Siezed clutch

[john_bud]

Once you are satisfied it is STUCK, pull the starter and hose down the clutch interface with penetrant. I like 50-50 atf and acetone. The faster the evap rate the better the penetration. But also greater fire danger!

Dog the clutch down. Spray, rotate the engine 1/2 way, let it sit for 4+ hours, repeat, let it sit 24 hours. Then fire it up and in higher gear than you would ever plow, drop the plow with the clutch down. Raise, go to speed and repeat. You want to SHOCK the clutch into releasing. A slow strong pull is nowhere near as good as a sharp rap.

Good luck and be careful.

 

[ultrarunner]

Was the tractor submerged in salt water?

 

[Krid]

Ultrarunner,
No just fresh water when the Stanley River broke its banks.
Dirk.

 

[Krid]

John,
I like your advice. Had a look yesterday - only four bolts to remove the starter. Not sure how I will rotate engine with starter out? Maybe push with excavator?
Dirk.

 

[john_bud]

John,
I like your advice. Had a look yesterday - only four bolts to remove the starter. Not sure how I will rotate engine with starter out? Maybe push with excavator?
Dirk.

You can push it, or put the trans in N and rotate the engine by hand with a breaker bar and socket on the crank bolt. If you can't spin it by hand, a push in high gear for a couple feet will do it too. All my stuff is pretty well easy to spin by hand. The more times you spray it down and the longer it sets the more likely it will break free.

After it gets loose (I'm an optimist ) you will want to dog down the clutch, pull the starter and really hose it down again with brake cleaner to help get the oil off. Also, do a half dozen to a dozen full engine speed starts in high gear to clean off the clutch / flywheel interface. Also, once it freezes up, it's always going to be more prone to doing it again. You will want to work out a way to dog down the clutch peddle for storage and between uses.

Oh... do you have an inspection port or drain port area in the bell housing? Some have a plate with a cotter pin, some have a clear plastic tube, etc. You may have trapped moisture in the bell housing causing rust and this issue as the root cause beyond the initial dunking in the river.

Good luck

 

[JNB]

Had similar problem. Attached the Bush Hog to the tractor and just ran it at high revs. It loosened up after a couple of hours of bush hogging

 

[Bird]

Apparently, it's not an unusual problem. I was puzzled at first with the wooden block that was delivered with one of my new Kubotas until I learned it was to hold the clutch pedal down so the clutch wouldn't stick when not in use. I never used that block, and never needed it, but my tractor was parked inside my shop building when not in use.

However, way way back there many years ago, about 1951 my Dad bought a 1940 John Deere L and it was always parked outside behind the barn, and the clutch would stick. Of course back then it was a hand crank in the front end to start the little 2 cylinder gasoline engine. I found, with the engine running, there was no way I could get it into gear. So I'd start the engine in neutral and let it warm up a bit so it would restart without the choke. Then I'd shut it down, put it in low gear, set the throttle to idle, pull the crank to start the engine, and get out of the way to keep from getting run over. Then I'd climb on from the back and, once in the seat, I'd stand on both the clutch pedal and the brakes while opening the throttle. It always popped loose.:laughing: Maybe not the safest thing for an 11 year old boy, but it worked.