MF 175 Clutch Issues

MasFerg

New User
Yesterday I got a phone call from my father stating that the clutch wasn't working on our 175. He said it just popped and then the pedal goes all the way to the foot plate without disengaging the clutch. He stated that the linkages from the clutch pedal to the shaft are all there and the shaft rotates when putting pressure on the pedal. He said it doesn't take any effort to push the pedal down like it did before but the pedal does rebound back up. The tractor never had any clutch issues prior to this event. I haven't had time to pull the inspection plate and look it over yet, I figured I'd put out an S.O.S on the forums while I'm out of town.

The tractor is a 1965 MF 175 Diesel
Serial - SDW644002645

Thank you.
 
Hello,
Start at the clutch pedal pivot point and check that the rod lug on
the pedal has not worn through or the pin worn away. If all is OK
there follow the rod to the lever which is connected to the shaft
which goes into the gear box. Make sure that the rod connection is
OK. It's rare but the lever can sometimes lose its clamping grip on
the shaft. Operate the pedal and check that the shaft is turning
the same amount as the lever. If you have only partial movement of
the shaft slacken the bolt and reset the lever. There should be
approximately 5/16-3/8" clearance between the lever and the gearbox
case when you feel the clutch pressure start.
If all is OK there remove the inspection cover and use a flashlight
to observe the movement whilst an assistant operates the pedal.
Check that the release bearing has not collapsed and that the
release fingers which make contact with it have their pins fitted
and are secured by crook clips or split pins. If the main clutch
plate has broken up there should be no pedal free-travel as the
fingers will move outward. This will also have the effect of
reducing the effort required to press the pedal. It is possible
that either one of the release finger pins has come out or
broken(very rare). If this is the case you will be 'lifting' the
pressure plate on two 'sides' not the three hence the lower
pressure required. The third 'side' is still making contact and
would try to drive.
Let us know what you find.

DavidP, South Wales
 

Thanks for the reply! I'm still out of state and haven't had the opportunity to look at the tractor. My father did send me some pictures though. The shaft does turn on the other side of the gearbox. There's a little tension on the pedal when it's close to the footplate and the lever is pretty far from the gearbox (not sure exact length) He did pull the inspection plate and sent me these pictures.

Clutch pedal up
10ibg1w.jpg

2m61saa.jpg


Clutch pedal down
20poned.jpg

163ur6.jpg


How far the shaft is turning opposite side of tractor
1z1cqvl.jpg
 
With the clutch pedal up (no foot on the pedal) you need clearance as shown between the top of the bolt head to plate as shown in the picture.
5418.jpg
 


Thanks for the reply, I'll make sure to put some penetrating oil on it and adjust it. With how rapidly it just stopped working though is there anything else that looks out of the ordinary?
 
(quoted from post at 12:43:10 10/31/17)

Thanks for the reply, I'll make sure to put some penetrating oil on it and adjust it. With how rapidly it just stopped working though is there anything else that looks out of the ordinary?

I can't really tell by looking at the pictures, but I would try the adjustment first, and maybe take a little bit free play out of the clutch pedal to see what it does. If the adjustments don't work I'd plan on splitting the tractor, having nice concrete slab to it on makes it a lot easier to split.
 
Alright, I know it's been awhile but I finally got home a week ago to take a look at the tractor for a little bit. I couldn't get the adjustment jam nuts to break loose, so I went ahead and sprayed a little bit of penetrating oil on them.

I moved on to the pedal. I loosened up the clevis that goes around the rod that goes through the transmission housing and used a punch to turn the rod. Got it where it had 3/8" of free play, clutch pedal felt great.

Started the tractor, goes into gear perfectly fine, tractor doesn't try to take off or anything. However, there is a slight growling noise when the clutch pedal is depressed (Kind of sounds like throw-out bearing) but it never had this sound before and every time I've had a throw-out go bad it always got gradually worse.

When I put the pto in gear it goes in like it did before it had issues, but it just takes off with the clutch still depressed. I ran out of time to continue messing with it tonight, figured I'd get some more insight before continuing tomorrow.

Thanks again for all the help and information!
 
I know, kind of scares me. I didn't have time to mess with it any further and was hoping I had just adjusted the rod too far or something, because I still don't understand why it lost the PTO clutch all of a sudden too.
 
Actually, the three point is working. It raises and lowers like normal and can stay at a certain height. I did notice when it raised it acted as though it wanted to keep lifting like the engine came under load. Weird, right?
 
When you go past a certain point on the quadrant it has a constant pumping setting so if you have a diverter valve with a spool valve you can run auxiliary hydraulics (but you can't use the 3 point at the same time). Since it sounds like you don't have those valves the load is actually dead heading the pump, but the pump does have bypass valve so it shouldn't be able to damage the pump. Drop the 3 point arms, push the clutch all the way in, and see if the 3 point will raise with the clutch in (it shouldn't try to lift). With the 3 point still working. but the pto doesn't something behind the hydraulic pump broke, or came out of place. It could have snapped the output shaft off the back of the hydraulic pump, the coupler that hooks the hydraulic pump to the pto shaft could have broke, or the pto shaft could have broke.

This picture will give you better idea of what you are working on so it can help understand a little bit better.
3482.jpg
 
Ok, so I think I might have caused a misunderstanding. The PTO runs fine, it's just when you step on the clutch it doesn't stop the pto from running. You can disengage the pto by just pulling out on the lever and re engage it by pushing back. The 3 point raises and lowers but pushing down on the clutch doesn't stop it.
 
If you have something hooked to the pto it isn't going to almost instantly stop it from spinning. A tractor with independent pto has a small brake that just holds the pto shaft from turning when its not in use (live pto tractors don't have that little brake). If you don't have anything hooked to it, it still will take a little bit for it to stop turning.
 

Sorry, it's been awhile. Weather hasn't really been cooperating enough and been using our other tractor lately while the 175 has been sitting. I did however play with it a little bit today, I adjusted both adjustment bolts to .080". Play is 5/16" where that boot on the clevis slaps the plate. I also loosened up the clevis a bit and put a punch in there to spin the rod with a mark where it was to see what would work the best.

I can get the tractor to go into gear fine, like there's nothing at all wrong with it. The 3-point raises and lowers fine also. The only issues it seems to be having is with the clutch down the 3point still raises, and the PTO doesn't stop (holding clutch down for a minute or two waiting for it to stop) if I pull the PTO out of gear it does stop. It's as if the 2nd stage of the clutch or something isn't working? There is still a slight hum inside the transmission only when putting pressure down on the clutch.
 

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