Shifting Gears and PTO Questions on a WD

Bill VA

Well-known Member
When changing gears with a WD, does the hand clutch and foot clutch both need to be disengaged at the same time - or can the hand clutch be engaged, push the foot clutch - come to a stop, change gears and move on?

How tolerant is the WD for using the hand clutch to stop the tractor and change gears without using the foot clutch, yet keeping the PTO going - for changing ground speeds and direction fwd/reverse?

Can you mimic an independent PTO with the WD vs the normal live PTO? Is it possible to shift into and out of PTO while moving?

My old MF50, you have to stop the tractor to engage the PTO, but you can disengage it (without a load) while moving. My JD - you can start/stop the PTO regardless of tractor movement - which is handy when using a sprayer or fertilizer spreader.

Just curious as to how the WD is intended to operate.

Thanks!
Bill
 
Foot clutch stops all movement. You can disengage PTO on the fly, but not engage. Shifting with hand clutch is what its for. Play with it, youll figure it out.
 
shifting transmission,,,use foot clutch ,,not hand clutch and yes be aat a stop ,remember grinding gears in anything is never good in the long run....when you have the pto running you can use the hand clutch to stop tractor movement and keep pto running or slip it to crawl along... What are you going to be using tractor for????
 
As previously stated, you can disengage the PTO on the go, if there's not much load against it. Under load it will bind up and be difficult to disengage. Then sometimes you can momentarily slow the engine down, and the PTO lever will push in easily.

As far as shifting the transmission with the hand clutch- it depends- on several things. Condition of clutch, oil, temperature, operator, etc. If everything is right, you can shift with the hand clutch, but it needs to be warmed up to a good operating temp. Forget it in the winter. The time when we necessarily and successfully shifted with the hand clutch was baling.
 
And I was going to say- I don't know if it was me, or our particular tractors, but I found the WD45 much more friendly to shifting with hand clutch than the WD.
 
The hand clutch was never intended to be the primary clutch. It was designed by Allis Chalmers to be used with the round baler they built.
 
Isnt the hand clutch between the primary (foot) clutch and the transmission? The PTO mounts below, between hand and foot clutches, giving live power. If the hand clutch disconnects the transmission, why cant you use it to shift?
 
Over the years I have owned both WD and WD45s and I have shifted gears on both with either one of the clutches and never had any problems. I start many of them up in gear with the hand clutch disengaged and that has worked well for fast get on and go.
 
As said the hand clutch was developed for the Roto baler and when baling with the round baler you are pulling no weight ( just tractor and baler) and you are not changing gears. If you use it as a primary clutch for starting heavy loads you will eventually take the clutch out.
 
Understand the hand clutch runs in oil, 9-0 weight oil. It is a multi- disc clutch and the oil tends to get between the discs and make them drag. Having the tractor warm, using 20 weight non detergent oil,or "tractor lube" can all help, but as has been said, the hand clutch was made to stop the tractor so PTO implements could catch up, hay conditioners, balers, etc. And to stop the tractor while the AC roto baler tied a bale. Because it runs in oil it will take quite a bit of abuse, slipping, or riding the clutch takes a long time to destroy it. I am not positive on the exact numbers here but I think the WD clutch had 3 discs and the 45 5 discs, this to help with the increased power of the 45. They both work the same and are interchangable as far as I know.
 
(quoted from post at 16:40:37 12/18/15) I have used both WD an WD45 and never touched the foot clutch. Even at first take off.

Even when the oil is cold??

I have a WD and 2 WD-45s and I have never been able to shift gears using the hand clutch on any of them!
As a matter of fact, I would have said it was impossible......
until I got my D-17; I can shift it without grinding using the hand clutch when there is a load on the PTO [u:fc38e03cd8]if I do it quickly[/u:fc38e03cd8].
That is very handy and saves a lot of time when I'm brush hogging.
Why the difference, I have not a clue!!
 
