Any threads on splitting a tractor? Clutch problems

chabat124 · Apr 23, 2007

My 1952 Ferguson TO30 Clutch pedal hit the floor yesterday and just stayed there. No resistance at all on the pedal. And the bolt holding it to the shaft is fine. So I do believe, I will be splitting the tractor to fix whatever went wrong with the clutch. I ran into a chian link fence, stuck in 1st gear, and that is where it sits now, rammed up against a fence still hard stuck in 1st.

Are there any threads with photos showing a tractor being split?
Or clutch jobs?

I do have a manual for my tractor.

I don't imagine having a shop do this would be cheap, and being my tractor is not worth a gold mine, I figure I will be doing this myself.

Soundguy · Apr 23, 2007

First thing you need to do is shift to neutral, and drag her back to the shop.

Binding? remove spark plugs and try to back engine off any amount.. even a 1/4".. just enough to take pressure offa the gears if you can't slide them as they are. Sometimes someone holding onto a rear tire pushing/pulling on it will jiggle it enough to slide it to neutral..

When you do the clutch.. do replace the cheap tranny input shaft seal.. also.. use your input shaft as a clutch alignment tool..

Soundguy

thingy · Apr 23, 2007

There is some info,[if you search] on other sites,chinese tractor sites,,one called the ctoa,chinese tractor owners ***,but not much,,does have a few pictures,,gotta pay to talk but looking is free,,need concrete floor,rolling floor jacks,,break it into at bell housing,before trans,,,and help,,hear they don't go back quite as easy as taking apart,,,thingy

Iplayfarmer · Apr 23, 2007

I split mine a year or so back to replace the clutch, but I don't have any pictures of the process. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The hardest part is getting everthing to line up and slide together when you're putting it all back together. Call in a few favors and have a few friends around when you plan to do that. I put the tranny in neutral and engaged the PTO. I turned the PTO output shaft by hand in order to get the tranny to line up with the engine for final assembly.

I do suggest that you follow your manual as closely as possible. Disconnenct everything. It sucks to get the tractor "almost split" and realize that there's that one wire to the rear lights or something similar that needs to be disconnected on the opposite side of the tractor from where you are holding everthing up.

Another bit of advice...whether you have your clutch rebuilt or buy a new one, have a clutch rebuilder set the pawls. They usually have a machine that can really dial them in to tight specifications. It's a little hard to do with it on the tractor.

qstott · Apr 23, 2007

This thread may help a little. I hope it works.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/parts-repairs/74330-power-take-off-clutch-wont.html

chabat124 · Apr 24, 2007

Thank you everyone. I appreciate the replies. And that other thread did help. If anyone finds any other related threads... feel free to post the link, the more info I have the better.

slowrev · Apr 24, 2007

No thread, but I just recently split and successfully reassembled a 5000 ford.

Blocked up the read with 4x6 oak cribbing. Put a bottle jack under tranny front to elevate and drop on cribbing.

Put an engine hoist under the front of the tractor.
well boom over an wheels under.

used 2x4's driven into each side of the front axle bolster to stabliize the front end.

Cribbed up under the front of the tractor engine on top of the "legs" of the engine hoist, traised slightly to set on cribbing.

hooked chain over boom of hoist and around front weight bracket on tractor, snugged up chain.

removed all lines, etc that had to come loose to split tractor.

Removed bell housing bolts and pulled front away from rear of tractor.

replaced clutch.

rolled front half of tractor back in position, using boom and chain to adjust tilt difference from front to rear part. used alignment pin and long bolts to get close then woggled grankshaft and front half to get the pilot shaft in the clutch pilot bearing. Do not force, have patience and use alignment tool on clutch....

Once bolted together just hook up everything and remove cribbing, etc...

Using the engine hoist on the front part made the job easier than any other time I have done this.

Hope this makes sense and helps.

qstott · Apr 24, 2007

Realigning the input shaft with the pilot brg is the tricky part. The key is that the tractor halves are put back together in a perfectly straight line. You can kind of judge by the bell housing and the back of the block. When you roll them back together, if the gap at the top is 1/2 inch and the gap at the bottom is 3/4 inch, it ain't gonna work. And, as others have said, it helps to have someone turn the pto shaft to line up the splines on the clutch disc. It worked better for me to crib up the transmission just slightly less ( maybe a 1/2 inch) lower than it needed to be. Then, with the engine hoist I could raise or lower the rear of the engine, and I used a floor jack to raise the transmission off the cribbing to mate with the rear of the block. I had the floor jack under the trans when I pulled it apart with cribbing as a back up to hold it up. Keep in mind, I'm a real jack leg when it comes to this kind of work, so I did what worked for me at that particular time. Who knows, I may have escaped the worlds worst death trap and never even realized it.

slowrev · Apr 24, 2007

yep GStott, that is why I said to use longer bolts to put it back together with. Get them started and measure the gaps all around. The boom on the engine hoist adjusted the angle of the front half but the weight was supported on the cribbing placed on the legs of the hoist.
We also had a bottle jack under the front of the tranny to adjust the height of the rear if needed for final alignment.

Using the engine hoist was a very handy thing and very stable and easy to move on a concrete floor. but the trick was to do the support with cribbing on the legs of the hoist and only use the boom for fine tuning and stabilizing.