Ford 1920 will not go into gear

Soundguy · Jun 28, 2017

exactly..

archi · May 24, 2021

MOTractor said:
Last weekend I pulled the top cover off the transmission to see if I could see any obvious problems, I did not. Pics below.

What I did find out was that the u-joints on the shift linkages were all but frozen up. I have had them soaking in the parts washer all week. Tonight I will soak them in break-free. Wonder if I had a shifting problem...

So it was then time to install the clutch and put the tractor back together. Look closely at the clutch photo below - notice the bolt that is sticking up? I would not go thru the hole... nested inside 2 of the 6 mounting holes is a sleeve, looks like it is there to help keep the pieces aligned. The sleeve was stopping the bolt from passing thru - done for the day

Called the dealer on Monday who in turn called Hy-Capacity. The pulled one off their shelf and it did the same thing - they took a punch and wacked it thru the hole, it centered / de-burred the hole. Dealer asked me to try the same thing and if that did not work bring it back. I did not have 8mm punch so i used a 5/16 grade 8 bolt. I tapped it back and thru a couple dozen times - i figured (hoped!) the threads would help get rid of any burrs on the sleeve. It worked, the 8mm bolt dropped right thru. I did a test fit (without drive disc) and was able to easily start all 6 bolts - no alignment issues.
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I have the same problem with my 1920. Did the clutch pack do the trick MO? I also have pto engagement problems. Does anyone know the size of wrench used on the 3 pto pressure plate adjuster bolts. I can see I have to much clearance on the head of the bolts. I sure hate to split the thing. I'm not as good of a mechanic as you MO.

MOTractor · May 25, 2021

archi: Yes it did, been almost six years not and still running great, its my dedicated brush hog machine. Sorry, but I do not remember the wrench/socket size. About splitting the tractor: I am not a mechanic, just not afraid to take something apart

I watched videos and read forums about splitting the tractor. It was surprisingly not that hard, but oh my the mess... I drained "all" the fluid and still killed off a bag of oil dry! I took pictures of every step and made notes.

u50067 · Aug 8, 2022

archi said:
I have the same problem with my 1920. Did the clutch pack do the trick MO? I also have pto engagement problems. Does anyone know the size of wrench used on the 3 pto pressure plate adjuster bolts. I can see I have to much clearance on the head of the bolts. I sure hate to split the thing. I'm not as good of a mechanic as you MO.

14 mm was what fit the bolt head and lock nut but the access holes are too small and not lined up with the bolt heads nor the lock nuts. I have given up on attempting to adjust the bolts in that I was unable to loosen them even though I managed to get a wrench onto the bolt head. If the access holes were larger and located in line with the bolt heads and lock nuts, it might have been possible. Also, the bolt head is within a cavity of the pressure plate thus restricting the wrench's movement to a few degrees.

ROUSTABOUT · Aug 9, 2022

We've had a 1900 since new in 1980. Never any clutch problems. Two water pumps, radiator, o ring for lift is all that's happened since 1980. It was the only tractor plowing 40 acres for 8 years. Grandad plowed a forty and truck patched.