DC foot clutch adjustment

Hi everyone,

I know this is a topic that has been hit on in the past, but I still cant seem to find an answer.

Lately my clutch seems to not be releasing all the way. At first I thought it was a pulley brake issue. After adjusting, the brake just seems to burn, without stopping. I can still shift in gear, it just grinds really bad. Once in gear, the clutch works, you just have to shift really quick to avoid grinding.

The only time I could get the clutch to work better was to adjust out the link on the foot clutch - way past what is described in the Case procedure. I'm just worried if the arm is adjusted out so much, the clutch will slip. With the lack of availability for these clutch parts - I don't want to do that!

I have read some posts about adjusting the 'fingers' - but in all my manuals, not one mentions this. The newest manual I have focuses on live power/hand clutch. How does one go about adjusting the fingers?

I hope my rambling makes sense. Any help is appreciated!!

Matt

You might be looking at splitting it. That is how they act if the linings are breaking loose, or the pressure plate is cracked. Has it been a loader tractor?

Matt: Give me a call. 315-585-9826.

Looking at the cross section of the foot clutch, there is an area that unintentionally traps crud at the OD of the disc. The hard crud begins to rub on the OD of the clutch disc and keeps it turning when the clutch is in release position.

I fixed my foot clutch doing what you describe by splitting the tractor and cleaning the crud out of the groove where it had collected.

A galled spline or bad ball bearing that pilots the disc might be the problem but not likely because the clutch runs in oil. Your clutch should look oily.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I was hoping I didn't have to split the tractor - something I've never done before. I'm a little nervous about it....

Maybe I'll start this weekend. - unless anyone has any other options!

PS.
Thanks for your time John!

Do not forget D series cases are very easy to split for clutch repair using spliting pins . These pins enable one to
slide the tractor apart, work on clutch, slide back together. I have replaced broken clutch fingers and had tractor
back in operation in just a few hours. Fellows on case site sell these pins which are made longer than original case
pins making the work much easier. As I recall John Salie and Don Livinston sale these pins. I in times past made
these pins and sold wholesale to these fellows. No I do not still make or sell them.

(quoted from post at 13:21:30 06/02/15) Hi everyone,

I know this is a topic that has been hit on in the past, but I still cant seem to find an answer.

Lately my clutch seems to not be releasing all the way. At first I thought it was a pulley brake issue. After adjusting, the brake just seems to burn, without stopping. I can still shift in gear, it just grinds really bad. Once in gear, the clutch works, you just have to shift really quick to avoid grinding.

The only time I could get the clutch to work better was to adjust out the link on the foot clutch - way past what is described in the Case procedure. I'm just worried if the arm is adjusted out so much, the clutch will slip. With the lack of availability for these clutch parts - I don't want to do that!

I have read some posts about adjusting the 'fingers' - but in all my manuals, not one mentions this. The newest manual I have focuses on live power/hand clutch. How does one go about adjusting the fingers?

I hope my rambling makes sense. Any help is appreciated!!

Matt

Click to expand...

Adjust the pulley brake it needs to stop the pulley before you can shift without grinding. I had the same issue on an sc with the hand clutch. You will undoubtedly find crud in there as well where the black band is. This is for a hand clutch but yours may be similar.

Byron

Well, I stopped into the local central tractor and picked up some 3/4' cold rolled stock to make some splitting pins. Maybe I'll start to prep to split tonight.

Hopefully it's just the crud boogering stuff up in there. Of all the DC's we had - we never had one take out a clutch.

Hi everyone,

I took of the inspection plate on the side to get a look, and this is what I found. A bunch of gunk that looks like lithium grease. I'm guessing water was introduced at some point, but not sure where. I checked the engine oil, and it looks fine.








All the fingers are still in place. I was able to get some more adjustment out of the pulley brake, I can at least shift it now, but guessing it won't last for long. Looking more and more like I'll be splitting soon...

Matt

Those large hex bolt heads are at the back of the clutch cavity. Looks like the crud may be coming from the tranny. Water can get into the tranny in two places--steering wheel shaft and gear shift lever if the rubber boot is rotted. You might want to consider loosening the tranny drain plug and see if water runs out.

The clutch finger adjustment is covered in a case service bulletin about the foot clutch tractors. It is not in any manual that I have been able to find. However, it is a good idea to pull the pressure plate assembly off of the flywheel and clean out the crud. To do this, you will need three bolts to hold the pressure plate back against its cast cover (tighten these evenly). Also, be sure to mark both the pressure plate assembly and the flywheel since they are a dynamically balanced unit and should go back together in the same orientation as before they came apart. Once you have the pressure plate assembly off, be sure to examine the clutch facings to make sure that they are thick enough to put back into service. If everything looks good, then you can reinstall the pressure plate assembly, remove the three pressure plate bolts (mentioned earlier), and then use the three screws with check-nuts to adjust each of the clutch fingers. You adjust them up until they are level with the center of the hub in the middle of the pressure plate cover (use a metal ruler or other straight edge).
Supposedly, you can adjust the clutch fingers more than once before you replace the facings, that is, if all of the previous owners kept up with the maintenance as outlined in the service bulletin. This is unlikely. Most likely, your tractor will need the clutch and pressure plate resurfaced, and the clutch material replaced. Also, some tractors had the pressure plate springs replaced with heavier units to prevent slipping. If your tractor hasn't had this done, this would be a good time to do it. I will try to find my digital copy of the service bulletin and post it here for you.

oldproudvet graciously sent me the bulletin last August. If you search the archives for "SC AND foot AND clutch AND pressure AND plate", you should be able to view a blurry version. Alternately, you can send me an email message with your contact information and I will pass it along to you.

(quoted from post at 17:46:50 06/02/15) Well, I stopped into the local central tractor and picked up some 3/4' cold rolled stock to make some splitting pins. Maybe I'll start to prep to split tonight.

Hopefully it's just the crud boogering stuff up in there. Of all the DC's we had - we never had one take out a clutch.

Click to expand...

Wow sorry about that brake pulley comment I was in a hurry to get out this morning and just skimmed over your issue totally missed the you thought it was the brake pulley and the pulley brake burning sorry about that. Anyway looks like your on the right track
Good luck with it Byron

Wow! Thanks for all the responses!

I was trying to think where the water may have come from - all fluids have been changed after I drug it out of the hedgerow about 3 years ago. - There certainly was water present then - the clutch inspection covers are probably one of the few things that I didn't remove (been through engine). That crud is pretty thick - maybe a remnant of the time it spent outside?? It is always under cover now.

I don't think the tractor ever had a loader on it - at least it never did as long as our family owned it (30+ years) I know some of the maintenance was neglected - that's for sure.

I made a set of splitting pins last night. It's shifting good enough to putz around the field/yard - so I may wait a little to split it - but know it needs it. I would love to see the procedure for adjusting the fingers. Christopher - I'll try to send you and email soon.

I'm guessing a normal machine shop can reface the pressure plate? I'll talk to the shop who did my cylinder head.

Thanks again for all the replies. This really is a great community.

Matt

My gut tells me once you split it, a thorough cleaning of the parts is about all you will need to do. I might mention that the groove that I labeled a crud trap has some horizontal drain holes around the circumference. See the cross section. I think the flywheel has to come off to make sure those holes are clean.

Hi everyone,
I know I'm reviving an old post, but wanted to post how I made out.

I finally got around to splitting the tractor. The job wasn't too bad with the help of this forum and of course the Saeli's and a good friend. The clutch was worn pretty bad, so I put a new one in since I had it split. The groove inside the flywheel was caked solid with crud.

In addition to this, the throwout bearing was also loose on the collar, so had to get this problem taken care of as well. The pressure plate looked pretty good for its age.

I took it for a test drive this morning, no more grinding gears and the tractor actually stops completely when the clutch pedal is depressed - just like it is supposed to! The wifey took a couple of action shots...





Thanks again for all the help!
Matt.