TD5050 hard clutch pedal

[F3506]

Any ideas on what I'm looking at here. Pedal has been slowly getting worse, but seems to come and go. Some days, it's almost impossible to push the pedal far enough to hit the clutch safety switch and get it to start. Sometimes after it warms up, the pedal goes back to normal, sometimes not.

Adjusting the cable a dozen different times seems to work sometimes, and not others. Thought I had it adjusted right this last time as the clutch was great, but then became unbearable again after loading hay for 15 minutes. Pedal is hard enough my 5'3" wife can't push it down more than 1", and with a bad left knee, I had to disable the safety switch to get it to start reliably.

If I stop the pedal 2" - 3" from the floor, the pedal is still tough as heck, but it shifts gears fine and the shuttle works fine, but it's time to address this before the cable snaps. I've removed both ends of the cable and verified it slides freely and is not binding. Verified disconnected clutch pedal travels freely. Removed clutch pedal bushings and verified they are not worn and causing the pedal to bind under a load.

Unless someone has other ideas, that means it's time to get the tractor split. Any idea on what that will cost?(tractor has a cab) In my mind this has to be internal. Bent fork, bad throwout bearing, bent fingers, broken springs on the clutch, etc. I got the tractor used a couple of years ago. It's a 2009 model and only has 2700 hours currently.

 

[F3506]

Dealer called before I could drop it off and said his lead tech had seen this before. Seized cross shaft he said. Spray it with penetration oil he said. I said, this is a cab tractor, not open station. It's not a water leak through the shifter boot issue.

So I sprayed it. Let it sit 4 hours and sprayed it again and pushed on the pedal some. Let it sit overnight and the next day and sprayed it again the following afternoon, then decided to call the dealer back. Only issue is, the pedal appears to be fixed for now. I can't believe how easy it is to push the pedal compared to what it was.

Re-adjusted clutch cable back to where it's supposed be. Now it's just a wait and see if it comes back or that actually fixed it. So far, much cheaper than having the tractor split.

 

[F3506]

Another follow up. Turned out it was the sheath on the clutch cable that was the problem. Cable finally snapped from all the pressure. When I went to change it I discovered the sheath had worn through on one side allowing it to fold in half and bind the cable when under pressure.

Disconnect both ends of the cable to test it, and the cable slid back and forth with ease with just two fingers. The penetrating oil didn't help anything. It just sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. With the new cable the pedal is as soft as a little Honda car (if they even still make stick shifts).