Farmall B brakes and clutch

Winter project is to replace brake bands and split tractor to see why it takes so long for the clutch to slow down enough to shift without grinding the gears. Any ideas or helpful hints for these two projects? Thanks.

As far as the clutch . . . It normally takes a few seconds on the best of days. If it consistently takes a lot longer than that, the first and easiest thing to check is your pedal freeplay, just to make sure the clutch releasing fully. The 1 to 1-1/4" freeplay (measured by the movement of the footpad on the pedal) should make for about 1/4" clearance between the face of the throwout bearing and the clutch fingers, when viewed through the hole on the left side of the torque tube.

Just as common, if not more so, is a sticky pilot bushing in the rear of the crankshaft. It supports the front end of the shaft that drives the transmission. It's made of what's called Oilite, and won't take lubrication. Lubing it can actually make things worse, as what makes it drag is an accumulation of dirt that finds its way into it, and lube only accelerates that process.

Short of splitting the tractor to replace it, some folks have success with using a stiffer gear oil than the customary 90W. Something on the order of a multiweight 85-140 will sometimes put enough resistance in the meshing of the gears to overcome the torque transmitted through a sticky bushing. It can even help just to clean any sludge out of the transmission and replace the existing oil, that might be excessively foamy from having water from condensation in it, with fresh oil. For the cost of 5 quarts of tranny lube and saving the effort of a split, it might be worth trying those ideas first to see if things improve.

For the brakes . . . remove the tires, rims and wheels. Even from there, the final drives and differential shaft housings can be ungainly to handle. A chain fall or engine hoist can be helpful. If you have to put the final drives down, be careful of the pans on the bottoms, so as not to dent them or poke a hole in them. They're not easy to come by.

You might also want to plan on looking over the seals (top of final drive on the right, and in the wall of the tranny on the left) while you have it apart. If they're old, there's a good chance they're leaking, and they will often soak the brake linings. If that's the case, there'd be no better time to replace them.

If your going to restore it it may be worth it to put new seals in the transmission and final drive at the same time. Once you have the final drives off you can get the side trans seals and it isn't that hard to take it off to get the front. Once you have it down to that point, it is worth it to do gaskets and seals just becasue your already torn it down to the point you need for the job. It will cost you money for the seals but you may want to do them eventually and your time is valuable. I did my trans seals and it pretty simple.