Price Check Worth repairing my Yanmar 155D?

[Handmedowner]

Hi all! I've done some searching but I hope you can give me a little guidance. I've inherited a late 70s Yanmar 155D with a front end loader and a concrete counterweight on the back. Picture is not my tractor but looks similar. Great tractor that we got a lot of use out of for 20ish years until about 3 years ago when my dad passed away. He did all the maintenance including a new clutch about 5 years ago. Since then its been sitting out under a tarp :thumbdown:
Well I was excited to finally get it running again and with a new battery it started right up. Only problem is the clutch seems to be rusted and won't budge. The mechanic, a trusted place we bought the tractor from, quoted about $2-3k to get it going again (including new battery, not including new clutch if a cleaning doesn't fix it)
Other than that she should be good to go.

Long story short- What is this tractor worth? We're also considering trading it to the mechanic towards a newer tractor. I'm waiting to here his quote.

 

[rScotty]

Hi all! I've done some searching but I hope you can give me a little guidance. I've inherited a late 70s Yanmar 155D with a front end loader and a concrete counterweight on the back. Picture is not my tractor but looks similar. Great tractor that we got a lot of use out of for 20ish years until about 3 years ago when my dad passed away. He did all the maintenance including a new clutch about 5 years ago. Since then its been sitting out under a tarp :thumbdown:
Well I was excited to finally get it running again and with a new battery it started right up. Only problem is the clutch seems to be rusted and won't budge. The mechanic, a trusted place we bought the tractor from, quoted about $2-3k to get it going again (including new battery, not including new clutch if a cleaning doesn't fix it)
Other than that she should be good to go.

Long story short- What is this tractor worth? We're also considering trading it to the mechanic towards a newer tractor. I'm waiting to here his quote.

View attachment 529129

The YM155d is your classic compact. It is one of the models that started the whole compact tractor movement some 40/50 years ago. I happen like that tractor, and we still have a YM165D bought back in the 1970s that I am rebuilding because of a flood here. It's essentially the same tractor as your YM155D. In fact, I believe that every single part on the 165 and 155 are interchangeable. The specs are the same; mechanically they are the same. The only difference I can find is the color and model designation.

You might want to ask your trusted mechanic to give you another quote. These are simple and lightweight two cylinder 4wd tractor without any electronics and without even so much as a water pump. Splitting the tractor to clean up a rusty clutch might conceivably be worth a thousand dollars labor in today's market, but certainly not more. Or perhaps you should find someone else who has done that job before.

That said, it isn't worth much at all if the clutch remains frozen. You would be lucky to get $1500 to $2000 for it as is....and that would be because someone specifically wanted that dandy Yanmar loader and also knew where he could pedal some of the used parts. If it was all fixed up with every system working right and cleaned up I've seen them go locally for about $4500/$5000. That is because they are popular in spite of their age - something that may not be lost on your mechanic. In spite of it's age, you would be unlikely to be able to match it's performance for anything like that price on a newer machine. They have the tower gear drive front axle, good transmission ratios, a tough PTO, and a nice three point hitch.
I'd be looking for another mechanical quote.
rScotty

 

[CincyFlyer]

There are ways to break a rusted clutch loose; the first step is to see if there are any access holes where you can tie the clutch pedal down and then pry on the disk. Otherwise, with the pedal down (assuming either a cable, linkage, or operable hydraulic release) and the unit in a high gear, and with the brakes applied, one cranks the starter. We unstuck a clutch by pushing the vehicle (a car, in this case) fast enough to be able to put it in gear while running, and then, with the clutch pedal down, got on and off the gas.

 

[rScotty]

There are ways to break a rusted clutch loose; the first step is to see if there are any access holes where you can tie the clutch pedal down and then pry on the disk. Otherwise, with the pedal down (assuming either a cable, linkage, or operable hydraulic release) and the unit in a high gear, and with the brakes applied, one cranks the starter. We unstuck a clutch by pushing the vehicle (a car, in this case) fast enough to be able to put it in gear while running, and then, with the clutch pedal down, got on and off the gas.

CincyFlyer is right. Those are brutal methods, he is saying, but if the clutch is frozen for the most common reason then his brutal methods don't really vary that much from what you would have to do to get a frozen clutch usable again even if you did go to the trouble of splitting the tractor. It sure couldn't hurt to try your favorite variation of what he is suggesting.

