John Deere 4450 Stiff Clutch

[graydog111]

My Dad's 1985 JD 4450 w/15 speed automatic transmission had a clutch spring that was so stiff he could hardly depress the pedal. I mentioned it to the dealer. He laghed and said, "That's not really a clutch, although it functions as one. It opens and closes a hydraulic valve. The reason they make it so stiff, is farmers like stiff clutches. They could have used a very weak spring instead."

With that information, I crawled under the cab and found the external spring he was talking about. I made a 1 inch loop similar to a chain link. I unhooked the spring from the stationary end, put the link where the spring had been, and hooked the spring to the link. After that, he could push the pedal in very easy. No more sore leg from pushing it in. It changed nothing else in the transmission's operation.

I don't know what other model this info would apply to. Hope this helps someone.

 

[oldbones]

graydog-
That's not an "automatic" transmission- it's a powershift transmission. Be careful about changing spring tension. If you get it too loose, it will let the pedal bounce up and down, allowing the "dump valve" to open or close slightly with each bounce. This isn't good for the transmission guts, and you could end up burning clutch pack plates.

 

[graydog111]

graydog-
That's not an "automatic" transmission- it's a powershift transmission. Be careful about changing spring tension. If you get it too loose, it will let the pedal bounce up and down, allowing the "dump valve" to open or close slightly with each bounce. This isn't good for the transmission guts, and you could end up burning clutch pack plates.

Your right, it was a Powershift. I could not remember what it was called. Anyway, it worked fine for 16 years, from 1987 to 2003 pulling some heavy loads all season in the dry wheat fields of western Oklahoma. It sold in 2003.