3000 PTO Clutch Adjustment or Problem

I have a 1973 3000. Thanks for all the advice and assistance over the years. It runs great, handles a 6.5' snowblower, 6' heavy
blade, 6' mower, and 8' disk all very well. Just about perfect for me.

When I put the machine back together a few years back both transmission and pto engaged and disengaged normally with the clutch.
Since then it seems things have slowly shifted. The PTO started crashing a little at full clutch a couple years ago. It has slowly
gotten worse, and is at the point where I will engage prior to starting the tractor.

It seems I can't adjust the clutch far enough to get full disengage. I'm below the recommended freeplay amount before the drive
stage.

Am I dealing with a stuck second stage?
Something moving within the clutch assembly?
Something else moving around?


Any suggestions or advice are appreciated!

Just adding that this tractor has an 8 speed trans with live PTO

The trans disc has worn down. Needs split to adjust links.

Time to renew the complete clutch setup with a rebuilt assembly. Pressure plate PTO clutch assembly and drive clutch plate and new pilot bearing and control bearing. Do it all while tractor is apart and be done with it. If any oil leaks found repair those also. This site has all the parts needed. The assembly will come to you ready to bolt in with an alignment tool. All you have to do is adjust petal free travel after tractor is back together.

It's unfortunate that ford didn't put a removable plate on the clutch housing to allow for making the adjustment without splitting the tractor. When I set up those two stage clutches I set the links fairly tight to allow for the initial wear of the transmission clutch.

Mark

That's what the big hole under the steering box is for!

Not an easy task though. :-(

Mark

By the time you pull everything off to get to that hole it's almost easier to split the tractor.

hmm. Well, if the 8 speed in the 3000 is similar to the 3600, then the only thing to slowly degrade is the PTO clutch plate. Why does this happen when you had it recently split? Well if the seals between the long skinny shaft that makes the wheels go and the short fat shaft that makes the PTO go were not replaced, then oil from the back part of the tractors transmission seeps through the inside of the big shaft onto the PTO clutch plate. The other issue can be if one or more of the three arms that touch the throwout bearing and separate the clutch plates from power, but me thinks you'd feel it through the pedal. If these levers are worn or maladjusted or come apart, they cannot evenly separate the PTO clutch plate from the power. To know for sure requires a split. However if you have the Beck and Borg clutch pack, it's not too hard to take it apart and replace just the warn PTO clutch disk and shaft seals, if the clutch plate is not gouged. Saves a little money, and the money you save can be sued to replace bearings on that shaft if they do not feel smooth. The original parts are far better than some thing made by barefoot peasants so be judicious when replacing things. To mend is nobel. YouTube's CanadianRedneck shows the rebuild on a Massey live PTO clutch and I think it is nearly identical in design.

This post was edited by Faust on 12/20/2022 at 08:48 pm.