The YM155D has a heavy duty mechanical clutch linkage; it is the very best type for brutalizing. Take a look down at the floor board where the clutch pedal pivots. Some of the Yanmar's had a little hook or lever there whose purpose was to hold the clutch dis-engaged when it was in expended storage. The reason for doing that with the spring/lever was to prevent any random humidity from causing the clutch's friction disk to rust-up tight to either the flyweel of the engine or the pressure plate assembly. That's what has happened to yours. In all probability the clutch was left in the normal engaged position, and so the spring loading of the pressure plate assembly has caused the friction disk of the clutch to rust to the plates on either side of it. If you can get the rust to loosen up, the chances are you will have a draggy clutch for a short while and then if you are lucky the rotation of the engine will shine and clean itself right up.
Easiest brutal method is to mount a heavy trailer to the tractor, then select a gear that will pull that load in 2wd.....get on the tractor and start it. If the gear you choose is low enough it may start with the starter. Otherwise chose a higher gear and you will have to pull start it with a car. Go SLOW!! One mile an hour is plenty!! Once the tractor is started and pulling the load you dance on that clutch pedal and pop it and kick it and speed up and down and try everything to and try to get it to slip.... Because that's what you want, you want to make the clutch break loose enough to slip and then polish itself up.
If this works, you will have a usable tractor and if it doesn't there is a good chance of no harm done.
good luck,
rScotty

 

[D2Cat]

If you get the engine running by pull starting, or whatever...put the loader down low and push against a tree that you know won't be budged by the tractor and not in your front yard. Have the clutch pedal pushed down so the clutch can possibly free up The rear tires may begin to dig in. Let them dig, you have nothing to lose. It just may pop free!

 

[rScotty]

If you get the engine running by pull starting, or whatever...put the loader down low and push against a tree that you know won't be budged by the tractor and not in your front yard. Have the clutch pedal pushed down so the clutch can possibly free up The rear tires may begin to dig in. Let them dig, you have nothing to lose. It just may pop free!

What do you guys think about spraying some LiquidWrench or WD40 into the bell housing? I think I would. After all, the throw-out might be rusted to the transmission mainshaft splines, too. Or it might not be the friction disk at all, just a rusted throwout that can't slide. If it was a throw out, a spray might reach just reach that area. I do like the pushing against a tree although there is the problem of approaching the tree with a struck clutch. Wham!!

Another way would be to start by trying the easiest way possible....that would be to get it moving under it's own power and then drive around while standing on the clutch pedal while putting as much pressure as possible onto the wheel brakes.
rScotty

 

[TedReese]

Don't spray anything into the bellhousing, you don't want to contaminate the clutch disc as it may become a slipping issue if you break it free. I used to have a car that the clutch disc would rust and freeze to the flywheel. There are two ways I found to free the disc. The first try to find a hole in the bellhousing adjacent to the clutch/disc. In my case there was a timing hole. Using a flashlight to look into the hole and a wrench on the front nut of the crankshaft I would turn the engine over and find a opening in the clutch pressure plate. While the clutch pedal is pressed down I would use an old table knife (flat, rounded, blunt end) and could pry the disc off the flywheel. The second method would be to start and warm up the engine in neutral. After warming up, start the engine in gear with the clutch pedal pressed all the way down. Keep the pedal all the way down. Now throttle up and down abruptly, repeatedly. As suggested above, try it while towing a heavy weight or while also pressing on the brakes, hard.

Good luck, and $2k-$3k is way too much to split one of these small simple tractors to get to the clutch.

 

[Handmedowner]

Thank you all! Feels like I'm getting advice from my mechanic Dad again.
Unfortunately the tractor's already at the mechanics. We needed it moved from one house to another and didnt have the means to do it our selves. Thought this would be a quick hot start - tow- new battery - drop off but then discovered the frozen clutch.
I should mention the work on the clutch was quoted at "maybe 1600", then the charges for new battery, towing, and a repair to the wheel bring it up to a little over 2k. Could be less but I always overestimate to avoid surprises. It started pretty easily after the battery was jumped, structurally its getting rusty but otherwise functional and the hydraulics seem fine.

that said- If we get it running, one way or another- roughly whats it worth?

 

[D2Cat]

The idea of a tree is something everyone has. Actually a pull type plow buried as deep as it will go, a disc, anything to create resistance.

Separating that tractor and replacing a clutch is pretty simple. Parts aren't really expensive. Probably clutch disc, pressure plate, throw out bearing, pilot bearing...<$200.

Here's a clutch that had been neglected for quite a while.

 

[newbury]

<snip>
that said- If we get it running, one way or another- roughly whats it worth?

<snip>

That said, it isn't worth much at all if the clutch remains frozen. You would be lucky to get $1500 to $2000 for it as is....and that would be because someone specifically wanted that dandy Yanmar loader and also knew where he could pedal some of the used parts. If it was all fixed up with every system working right and cleaned up I've seen them go locally for about $4500/$5000.<snip>

And when are you going to sell it? Fall/early winter is bad for selling poor condition tractors. Can you wait till spring?