John Deere 5520 Clutch Problems

[larry kalwei]

I have a 2003 John Deere 5520. I bought it used in 2005 with less than 800 hours and the clutch went out. I took it to the John Deere dealer in Harrisonville, Mo and the Service Manager told me that there was a deficit part and John Deere would probably stand behind it even through it was out of warranty. Well, when I went back in, there was a new Service Manager and new Owner (Heritage Tractor)and their position was "Tough ****". So it cost me over $1,500 and I have not stepped back in there again. Then about 5 years later, it went out again. So this time I took to a another non-John Deere dealer and they replaced the clutch again for another $1,500. Now, it is 5 years later and here we go again. I love the tractor but there is definitely a problem with their clutches! Have anyone else had this problem??

 

[whis]

do you keep your foot on clutch pedal

 

[larry kalwei]

Nope!
Dad taught me a long time ago not to do that.

 

[Tx Jim]

Do you keep clutch pedal free travel adjusted correctly?

 

[larry kalwei]

I have received numerous comments about free travel and I understand that is very important, but what I don't understand that it needs to be checked every month? I had a ford tractor and it had a loader and I probably didn't check the free travel more than every several years and I never had a problem with it. Is John Deere tractors so **** sensitive that they need adjustments on a monthly or daily basis???? If so, I will looking at other tractors, because this is total BS!

 

[Tx Jim]

I have received numerous comments about free travel and I understand that is very important, but what I don't understand that it needs to be checked every month? I had a ford tractor and it had a loader and I probably didn't check the free travel more than every several years and I never had a problem with it. Is John Deere tractors so **** sensitive that they need adjustments on a monthly or daily basis???? If so, I will looking at other tractors, because this is total BS!

I'll bet the Ford tractor you referred to had a fiber clutch disk in lieu of the "metallic pads" such as your JD. How much trouble is it to frequently check clutch pedal free travel when one considers that small task possibly could prolong the time frame that a $1500 clutch disk replacement is required???????

 

[whis]

I check it every time I get on a tractor, hit pedal with my foot and see if there is any free play