Help the clutch is locked to flywheel.

   / Help the clutch is locked to flywheel. #1  

john carr

New member
Joined
Jun 29, 2011
Messages
5
Location
Greenup, IL
Tractor
Tractor King 254 and iseki
I started my little iseki and found the clutch would not work. When the peddle is depressed the tractor keeps on going. You can shift gears with the engine off and can then start the tractor in gear. You can also shift gears in "low range" but it kind-of grins the gears.
 
   / Help the clutch is locked to flywheel. #2  
Get in a safe area and start it up and as your moving jamb on the brakes repeatedly with the clutch pushed in. It should break free, but have plenty of room and be ready to kill the engine if you can't break it free.
Have enough rpms not to kill the engine when braking.
 
   / Help the clutch is locked to flywheel. #3  
Check to make sure the linkage from the pedal to the clutch is hooked up. Mine had the pin fall out going down the road. Had all kind of fun getting stopped at the stop sign.
 
   / Help the clutch is locked to flywheel. #4  
This problem is not uncommon. There have been posts in the past in which some tractors have a hole in the housing in which you can insert a screwdriver and pry the clutch loose. My Kubota B2710 came with a wooden block to use to hold the clutch pedal down when not in use to prevent the clutch sticking, although I never used it and the clutch never stuck, but the tractor was always kept inside in my shop when not in use.

My first experience with a sticking clutch was a 1940 John Deere Model L when I was about 12 years old. And I learned to do as Wnc3 says above. We kept that tractor parked behind the barn and had a little open space in front of it. So I'd put the transmission in neutral and start it (hand crank in the front end) and get it a little bit warmed up so it would start easily the next time. Then I'd kill the engine, put the transmission in the lowest gear (3 speed transmission), set the throttle to idle, pull that crank to start the engine, get out of the way to let it go by, then climb on from the back end, push the clutch pedal all the way down, open the throttle wide open, and stand on the brake pedal as hard as a 12 year old could.:laughing: That always worked, and it wouldn't stick again until the tractor had been left unused for a week or more.
 
   / Help the clutch is locked to flywheel. #5  
Sometimes you can unstick them without even cranking the engine. Put it in high gear, then rock it back and forth using the rear tire to push on. The back and forth action will cause it to break free if not stuck bad. Other times I have seen folks put them in high gear or next to high gear and pull the tractor with another tractor, truck or what ever you have to pull it and just skid it around till it breaks free. You can alternate between high gear and reverse to make the clutch turn back and forth if the tires continue to skid. This sometimes helps to break a really stuck one.
In the future (after you get it unstuck), always fully depress the clutch put a block of wood between the clutch pedal and the tractor frame or step to keep it fully depressed. Keep this block where you park your tractor and use it every time.

Some tractors are really bad to stick the clutch disk while others never stick.
 
   / Help the clutch is locked to flywheel. #6  
Wish we had known these little tricks way back a few years when our L235 clutch stuck . We ended up having the tractor split and put in new clutch , pressure plate and throw out bearing etc. even though they were all in good condition . We thought while it was all apart we may as well replace everything . Never did stick again .
 
   / Help the clutch is locked to flywheel. #7  
I had the same problem with my TX1510. Theres a lot of tips/advice as to how to try and free it off and they may well work but I ended up having to replace the clutch disc, release bearing etc and it should now last for probably my lifetime
One important thing is to do (if you have it on your model) is to keep the clutch disengaged when not using it for a while - there is a metal rod under the 'footplate' on mine which enables you to do this. If you go down the road of replacement I can recommend jeffcube on Ebay in the USA for the parts - even with VAT and Imporrt duty etc etc it was still cheaper for me to buy it from the USA than in the UK
 
   / Help the clutch is locked to flywheel. #8  
Functioning like the wood block mentioned above, my L4330 has a sort of "hook and eye" arrangement for keeping the clutch pedal depressed when parking tractor ...should be hard to fashion something similar for any tractor ...the "sticking" is rusting together of the two plates (drive and driven)...moisture/condensation is the culprit
 
   / Help the clutch is locked to flywheel. #9  
Had the same problem with the little B414 international last spring, after starting it and letting it warm up it wouldn,t release. I thought about starting it in gear but considering I have to engage the starter leaver with one hand and use the screwdriver with the other that would have been asking for trouble. instead I just put it at a dead idle stepped on the clutch and gave it a quick jab into bo-lo she jumped ahead about ten feet then let go.
 
   / Help the clutch is locked to flywheel. #10  
John, OP
What happened? You left us hanging...
 
 
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