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My 2 cents. I have nothing good to say about a button clutch. In my opinion they don’t even make good scrap metal! I have had experience with them in a 560, 966, and 1486 tractors. They all shifted hard and were almost impossible to get moving smoothly. That being said here’s the technical side as to the way I feel. First, they tear up flywheels and pressure plates left right and sideways because they are or at least were usually made of such a hard material. Every time they slip they remove metal from either or both. I will guarantee that if you ever have to replace the clutch disk you will have to either resurface the flywheel or even replace it because it will be worn that bad. Pressure plate is an automatic replace with the disc. Second, they get harder and harder to feather and get into gear as they wear and chew up the flywheel and pressure plate (see first above). This is because they start to wear a curve on both the inner and outer radii of the clutch. This tends to be accentuated if the clutch and flywheel heat up. One theory is that the disc will actually stick to one or both making it almost impossible to get the transmission to stop. Hmm might be one reason IH started putting a brake in the transmissions later on. Also leads to them being more jumpy when engaging. Third, the button clutches have a habit of breaking the shock absorbing springs in the hub of the disk resulting in premature failure of the clutch, leading to first above. I believe this is due mostly because of second above. I think by now you have the picture. I hated them so bad, my solution on my hybrid 966 (436 crank & pistons, 1466 flywheel, clutch, & blower, and 1066 air cleaner & hood) was to have a local clutch manufacturer (now out of business) put together a fiber button clutch that had enough buttons on it that it was practically a full faced fiber clutch. Made that 966 a fantastic loader tractor (for a non-hydro) lots of lug (thanks to the 436 crank & flywheel) smooth shifting (thanks to the fiber clutch) and pretty economical (thanks to the blower). Now the disclaimer…technology moves on, and there may have been improvements the past 5 years that I’m not aware of. If so, please take them into consideration also when you make your decision. Main thing on a clutch is make sure the flywheel and pressure plate are flat, the clutch springs are all the proper strength (might consider heavier ones if slipping is a concern), and that the fingers on the pressure plate are set correctly allowing proper clutch adjustment. I believe that a full faced fiber clutch set up right will live up to your expectations.
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