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Another John Deere 40 Stuck Clutch

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Bob R

12-29-2002 16:52:39




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Here's the whole story. I am not a tractor or auto mechanic. 15 years ago I bought a '57 John Deere 40 S, sn# 71406, which I fixed up and have been using to maintain our 7 acre wooded property and dirt road in Southwest Georgia. It started running really rough, and it finally shut down. I towed it over to the house where it laid for 6 months. I finally got to it. I rebuilt the carb and installed new points and coil. It ran fine, but now I couldn't get her into gear - as if the clutch would not disengage. The operator's manual says..."A single dry- plate type clutch is used in your new tractor. It is a semi-self adjusting type clutch and no lubrication or adjustment is necessary other than adjustment for maintaining approximately 1� inch free travel in clutch pedal, measured at the top of pedal." Just to do something, I brought that adjustment both ways - no help. I started her in 1st gear and reverse and rode her around for a while popping the clutch; it didn't help. I really want to avoid taking it apart if I might be able to break it free another way; like I said I'm not a mechanic, and it appears that the tractor must be broken in two to get at the clutch. Questions: Will towing it in gear help? Which gear? Anything else you might suggest? Someone told me to spray penetrating oil into the clutch housing. Will that cause the clutch to slip permanently? I was also told that if I could start her in 4th gear and run at high speed with the clutch in then brake hard, it might free up � what do you think? I would appreciate any ideas in layman's terms. I read Clooney's reply to " '35 stuck cluth-help!" Admittedly, it was way, way over my head. But I spoke with a couple of mechanics who were not too sure about how to approach this job, so I would also appreciate the sort of technical detail Clooney gave if I have to find a mechanic to do the job. Also, would it have helped prevent this problem if I wedged the clutch pedal down when leaving the tractor idle?

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ChuckW

12-29-2002 19:12:04




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 Re: Another John Deere 40 Stuck Clutch in reply to Bob R, 12-29-2002 16:52:39  
a friend of mine had the same problem on an 801 Ford...I started it in gear, drove it till it warmed up...then disengaged the clutch, stood on both brakes and it broke loose....he's had no trouble since. The clutch will slip better in higher gears but wouldn't recommend high as you may loose control...probably third gear and do the above. Another thing you could do is add a bushog and then run with clutch depressed, it should break loose. I would recommend spraying inside with brake cleaner if you use any spray...don't use lubricants....other than that, split it and replace the parts....but my buddy is still going after 3 years....

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CPeter

12-29-2002 17:37:33




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 Re: Another John Deere 40 Stuck Clutch in reply to Bob R, 12-29-2002 16:52:39  
A 40 is not a hard tractor to split to get at the clutch. Be sure to suppot the rear securely and if you can lift the engine half with some sort of hoist it should go pretty easy. While you have it apart, try to pull the driveshaft out of the center frame housing. It should not move if the rivet is still in place that holds it onto the transmission input shaft. . If it comes forward about a foot or so and then james against the clutch linkage brace in the housing, that is normal. It is not suppoed to come out from the front, unless someone has ground down the coupling on the rear of the shaft. This was a trick that the old timers used to use to allow the shaft to be replaced from the front. If it does come loose from the transmission, I would recommend splitting the center frame from the transmission and checking the inside coupling splines on the rear of the shaft. They are softer than the transmission input shaft and do wear. You used to be able to get new couplings from John Deere, but I think now you have to buy a complete shaft.

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Clooney

12-29-2002 17:15:27




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 Re: Another John Deere 40 Stuck Clutch in reply to Bob R, 12-29-2002 16:52:39  
Bob, resist the urge to tow it or use the momentum of the tractor to apply force through the transmission. That is a good way to break a trans gear in a 40. ~Check your year or model again as there was no '57 model 40-S. ~I really don't know what to tell you on that clutch, if it doesn't break free easily you will probably have to pull it apart. If you use too much force you could break the trans or twist the drive shaft between the trans & clutch. Even if it comes loose, you might end up pulling the lining from the clutch disk instead of whatever it is rusted to.
~I don't know what kind of road work you do with that tractor but you might try pulling a blade or other hard to move object with the clutch pedal depressed. If it breaks loose while working you might be ok, if it doesn't break loose then it is probably tractor splitting time..... .

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