just reposition it where I would use it. But no, I don't use it all the time. I usually use the backhoe to move the tractor but somnetime I have a patch of swamp to cross and I can't have the backhoe to move the tractor. Last year I installed a second set of wheel in the back to help me running in the swamp but sometime the front axle just disapeer from the surface of the earth and this is when I use the latch on the clutch.

I may have to complete this mod by extending the shifter so I can operate it fom the backhoe seat. This way I could leave it on neutral. I apreciate the warning. Seems that I made the right choice registering to this site.

 

[banjodunn]

G'day by all means modify the clutch we would do two or three clutch replacements a year due solely to clutch levers (usually pto ) being left in the disengaged position, the latch is there for if you store over the winter that you can latch the clutch off so it doesn't freeze to the flywheel


Jon

 

[kebo]

Have you got a top N tilt cylinder on the 3pt??? Just rig it up on the clutch pedal and use that to operate the clutch!!