Clutch disc stuck to flywheel....

RandyB(MI) · Aug 21, 2017

IH 444 had the misfortune of being in our flood a few weeks back. All fluids drained / replenished and tractor is now back up and running great. Only problem is , clutch disc is stuck to flywheel now. Can't be too bad as it hasn't been that long now. Welcome to any and all ideas as to how to break this loose without splitting tractor. Tractor is in excellent condition with no issues prior to flood. Thanks in advance. RB

JD Seller · Aug 21, 2017

Well I have had some luck with lightly stuck one breaking loose by jacking one tire up, block the clutch pedal down, putting the transmission in high gear and then rocking the tire back/forth.

Some times driving the tractor in high gear with the clutch pedal held down and hit the brakes will do it.

If these two ways do not work I usually have had to split the tractor to break the clutch loose.

2x4 · Aug 22, 2017

If you can get into the top of the transmission or go thru a hole that the starter has been removed from, pour roiling boiling hot soapy water thru the hole onto the clutch. Open the bottom drain plug first, of course.

coshoo · Aug 22, 2017

I've had good luck removing the starter and working through the hole thus created. Take the kitchen knife Ma likes the least, heat the blade about 2 inches from the end and bend it 90 degrees. With the clutch pedal tied down, you can use this tool to pry the clutch disk loose, working thru the gaps between the pressure plate and flywheel. Turn the flywheel as you go.

derwen1959 · Aug 22, 2017

ivor from uk here and I have 2 things I want to mention first I used to work at main IH dealer and the 444 is easy to split and second you need to be very careful as you may release plate from flywheel without splitting and you think it is fixed then you are using tractor and you press clutch pedal and the tractor keeps moving

casecollectorsc · Aug 22, 2017

Push start the tractor holding the clutch down and hold the brakes or head up a fairly steep hill in road gear.

Fritz Maurer · Aug 22, 2017

You might as well just take it apart and fix it right. If any friction material adheres to the flywheel or pressure plate, operation of the tractor will never polish it off. Just makes it more easily stuck the next time it sits in a sweaty barn. You don't even need to buy any parts, just sand the flywheel and pressure plate until they're bright and clean.

Robert Major · Aug 22, 2017

Hi If it got that wet, I'm wondering how bad it's stuck, I've had some tractors I got for parts that had just sat and I had to beat the disc off the flywheel. The face of the flywheel and clutch cover and linings was real rusty, some had even started to spread the linings on the disc with corrosion..

Also I wonder what might of happened to the release bearing and pilot bearing if they got water in them, there could be rust in them to.
I think if it was mine I'd be pulling it apart and checking it out. It's gonna get real entertaining if that pilot bearing is seized or fails shortly after you get it going, and the same for the release bearing if it has gone south, or heads that way and chews the levers off the release fingers over time..

Doing the work now seems better to me than "Oh I got it going real easy, but something wasn't right and I stuffed the hood hitting something when I hit the clutch and it didn't stop" for the best option. Or at the worst somebody gets hurt or killed in an accident...
Regards Robert

RandyB(MI) · Aug 22, 2017

Thanks to all for the timely responses. I do well understand the safety aspect of the problem. Will mention, too, this was fresh water and also from a rising river which went back down within 6 hrs of when it got that high on tractor and then weather dried out. This is a friends tractor and he already found out , the hard way, that it was stuck. Thankfully it was in low gear when he started it and he had clutch lever down , so he knew it had a problem and turned off switch before it went 3 feet. Of course we will probably try the easy way first and if it releases, if so , will hook it up to a load and put it through it's paces. I'm sure he may still want to split it but will see what it does for now. He may just want to start it up in low and get it into his shop and then decide. Will post back what we find/do. Starter was stuck a little too but just needed a minimum of persuasion on the bench and works fine.

rrc300 u · Aug 22, 2017

When I was about 13,My uncle bought a massey Harris 44 with a stuck clutch. He wired the pedal down and he told me to go for a ride I went all over the place up and down hills over dead furrows you name it. I finally figured screw it I'm heading back we will need to split it. On the way back I cut across the end of a picked corn field,it had been wet that fall and there were plenty if ruts to cross. After about a hundred feet of that jerkin rough ride it popped loose. He used the tractor for a good amount of years before the clutch needed work.

Mike(NEOhio) · Aug 22, 2017

I used to have a 3414, industrial version of the 424. It sat about a year and the clutch was stuck. Pushing against a big tree with the loader didn't do it. Don't know if yours does but mine had a cover on the bottom of the housing so I looked in and could get to the clutch bolts. I worked my way around taking the bolts out of the pressure plate and wedging a small wood block at each place. Then pried the disc away from the flywheel and wiped it with a rag on a stick with some solvent. Worked fine after that.

Clutch disc stuck to flywheel....

RandyB(MI)

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JD Seller

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2x4

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coshoo

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derwen1959

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casecollectorsc

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Fritz Maurer

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Robert Major

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RandyB(MI)

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rrc300 u

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Mike(NEOhio)

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