135 clutch/PTO

Last weekend was the first time I have been to my hunting property in WV since last November. All this rain has kept me mowing every day it's not raining. Anyway, walked up to the tractor, put the H/L in neutral, turned the key and it fired up instantly. Climbed up and drove around some. Tried to engage the PTO but it acted like the clutch wasn't in quite enough. It would disengage enough to shift, and the ground drive went in easy, but the engine drive would grind. Next I turned the engine off and was going to try and engage the PTO then start it. Nothing, and smoke started coming out of the starter solenoid. Pulled the starter and tore it down. It has a new solenoid so its good and functioning. The inside of the starter looked like a 50 year old starter. Dirty, corroded, the bendix was very stiff. We cleaned everything we could, bench tested it, and it cranked over fine. Put it back in and it started twice and hung up again. Pulled the starter and I'm going to get it rebuilt.

Back to the first question, the clutch/PTO. If you push the clutch pedal to the floor, it shifts the ground drive fine, and the transmission fine, but the engine PTO grinds and won't go into gear. If you turn the engine off, the PTO will shift into engine drive fine. Do you think the clutch needs a little more adjustment, or is something hanging up inside. The tractor has set for almost a year. Thanks, Joe.

Remove the lower clutch access plate, and adjust the three PTO release bolts gap to .080 inch. PTO should stop/release with pedal one inch above the foot rest. Reset the pedal as needed, make sure the PTO DOES NOT start turning again with the pedal clear down, if so INCREASE the pedal free play.

Thanks DT, hope to be back to the farm in a week or so. Will post results.

When the tractor isn't used for a long period, the clutch disc tend to get glued to the assembly. I would try to get it started PTO on and then get some load on PTO somehow and use it the pedal pressed down until the clutch starts to work. At least if that adjusting won't help.

(quoted from post at 17:43:46 09/18/18) Remove the lower clutch access plate, and adjust the three PTO release bolts gap to .080 inch.

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Dieseltech: Can this .080 be set on the bench, or does it need to be done after the clutch is installed? I have a 135 that grinds when I try to engage the PTO and, of course, I'd have to adjust the gap through the bottom hole. How hard is is it to do that task through the hole?
Thank you.

It's not too hard to adjust it through the bottom hole of the bell housing

(quoted from post at 20:22:00 09/27/18) It's not too hard to adjust it through the bottom hole of the bell housing

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So I just made this adjustment....wrong.

With my clutch all the way down, I had to kick the PTO lever for it to engage, it would just grind. I adjusted it, englarging the gap, to what I thought was .08". But now with the clutch fully depressed, the PTO slowly spins, whereas before it did not.

Is it safe to say I went the wrong way??

How does one more accurately measure .08"??

A hacksaw blade is around .080" thick, grind off, or flatten the teeth of the hacksaw blade on the end you are using to set the clearance (wrap some tape around the rest of the teeth so they can't get you.