Time for Clutch in MT372D?

[skylarkguy]

So, I'm having trouble getting my tractor in gear (any gear) it grinds something fierce. Once I do get it in one gear or another, the tractor creeps while my foot is still down on the clutch pedal. This indicates to me that it is time to put a clutch in it, as no amount of fiddling with the pedal linkage makes any difference, (free play etc).

Before I open it up does anyone have any other suggestions to investigate the problem?

It looks to be clutch month at the farm (wife's car, My pickup, and now the tractor).

An additional point...I started looking at the section on engine removal in my service manual that I purchased 2 years ago from ssb tractor. As this is the first "Engine Dismount" It is the first time i looked really closely at this section. Unfortunately it is missing a page. It jumps from page 2-1 to 2-3 so is missing steps 5-10 on the engine removal protocol. The folks at SSB were helpful but apparently their master copy of the book is also missing the page.

Anyone happen to have a complete copy of this manual? Could I get a PDF of page 2-2?

Thanks

 

[284 International]

It's probably just time for a clutch, but when I bought my Kubota B6000 it was experiencing symptoms like you're describing. On the side of the transmission housing is a port that lets you fit a grease gun in to grease the clutch release bearing. I gave it a couple pumps of grease, then worked it some, then buried the box blade rippers and let the clutch slip a little bit against it.

I gave it one more pump of grease after all that, and, so far, it's been fine. My Kubota had sat unused for something like 6 years when I got it, and the clutch disk had corroded onto the flywheel, the release bearing rusted to the transmission input shaft, and so forth. It is possible you've got something afoot other than a worn out clutch, like me, and with some grease and a little maintenance it will be serviceable. Let us know what happens.

 

[alvanko]

If you end up putting a clutch in it, take pictures. I think mine needs one to.
You'd think the clutch would last longer then 25 years ! (HA!).
I know the clutch is not cheap, but spread over 25 years it's very cheap.....

 

[oliver28472]

I was having trouble with my 1450 (373) clutch pedal not coming back up. I ordered a release bearing and pilot bearing. My brother put them in for me and it didn't need anything else. That was probably two years ago.

 

[skylarkguy]

Well, I split the tractor to inspect the clutch components here is what I found...

Throwout bearing is totally dry, and has several mm of play back and forth. Any grease that used to be around is non-existent. The shaft as well has some old grease on it but is pretty stiff.

The clutch disk is actually not as worn as I thought it would be the shallowest rivet to surface distance is about .57mm. The specification for replacement is .2mm. More troubling, I think is the large chunks missing from the outer edge of the clutch disk (see picture). It is the side of the disk that runs against the flywheel. The other interesting thing is that most of the wear looks to be along the arc of the rivets..not sure what to interpret here.

Both the flywheel and the pressure plate are glazed and have dark spots...pretty much what I expected.

This tractor apparently doesn't have a pilot bearing. There looks to be an interesting bushing in the flywheel (see picture) but I can't tell if it needs to be replaced.

Lastly, I found this little broken metal spring looking thing (picture included) floating around behind the flywheel. I have no idea where it came from or what it is.

My plan at this point is to haul all these parts to The Tractor Store in Eugene Oregon, for some advice and servicing. My conversation with them on Friday seemed to indicate that the parts can be rebuilt for about $250.00, plus $100 for the bearings. Hopefully, I'll have everything back in a week and can get back to mowing.

 

[skylarkguy]

I ended up replacing the clutch disk, which was rebuilt ($101.50), the pressure plate, which was supposed to be rebuilt, but looks completely new ($134.20). Throwout bearing ($85.00 ) and guide bushing (24.25). A new fuel filter while I was at it, because I had to drain the fuel system to split the tractor. A couple O-rings and a bit of labor for a total of $368.90...whew!

The result...it shifts really sweet! Tomorrow I hope to hook the mower back up and get back to work, although i seem to have introduced some electrical gremlins to the old girl. The glow plug heater works good, and she cranks and starts, but none of my dash lights are working, nor head light, and the clutch switch isn't working either. Most of the electrical connectors on the tractor are degraded to the point of crumbling, and this might be the source of the problem. Looks Like I have some chasing to do tomorrow.

A few observations...

Although this is probably the smallest clutch I have ever seen I do wonder if there are any automotive parts that would cross over, the NAPA crew was stumped but if anyone has investigated the option it would be good to know.

I had to fabricate a clutch alignment tool out of some sockets and other stuff. A stash of junky old sockets came in handy for this. The general alignment tool from NAPA was too big... and nobody had a 10 spline plastic one.

when you pull the clutch bolts make sure you mark them as there are 2 that are different. The manual calls these "reamer bolts" and they have 2 dedicated holes opposite one another on the flywheel. I actually ended up match marking the flywheel so that it was put back on the crank in the same position, then used this mark as a reference for the bolts...I went overboard and marked each bolt so this time each one ended up in the same hole.

 

[284 International]

Great writeup, I'm glad you were successful!


Did you find the missing pages for your service manual?


Did you have the parts rebuilt by the shop, or did they exchange them? You got through this pretty quickly, nicely done!

 

[skylarkguy]

Thanks. Nope, never did find the pages that are missing from the manual. I just winged it. Once I figured out what was on each side of the plane formed where the bell housing and engine meet it was a matter of disconnecting one side or the other.

I brought the parts to the shop (2 hrs away) on Monday. He had most of the stuff back and completed by 1400 hrs on Friday. I picked them up on Friday and put it together mostly on Sunday. As far as I can tell nobody really stocks any of these parts...at least in my area.

I have to admit I actually like wrenching on the tractor, but it is really nice when everything comes together and I'm getting things done.

 

[oliver28472]

Great job. Thanks for passing the information on to others!

 

[JaCates]

So, I'm having trouble getting my tractor in gear (any gear) it grinds something fierce. Once I do get it in one gear or another, the tractor creeps while my foot is still down on the clutch pedal. This indicates to me that it is time to put a clutch in it, as no amount of fiddling with the pedal linkage makes any difference, (free play etc).

Before I open it up does anyone have any other suggestions to investigate the problem?

It looks to be clutch month at the farm (wife's car, My pickup, and now the tractor).

An additional point...I started looking at the section on engine removal in my service manual that I purchased 2 years ago from ssb tractor. As this is the first "Engine Dismount" It is the first time i looked really closely at this section. Unfortunately it is missing a page. It jumps from page 2-1 to 2-3 so is missing steps 5-10 on the engine removal protocol. The folks at SSB were helpful but apparently their master copy of the book is also missing the page.

Anyone happen to have a complete copy of this manual? Could I get a PDF of page 2-2?

Thanks

I just saw this post. I was using my MT372 with a 48" Haban finish mower. Pressed the clutch to go to a lower gear and when I released it the PTO had stopped and the tractor would not move. Sounds like I am replacing the clutch. I have to MT372 repair manual that I am going to attempt to attach it has page 2-2.