On a WD the hand clutch doesn't totally disengage. That is why if creeps when cold. The foot clutch totally stops the movement of the transmission to allow shifting without tension on the gears. Bob
 
Hand clutch does totally disengage transmission it was designed for the Roto baler and you have to stop to wrap and eject bale. The creep when cold is from cold oil in clutch and once warmed up it won't do that.
 
My 2 cents is skip the WD/WD45 and go D15 or D17 if you dead set on owning an Allis. The reason will be clear after you set on it.

That all said, The one thing that has not been covered in this thread is that if when you bush hog that if your travel patterns require lots of backing up, then puilling forward, then backing up (like when clearing fence corners or over run briars) that you will have to wait each time you push the foot clutch for the bushhog to totally come to a stop to shift gears. To me this fact alone would be a total pain in the rear end as it takes while for the bushog to spin down to a complete stop. Yes some people quick shift em to avoid the wait but forcing that delicate AC tranny is a time bomb.
 
If you have a PTO implement withs lots of inertia, buy an overrunning clutch for the PTO and you won't have to wait for the driveline to stop...
 
I go along with seating on a D15 or D17. The WD and WD45 are harder to get on and operate for a tall long legged person and it is almost impossible to stand up on a WD or WD45 and drive . The waiting for PTO to stop turning on the WD and WD45 can be corrected by putting a over running clutch on the PTO shaft.
 
Funny on mine it is the opposite. I can shift gears all I want with the hand clutch on my WD45 but not on the D-17
 
(quoted from post at 16:57:50 12/19/15) push the foot clutch and btake at same time will stop a spinning pto implement

I never saw a connection between the PTO and the brakes?
 
PTO is tied to the tranny through the gears. Hit the foot clutch and stab the brakes and that will force the PTO to stop spinning. Pretty hard on the PTO gears if you have a lot of inertia spinning (think bush hog type mower). PTO gears are the weak link on a WD or WD45.
AaronSEIA
 
Comes into play when you have something like a brush hog on and you try to stop with the foot clutch. Since the PTO is driven off the transmission if you push the clutch pedal down the brush hog can and will push the tractor forward for a ways and cane cause big problems so if you hit the brakes in theory doing that will stop the tractor and the PTO
 
Mine too no problems since 55 on a wd45. Use hand clutch as primary. Start it in gear and shift it quick.
 
Friend of mine says, "Bill hit the hornet nest....."

Might have don't again with this post - LOL!

But.....

Great info, much thanks!
Bill
 
Bill here is real good "copy and paste link" to one of my threads that I posted a while back where the "Allis experts and lovers" confirmed my fears...so hornets nest or not....it is what it is...

http://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/viewtopic.php?t=1185304&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=allis&start=0
 
When will editing ever get fixed?

http://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/viewtopic.php?t=1185304&highlight=allis
 
Ya I know that but in this case I was explaining it to the guy when he asked how do brakes and the PTO have any thing to do with each other
 

Over-running Clutches (if ya KNOW how to operate the equipment) are a terrible idea...

If I see a kid or anything else coming across the field I can STOP the Bush Hog in about 1 1/2 Seconds...

What happens with an Over-running Clutch...?

You might sit there on your tractor for 90 seconds or more waiting for it to stop....

Get It..???

Ron..
 

You should NEVER attempt to shift gears with only the Hand Clutch.

Use the Foot Clutch for shifting (applies to any WD).

Most WD's came with square-Cut gears and shifting "on the move" is not to be attempted by an amateur..

That Hand Clutch can take a whale of a lot of slipping (like picking up bales of hay) and won't hurt it one bit..

One THING though......ALWAYS Engage the TRANSMISSION, BEFORE you engage the PTO...then you won't grind or break any gears...

Ron..
 
If your cutting with a bush hog and see somebody coming at you through the pto out gear and keep going in gear with tractor and what ever your cutting will bring it to a stop in a hurry and might even plug the chopper. If I saw a kid coming across field I would through every thing out gear and get off tractor and meet them before they get to tractor . You sometimes have to use a little common sense .
 

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