Farmall M Shifting Troubles

This is my first tractor (bought two days ago) so any advice on what I should check to resolve this problem would be greatly appreciated.

If the adjustment is not like that, change the rod length at the external linkage to make it like that, and try it again. good luck, and keep us informed, JimN

I tried City-Boy"s suggestion with no luck so far unfortunately. It"s definitely more then the usual grinding, I experienced that when I first test drove it and was suprised it had been less grinding then the newer 8N"s I"d drove.

I"m relieved you each think the problem has to do with the clutch, I was worried it would be the transmission.

I"ve read around a bit more and saw references to adjusting the clutch and in the shop manual I got it showed the movement range/ pedal free travel of the clutch pedal. Is the free travel how much it should move overall or only how much it should move before it engages? If it"s overall then it"s normal, if that gives any clues. I"m loathe to try to replace the clutch yet, as I"ve not much mechanical skill and know-how.

I"m not sure how to know if it"s disengaging all the way, except to say the pedal comes back up. It is still shifting just fine when not running, very smooth and easy.

The local tractor shop only had the shop manual, which manual would be the best to order?

Thanks again.

I mention this next consideration only because you said this is your very first tractor: If what you mean is you can not shift from one gear to another without violent grinding while the tractor is moving, that is normal as the gears in an M, like most tractors, are not synchronized. mike

If it's an M, you should be able to do a complete clutch and pressure plate job from underneath the tractor without splitting it.