Splitting the Clutch from the engine

[Bobby22]

Hello all long time since I posted on here.
I lost my clutch pedal a few weeks ago after IRMA hit Florida and while I was trying to clear up a huge tree that fell over, the clutch pedal just hit the floor. I looked and found the rod from the pedal to the linkage going into the clutch assembly was sheared off. So, I ordered one from Messicks and was thinking I dodged a huge bullet. Replaced the rod and the pedal still has no pressure on it. One of my buddies told me I will need to split the tractor in half to examine what the issue with the clutch is. This is no easy feat for someone who has never worked on tractors before. Any tips from anyone here on what to expect? I have removed the fenders, seat, steering linkage, starter, battery cables, a few hydraulic lines. It tells me in the manual to remove the fuel tank and steering wheel, but I am not sure as to why? I know I will need 2 floor jacks and some jack stands, but I do not have a cherry picker at my disposal so I am wondering how hard it is going to be to split this thing with limited knowledge of tractors. I am a licensed airplane mechanic, but have not touched an airplane in 15 years. Never had a manual transmission car. I am also leery of disconnecting some one these hydraulic lines not knowing if I will mess something else up. Any help or feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Spanner]

Jeez, WHOA! You should know (Airplane mech.) by now (2 yrs & 20 posts) that you need to give us more information.
You replaced the broken rod which acutates the clutch? and the clutch has no back-pressure when you press the pedal??

How old is the tractor?
How many hours?
Was the clutch operating normally up until the rod broke?
Have you had any issues with the clutch prior to this? Was it slipping/grabbing/squealing/shuddering??

Probably academic since you have the tractor in 1,000 pieces by now so:

Anyway, look at the bottom of this page for "Similar Threads" on splitting and YouTube too... You'll realise you aren't the first to ask the question.

 

[Chewwy]

Hello all long time since I posted on here. I lost my clutch pedal a few weeks ago after IRMA hit Florida and while I was trying to clear up a huge tree that fell over, the clutch pedal just hit the floor. I looked and found the rod from the pedal to the linkage going into the clutch assembly was sheared off. So, I ordered one from Messicks and was thinking I dodged a huge bullet. Replaced the rod and the pedal still has no pressure on it. One of my buddies told me I will need to split the tractor in half to examine what the issue with the clutch is. This is no easy feat for someone who has never worked on tractors before. Any tips from anyone here on what to expect? I have removed the fenders, seat, steering linkage, starter, battery cables, a few hydraulic lines. It tells me in the manual to remove the fuel tank and steering wheel, but I am not sure as to why? I know I will need 2 floor jacks and some jack stands, but I do not have a cherry picker at my disposal so I am wondering how hard it is going to be to split this thing with limited knowledge of tractors. I am a licensed airplane mechanic, but have not touched an airplane in 15 years. Never had a manual transmission car. I am also leery of disconnecting some one these hydraulic lines not knowing if I will mess something else up. Any help or feedback would be appreciated.

The service manual for your machine will provide the info on splitting the machine. It will provide the steps, but likely not the reasoning behind each step. Should have concrete service to work on.

Not sure about your machine, but in general, splitting a machine requires supporting one end on stands or blocking and moving the other end away. Your machine (TC33) weighs less than 3000 lbs. You should be able to use 2 ton engine hoist to handle the split section that has to be moved.

Take your time and work thru the process in your mind before you start. You should be fine.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Bobby22]

Chewwy
Manual is real vague as to how to take this apart. I am afraid if I disconnect certain hydro lines I will ruin something.
I have the tractor in my barn on concrete. I will have 2 two ton jacks and some jack stands. Me buddy was saying we should be able to support the engine side with stands and then just roll the transmission section back. I have been taking pictures and I will take a final video before I disconnect any of the hydro lines so I know where they go back. I think there is more to be removed then the book is saying after looking at some of the pictures in the similar threads below. Thanks for the input. Will let ya know how it goes.

 

[Chewwy]

Just curious. Do you have the OEM service manual? The OEM service manuals for both of my machines are very detailed and each are close to 700 pages. Both include detailed step by step instructions for splitting the unit.

 

[Bobby22]

I have a pretty good sized manual I think about 700 or so pages that someone on here told me to look into and I ended up buying it. This thing has 28 steps listed but the information is very vague, Like remove steering hydro lines. No pictures of anything. Remove seat, remove fuel tank but no pictures. I guess I could look up each individual section when it says remove steering wheel, then go to the steering wheel section. That makes quite a bit of sense.
I will end up doing this work probably next weekend as I am working 10 straight right now and I was just wondering about the splitting part. Like are there things that might fall out when you disconnect them. Are there valves/filters inside some of these hydro lines? Am I removing all the correct wiring (only to find out I missed one or two leads). I am probably making a mountain out of a mole hill, but just got so many great responses the last time I posted my problem that I figured I better ask before I get too far and then have a bigger problem. There is always the chance I mess something up and someone will say I wish you had asked that question before you got into it. Just trying to be proactive.

 

[Chewwy]

Hello all long time since I posted on here. I lost my clutch pedal a few weeks ago after IRMA hit Florida and while I was trying to clear up a huge tree that fell over, the clutch pedal just hit the floor. I looked and found the rod from the pedal to the linkage going into the clutch assembly was sheared off. So, I ordered one from Messicks and was thinking I dodged a huge bullet. Replaced the rod and the pedal still has no pressure on it. One of my buddies told me I will need to split the tractor in half to examine what the issue with the clutch is. This is no easy feat for someone who has never worked on tractors before. Any tips from anyone here on what to expect? I have removed the fenders, seat, steering linkage, starter, battery cables, a few hydraulic lines. It tells me in the manual to remove the fuel tank and steering wheel, but I am not sure as to why? I know I will need 2 floor jacks and some jack stands, but I do not have a cherry picker at my disposal so I am wondering how hard it is going to be to split this thing with limited knowledge of tractors. I am a licensed airplane mechanic, but have not touched an airplane in 15 years. Never had a manual transmission car. I am also leery of disconnecting some one these hydraulic lines not knowing if I will mess something else up. Any help or feedback would be appreciated.

Probably a dumb question but when you replaced the sheared rod did you reinstall the spring?

 

[newbury]

<snip>I am probably making a mountain out of a mole hill,<snip>

To many of us you are making a mole hill out of a mountain. To even think of doing splitting a tractor and reassembling it over a weekend without a full blown tractor shop is beyond my imagination.

Since you were an airplane mechanic you probably have the skills. I've one tractor I've needed to redo the brakes on for years, it ain't happening for years. When I do it I expect to take weeks.

Please post your progress in detail, it seem every tractor splitting writeup I've read some steps go undocumented and I'm trying to build up the courage to do mine.

Oh, and get about 6 of the Harbor Freight movers dollies they will come in handy for supporting and moving things on your concrete floor.

 

[Chewwy]

To many of us you are making a mole hill out of a mountain. To even think of doing splitting a tractor and reassembling it over a weekend without a full blown tractor shop is beyond my imagination. Since you were an airplane mechanic you probably have the skills. I've one tractor I've needed to redo the brakes on for years, it ain't happening for years. When I do it I expect to take weeks. Please post your progress in detail, it seem every tractor splitting writeup I've read some steps go undocumented and I'm trying to build up the courage to do mine. Oh, and get about 6 of the Harbor Freight movers dollies they will come in handy for supporting and moving things on your concrete floor.

Newberry,

I agree it not a weekend job for someone who's never done it before. The TC33D is not a real heavy machine though.

Chewwy

 

[Bobby22]

Yes Sir.