MF 230 Clutch

Need some help with adjusting my 2 stage clutch. When I ordered the clutch kit from a MF dealer they told me that it comes already adjusted. Well as I knew not! I adjusted the bolts to the specifications in my IT manual I bought and that won't work either so I adjusted a little more and still have to turn the tractor off to engage the pto. What do I need to set these at or just keep going a little at a time until it works? Also you can engage the pto lever forward or backwards what are each of these for? The manual doesn't say anything about it. Thanks for your help.

Hi Danny,
The first question that needs to be asked is whether you removed the 3 1/4" slave bolts that compress the clutch unit for removal and refitting. Did you check the height of the domed head bolts from the metal centre disc of the PTO plate? As a guide the bolts should be full engagement in the release levers. The actual measurement is not critical but that they are all the same is. The PTO plate adjusting screws (screwed into the clutch baseplate should have a claerance of approximately 0.090". This is not critical but all should be the same. An approximate gauge can be made from two hand hacksaw blades held together with the teeth ground off. You will require two good-fitting 5/16" AF open ended spanners. This adjustment can be carried out through the inspection hole in the casing underneath the clutch housing. With the tractor assembled the pedal should be adjusted via the clamp to give a free travel of approx 3/8" before the pressure of the first stage begins. The pedal should travel easily through the first stage until the second stage is encountered. Pushing down into the second stage the PTO shaft should stop turning with approximately one inch of travel remaining. If it does not stop without any load the PTO plate clearance can be reduced slightly. You may need to readjust the pedal too. Without the correct setting tools it may be necessary to make several adjustments until it is correct.
Engagement of the PTO lever forwards activates 'ground-speed' or 'land-drive'. This is where the PTO shaft is driven by the rear wheels. The PTO speed is proportional to the wheel speed. When engaged rearwards the PTO is driven by the engine via the gearbox and achieves the standard 540 rpm working speed. Let us know how you get on.

DavidP, South Wales

Thanks for the help DavidP. I don't remember it I took the bolts you are talking about out or not but I'm pretty confident I did. I'm going to adjust the bolts some more. One thing you said caught my attention though. The pedal goes all the way down it doesn't stop before it hits the footplate I did follow the instructions for adjusting the pedal in the IT manual. But if I'm understanding you it should bottom out about an inch before it gets to the footplate? Again thanks for your help this is my first Massey all of my others are Fords.

If the MF dealer got the clutch from an after market company called HY-Capacity it came pre adjusted but the catch is you have to have the flywheel step ground to there specs, most parts guys don't know this and if its not to there specs it will not work, your flywheel should be ground to Flywheel step 1.720" + .030" Air Ring = 1.750" hope this helps

Thanks huntpineycreek. They didn't say where it came from so you could be right. I guess if nothing else I'll keep shutting the tractor down to engage. I just rather have it right but not bad enough to split the tractor again.

Hi Danny,
Mis-understanding here- the pedal should go all the way down to the footplate but the PTO shaft should stop turning with about an inch of pedal travel remaining. It is a safety setting to ensure that the PTO stops turning in plenty of time.
DavidP

Hi Danny,
You can check through the inspection hole under the housing if you have removed the slave bolts. If not, they can be removed easily. I think there is a mis-understanding with the pedal. The clutch pedal should travel to the footplate but the PTO shaft should stop with approximately one inch of travel remaining. This is a safety adjustment so that any normal wear will not prevent the PTO stopping in the event of an emergency.
DavidP

Hello Danny -

We've had trouble with that adjustment too - on 6 or 7 units.

After you have cleared the deck - so to speak - on the other checks, the book says (I think) .085 - .090" clearance between the 3 PTO clutch release screws and the bottom.

I've had to adjust them all to .055 - .060 on our units to get the PTO to engage without grinding. All are original flywheels; some have had replacement pressure plates and clutch disks.

They can be adjusted from the bottom, but you need very good wrenches to loosen the lock nuts - a worn wrench just slips off in the tight quarters, and can round the corners on the nuts or the adjusting screws so you can't complete the job without a split.

Thanks jack in nb. I'll keep going down to see if that gap works. If I'm not mistaken I think last time I went to .80 or .85. On the pto engagement which is the best to bush hog with forward or backwards? All of my other tractors are fords so I've never had the ability to engage in both directions.

On ours (35, 135, 65, 165) the ground drive is much slower than the rearward engine drive position, and doesn't work for mowing.

Or, for that matter, any other application in our operation,

It was used once by an employee mowing a couple of acres, and when I caught it I saw a great job of laying the grass down and beat up a bit - just what you'd see driving over it with a car!

Several paid hours wasted. A wry tribute to my supervisory skills (or lack thereof)!

If you use Lpto, or Ipto you can Bush Hog when you are in reverse (I've done it a lot). Nothing uses ground pto anymore unless you have a really old implement that requires it.

the purpose for the forward position on the pto is if you have a 3pt mounted hay rake for one as it prevents the rakes turning speed from beating all the leaves off the cut hay from overspeading