Clutch Wear

[231S]

Hello,

I have a 231S with a FEL that I have been using around our 10 acres for about five or six years. We bought it new. I posted a question on the repair forum about mistake I made while bushhogging and bogged it down and slipped the clutch enough to smell it get hot. That got me to thinking about how I treat the clutch in general. I mow at 1800 on the tach which according to the manual gives me 540 PTO. When I back up to get in a tight spot I don't usually cut down the RPMs, I just clutch and shift at 1800. Is that overly hard on the clutch?

Also, when using the FEL to knock down a couple of brush piles I have set the RPMs to 1500 so the bucket would work a little faster and did all my shifting at that speed. I know that is not babying it, but is it abusing it? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[TedLaRue]

When you're running at the recommended 540 RPM PTO speed, changing your ground speed (especially reversing direction) is going to cause some wear on the clutch unless you slow down the engine.

Your clutch should be designed to handle a certain amount of this. Obviously, mowing for 5 hours at the same speed in the same direction in some large field causes little if any wear on the clutch. But if you're mowing and trimming around trees, etc., you are going to cause extra wear on the clutch.

I think the main point here is to be aware of the conditions that are wearing your clutch, and then as you use the machine, choose actions that minimize wear/stress.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I responded to same questions in the "repair" forum. The clutch will take years of use. Keep it adjusted correctly and don't abuse it any more than neccisary. I'm still on the original in my 36 year old MF 150.