860 clutch

Gents [and Ladies?], I just bought a 1955 Ford 860 feeling that I needed more power for my rotary cutter. The tractor looks great and supposedly has a recent engine rebuild, but the clutch is a problem. As you know it's a two stage clutch,...push down part way and you disengage the transmission clutch, all the way and you disengage the PTO as well. The problem is, I push down halfway and the transmission clutch doesn't disengage and the tractor just keeps merrily going along. If I stomp on the brakes it will disengage. And on the other hand, if I push the clutch all the way down the PTO will disengage but not the transmission, and again I have to stomp on the brakes. The problem is greater at high RPMs,...at 800 or 900 RPMs the trans clutch will often disengage, or just a tap on the brake will make it disengage. However at 1750 RPMs [to spin the PTO at 545] I have to REALLY stomp on both brakes to stop it. It sacred the wee out of me when I almost went through the back wall of the barn. So what do you think? By the way, I've already spent hours adjusting the linkage based on the owner's manual, and I do have an overrunning clutch which is working. Does this mean I have to split this nice shiny tractor and rebuild the clutch? Oh I hope not. Or is there something else going on? Thanks, Andy

Sounds like you have a sticky clutch, which is a common problem for tractors that haven't had a lot of use. It's caused by rust on the pressure plate. The problem should go away as you use the the tractor. You can speed up the process by setting the parking brakes, putting the tractor in high gear and holding the clutch right at the point of engagement until it loosens up.

And yes, if you can't get the clutch free, it will require a tractor split and (expensive) clutch pack replacement.

Thanks Mark, that's a good possibility,...shoulda thought of it myself. I'll give it a try with fingers crossed.
Andy

Are it has oil on it....