300u clutch

I have replaced the clutch disc in my 300u but not the preassure plate. everything was in good condition when we took it apart so we only replaced the disc. When I put it back together and adjusted the pedal the clutch still wont work. the clutch fingers pressed all the way in when I bolted the plate to the flywheel and the bearing just touches them when the pedal is pressed all the way down. Im not real sure what to do next. Everything was assembeled acording to the book.

Did you adjust the fingers on the pressure plate? Don't sound like the fork is hitting the bearing or the fingers are too far away from the throw out bearing.

You say the fingers pressed all the way in when you bolted the pressure plate to the flywheel. If I'm interpreting what you are saying correctly, it sounds as if your new clutch disc is too thick for your pressure plate. The distance from the friction face of the pressure plate to the release bearing contact surfaces on the release fingers needs to be adjusted to 2-7/32" after the pressure plate is bolted to the flywheel. If it is any less than that, the clutch won't release all the way or at all. If this dimension was correct, then you will need to adjust you clutch pedal free travel with external clutch pedal linkage. If your tractor has a torque amplifier, this adjustment is a little more involved. My email is open. Send me an email and I will email you a scan of the adjustment procedure.

Yes the fingers are to far away from the bearing so any info u may have for me can help. The book i have doesnt say anything about adjusting the fingers

Like other poster said, disc too thick, or step on flywheel is wrong dimension, or someone readjusted the fingers previously to compensate for incorrect parts or very worn disc.

I hope this works. I"m trying to attach some manual pages to explain the adjustment procedures. You didn"t mention if you have a Torque Amplifier or not, so am including info for both.

I guess I am not smart enough to get a photo attached. Send me an email at [email protected] and I'll email them to you.

Just read this post. I have a 340U. Curious about the finger adjustment. TA didn't work. I adjusted the engine and TA clutch linkage together, by the book. TA still won't engage at all. Looking through the top inspection cover, I can see no movement of the disc or pressure plate and the TA handle requires enormous pressure to pull back! Is this a finger adjustment problem? Does the fix involve a split I can look forward to this winter?

(quoted from post at 16:35:44 10/06/09) I have replaced the clutch disc in my 300u but not the preassure plate. everything was in good condition when we took it apart so we only replaced the disc. When I put it back together and adjusted the pedal the clutch still wont work. the clutch fingers pressed all the way in when I bolted the plate to the flywheel and the bearing just touches them when the pedal is pressed all the way down. Im not real sure what to do next. Everything was assembeled acording to the book.

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A new disk should require a pedal adjustment but it shouild not be extreme. When a clutch is assembles the lever (fingers) should be parallel with the flywheel surface or slightly closer. If all you changed was the disk and the was pressure plate assembly working Okay before you took it apart, most likely the disk is in backwards.

There should be no reason to adjust the lever height. Once you start to adjust the levers you are just masking other problems.

(quoted from post at 22:51:35 10/06/09) Just read this post. I have a 340U. Curious about the finger adjustment. TA didn't work. I adjusted the engine and TA clutch linkage together, by the book. TA still won't engage at all. Looking through the top inspection cover, I can see no movement of the disc or pressure plate and the TA handle requires enormous pressure to pull back! Is this a finger adjustment problem? Does the fix involve a split I can look forward to this winter?

Click to expand...

I think you need to reread the adjustment procedure again. It sounds as though you have the TA clutch release bearing adjusted so that the clutch is fully released before you start to move the lever. If you want additional help with the adjustment we can walk you through the steps to make sure the adjustments do what they are supposed to do even if the linkage is worn so that the normal procedure does not work.

If the disk is in backwards it will do exactly that. the disk would need to be 1/2" thic to make the fingers move that far. Do not adjust the fingers they worked befor, and do not need to be maeesd with. JimN

I think the guys above are right about the disc being in backwards doing this too. If you don"t know for sure it is in right, that is the first thing you should check. The long side of the splined hub on the disk has to face rearward. I do disagree about the statements that you should not adjust the fingers. They need to be set to the proper height to compensate for the wear on the pressure plate, and also the flywheel if you didn"t have the flywheel resurfaced. Plus, you need to make sure the fingers are all at the same height, or the the clutch may release and engage unevenly, which could lead to premature clutch wear and failure. I don"t want to offend anyone- it is just what I believe.

I don't have a problem with adjusting the levers when the friction surface is remachined but it need to be done before the clutch is reinstalled. Even then, if much adjustment is needed, most likely the cast plate is junk and the readjustment will not compensate for the loss of material. A worn out cast plate will leave you with springs that no longer have the correct compressed height and result in less clamping force. The geometry of the levers will also be off because the pivot holes are too close to the friction surface.

The levers need to be set within a few thousands of an inch to being the same height or it will cause the bearing to wobble when the clutch pedal is applied. Many rebuilders actually make the final adjustment by grinding the contact point on the levers to ensure they are in perfect adjustment. Even a slight misadjustment will cause accelerated wear on the clutch release bearing and carrier parts. You may be able to get by with it on a hobby tractor that isn't used much but on one that is being used regularly you are just creating future problems. If you think that the levers need adjusting after replacing a disk you have more problems than a lever adjustment is going to cure.

Owen, thanks for the reply. I have adjusted the engine clutch linkage first, allowing 1" pedal free travel. Then I attempted to adjust the TA linkage to allow 3/16"between the pin at the bottom of the lever and the forward end of the elongated hole in the clevis. (per the "book"). The clevis has to be moved all the way to the control lever end of the rod to get that measurement. There is no space between the disc and the pressure plate even when that is accomplished. I"ll redo the adjustments again to triple check, but if you sense from this description that I"ve missed something, let me know, please.

When doing the clutch and TA adjustments, the things to keep in mind are:

A) The clutches need to be able to fully release.

B) When the clutches are engaged the release bearings must have some clearance so that they do not run all the time.

C) When depressing the main clutch, the TA clutch must release before the main clutch releases.


Make the adjustments in the following order:

1) Remove the link between the clutch control pivot shaft and the TA control pivot shaft.

2) Adjust the clutch linkage so that you have 1" travel before you feel the bearing contact the pressure plate levers.

3) Put the TA handle in the forward (direct drive) position. With the pin through the slotted clevis and the arm on the TA clutch shaft, adjust the clevis so that the pin will move 3/16" from the far forward position and the point where the release bearing touches the pressure plate levers. This adjustment should allow for the release of the TA clutch when the lever is pulled back. You can check for complete release by having the tractor face uphill and the transmission in gear. When you push the main clutch pedal to release the clutch, the TA should keep the tractor from rolling backward. Now pull the TA handle back. The tractor should start to roll before the lever locks in the TA position. With worn linkage you made need to go with a little less that the 3/16 movement of the pin. If you can not get the TA clutch to release you have problems with the clutch that adjustment is not going to correct.

4) With the clutch pedal up and the TA handle in the forward position, attach the spring between the main clutch shaft and the TA clutch shaft. Adjust the length of the connecting link as short as you can but still allow the pins to be installed without moving either clutch shaft. To check the adjustment, when you start to move either the clutch pedal or the TA lever, the TA clutch shaft should move.

5) To check for correct operation, drive the tractor facing uphill. slowly push the clutch pedal to release the clutch. When the tractor stops, before the clutch pedal is all the way down, the TA should keep the tractor from rolling backwards. As you continue to push down on the pedal, the TA clutch should release and the tractor should start to roll backwards. As you release the clutch, before the tractor begins to move forward, the TA clutch should engage and hold the tractor from rolling backward. If the main clutch engages before the TA clutch, the tractor will start to move at one speed and then shift up as the clutch is fully released.