RandyS:
I just got done breaking my tractor in half, again. I did the clutch last year and this year I had to get behind the bell housing to get at the rear main seal. See the "Y385T Short Block?" thread I statrted.
It's really not that hard to break it in half.
I am bad at wiring so I take masking tape and number all the wires and what they connect to. Disconnect the hydraulics like the power steering and such. If you have four wheel drive you have to take out the drive shaft to the front wheels. For that matter, disconnect everything that is connected across where the two halves of the tractor are bolted together.
I bought an atv jack with steel wheels for about $60 for the back half of the tractor. I put a couple of 4x4's across the cradle because part of the jack was hitting before the jack statrted lifting Put the jack as close to where the tractor bolts together as you can.
I use a floor jack on the front half (about $20) and wedged in a couple of jack stands with wood and get it as close to level as I can. Make sure you put wedges in between the engine and the front axle. The engine pivots on the front axle, the engine will tip one way or the other if you don't. Block the front wheels so the front end it won't roll.
I roll the back half away and leave the front half where it is. I found that with the atv jack the back half is pretty stable. If you are doing this outside put plywood down so the jack will roll. (I learned my lesson the hard way).
The back wheels give a lot of leverage. It is easier if you have a person on each wheel. I used my 17 year old daughter to help.
When putting it back together get a clutch aligning tool, like Iron Horse said, so the clutch plate(s) line up and roll the back half to the front. When I am close I take a couple of nylon ratchet straps that are used for holding down cargo. I put one on each side, from the front of the tractor to the rear and tighten them a bit until the PTO spline hits the PTO clutch plate. Then turn the PTO shaft at the rear of the tractor a bit until it engages the the PTO clutch plate. You can then ratchet a bit on each side until the splines from the transmission engage the main drive clutch plate. Make sure the fuel shut off is pulled, and turn the flywheel until the splines engage the main clutch disk. Then keep ratcheting until you can start the bellhousing bolts.
I find that the ratchet straps allow me to make fine adjustments instead of pushing on the rear wheels. If you aren't aligned left to right you can use the floor jack to move the front a bit if you have to.
Oh, pull off flywheel and the bellhousing and replace the bolts and use loctite and torque them so you don't have the problem I did.
Hope this helps, Ed.
