JD 60 clutch won't engage/disengage

Last Fall my JD 60 starter went out, got it rebuilt this spring (it sat out over the winter. Got the starter back in and she"s running, but the hand clutch seems to be "stuck" between engaged and disengaged, if that makes sense. When running, the flywheel and pulley both turn (out of gear), but I can"t pull the clutch lever in to disengage and thus be able to put her in gear. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Maybe bad bearing where the pulley rides on crankshaft so the pulley has to turn with crank. If the cage is broken and rollers piled up.

Put it in 4th or 5th gear & push start it, if you can be sure it's safe, & then run it wide open & try to stop it with the brakes. Sounds like the clutch facings are stuck together onto the driver. If you kill the engine this way then your pulley bearing is out & locked to the crank. Disassembly will not be easy in that case.

It sounds as though the operating bolts are rusted in the belt pulley. To do this right you will want to remove the clutch disks and belt pulley and remove the operating bolts. Give everything a good cleaning, put some never-seize in the holes of the pulley where the bolts run, and readjust the clutch after assembly. It would be a good idea to check the dogs and toggles while you are there, the operating sleeve for wear on the pin, and to lubricate the clutch bearing. It's not unusual for a tractor sitting out to do this. If you don't have a pulley cover on your tractor it's almost guaranteed to happen. Mike

Given that the clutch is 58+ years old, has unknown hours and unknown clutch service history.
The prudent choice would be to open the manual and tear the clutch down to the bare crankshaft. Clean, inspect then replace worn or broken parts.
The operator only has to pull on the clutch and drive the tractor over or through something once to wish the clutch worked for certain.

Could be lots of things. One possibility is if it was in the engaged position all winter and the driver and discs did some rusting they got even tighter over the winter! If you just remove the cotter pins & loosen the adjusting nuts some you may find it once again begins to operate. With the toggles in their "over center position" (the clutch engaged position) anything that INCREASES the pressure on the clutch pack makes it even MORE difficult to pop those toggles back over center into the disengaged position.

It's likely very wise as others have said to take it fully apart & essentially complete one of those "annual" service operations. Perhaps the toggles are locked fast in many pounds of rust and corrosion built up through the decades but then again maybe not. Removal of the pulley cleaning, greasing of the dogs and toggles is one of those "annual services" recommended in the book to be performed by your dealer. I'm guessing maybe three 2 cylinder Waterloo tractors on this continent have been maintained in that manner! I know mine have not.

I'd start by just removing the cotters then loosen the adusting nuts before I got in too big a panic.