Blocking the clutch pedal

[Thomas]

Better make one of thoses doohickey and a spare thing amabob case if you lose the doohickey,than place it next to the muffler bearing. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

By the sounds your long over do for a trip north for some seat. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>the little toolbox under the seat</font color=blue>

Sure, you guys with them fancy luxury tractors get a toolbox.

My L2500 is an economy tractor. No frills, bells, whistles or toolboxes. I don't even see a place to put one.

 

[GlueGuy]

Well, I don't know about fancy. Mines got no frills, bells, or whistles either. But it at least has a toolbox under the seat. Not much of one, and it's plastic, but there's room in there for a Hershey bar, for emergencies of course. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[gator]

Although not with a Kubota, I can relate a story about rusted clutch plates on my old Allis Chalmers D-12.She sat for a couple of months without being used a few years ago and the clutch rusted.Took alot of WD-40 and time,but got her to seperate without having to split the tractor.Flushed the clutch afterwards with water then ran the dickens out of her(no the clutch didn't slip afterwards).From that point on,when I knew I wasn't gonna use her for "awhile", I would c-clamp the clutch pedal down and never had that problem again.An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.Just my 2 cents......

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>long over do for a trip north for some seat</font color=blue>

You got that right, Thomas.

With or without a doohickey, I need to get up there. Wonder if I should have greased my muffler bearing. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[GrantMO]

My manual says to use it for long term storage. On my old 8N I would put a cinder block on the clutch pedal after every time I used it, literally "blocking the pedal." I have heard horror stories about having to split those old tractors when the clutch rusted.

 

[kubmech]

Please don't fall into the "trap" thinking that my garage is warm and dry, my clutch wont sieze. More than once I've had a clutch freeze up on me just sitting in the shop for a couple of weeks (waiting for parts or estimate approval). Most times you have to split 'em to seperate the stuck parts and every once in a while (not very often) you can get 'em to break free.
What was the weather like before you brought it in? Sitting outside a few days in wet rainy weather then parking inside lets the possibility of this happening increase. If you want to "latch" the clutch for warmup in colder temps, I don't see a big problem with clutch wear. True you may get a little slippage between the plates, but it's surely minor and wont cause any premature wear.

 

[john_bud]

Grant,

I regularly use the clutch peddle hook for COLD weather startups. This is on the advice of my dealer after the HST filter sprung a leak (twice, once on the original factory filter, once on the dealer replaced unit). Both occured at dern cold below (-29F and -25F). The mechanic at the dealership recommended the use of the hook until the fluid warmed up a bit. I go 5 to 10 min on the hook at 1200 - 1300 rpm, then 10 to 20 more minutes off the hook. I also run the loader up and down a few times to get that fluid mixed in and warmed up, too. The exact time depends on the temperature....

If the clutch is adjusted correctly, you won't wear out the facing. The Kubota engineers wouldn't design the tractor to have the clutch partially engaged when in that state. (would they?) The only extra wear is on the throw out bearing, and that is minimal. IMHO

Remember, free advice is worth every penny you paid...

John Bud

 

[ewoss3]

I also recieved this advice from my dealer. The salesman and the mechanic both gave the same story that this is beneficial for hst warm-up, besides how often do hst tractor clutches get used? mine usually stays in med.

 

[MJB]

I once had the clutch stick on my old Case DC-4 while it sat in my dry, but not heated, garage. This is a hand operated wet clutch. I tried to break it free by starting the tractor in gear and driving it around. With the clutch disengaged, standing on the brakes, and driving through about 2 feet of snow I was unable to break it loose. Luckily the old Case had access plates on the clutch housing which allowed me to back off on the clutch adjustment and pry the disk loose with a long screwdriver. Ever since then I always park the tractor with the clutch disengaged. Later on I also owned a JD440 bulldozer. That unit sat outside so I blocked the foot clutch and steering clutches everytime I parked it unless I knew I was going to use it again within a few days. I had worked on that machine enough to know that I did not want to have to pull the tracks off and remove the final drives to try to unstick the steering clutches./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif