m and w hand clutch

just wondering what was the idea behind the m and w hand clutches they put on the h and m tractors thanks David

Live PTO / the ability to run the PTO with the clutch in

they gave you the ability to stop the tractor without stopping the pto. kind of a retro-fit live pto. worked well for doing work like baling where you could stop forward motion of the tractor and yet keep the baler running to clear out too much hay.

i bought a m with a m and w hand clutch it works great for those people who are not good with a foot clutch. i use it alot when putting wagons in the barn with the hitch on the front of the tractor you can just feather it slowly

Worked great with a mounted corn picker.

sounds handy. Does anyone still make this sort of setup? What is the price on an old M&W hand clutch?

No one makes these hand clutches anymore. I buy and sell M&W clutches and parts and generally get 450-500 for a complete clutch for an M.

Kirk, do you have any new clutch disks/plates? Some of the teeth are gone off of mine. Maybe I bought it from you a few years ago? At Tipton, In.Old Time Threshing Reunion?

put a plow or disk behind one if you want to destroy it. (the hand clutch that is).

By way of explaining, the way they work is as follows.
This setup disconnects one rear wheel from the rest of the tractor. It is comparable to having one axle broken on a dump truck.
The transmission is turned through the regular master clutch. This also powers the constant mesh gear in the front of the trans. The constant mesh gear powers the PTO shaft. In a normal H or M the PTO thus stops when the master (foot) clutch is pushed in.
With the M&W the tractor is stopped from moving by using a clutch as above to cut power to a rear wheel.
On these (and many other tractors of various makes) the wheel brakes are mounted on the shaft directly out of the differential. These pinion shafts drive the main axle bull gears on each side. On a Hand clutch such as the M&W, the left brake drum and shaft are replaced with a shaft inside a tubular shaft system that drives the pinion. This double concentric shaft has a clutch on the outside end, and a brake drum as well. When the hand clutch is disengaged, the inner shaft from the differential turns doing nothing. This allows the outer shaft to stop, and the differential gears turn rapidly but neither wheel turns. When this happens the PTO and all gears in the trans continue to drive normally.
When the clutch is engaged, the two shafts are now turning as one, and the system pulls from both wheels equally. (it is as though the axle was repaired). I hope this helps. Jim

(quoted from post at 21:12:55 01/25/10) Kirk, do you have any new clutch disks/plates? Some of the teeth are gone off of mine. Maybe I bought it from you a few years ago? At Tipton, In.Old Time Threshing Reunion?

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I may have a few new fiber discs. No new steel discs though, but I think I have some used ones in decent shape.

No, you did not buy the clutch from me, I have never been to that threshing reunion.

Seems to me there shouldn't be a shortage of fiber discs or steel plates. These parts could be reproduced with water-jet or laser cutting machines. I've seen both in operation at a local precision metal fabricator. All this shop needs is an original part or a computer file to start production. Once the correct data is loaded into either cutter, the operator pushes the "start" button and begins loading finished parts into shipping bozes.

I think the laser is good for 1/4" steel and the water-jet is many times greater. Steel or fiber shapes at less than 1/4" should have very high tolerances.

Dang Wardner, you're right! A simple 2-dimensional part would be an easy project, something they'd give you to do in a high school vocational ed CNC class.

So who knows someone with a FloJet table?

There are some companies out there making new fiber discs. I rebuilt my M&W clutch on my H last year. Bates Corp. has a guy that makes them but when I called him at that time he had only made them for an M. Said he had never seen one on an H and I'd have to send him one for a pattern. They get $100 a piece for the disk.

I bought mine from Vollbracht's Inc. out of Comumbus Nebraska. 402-564-5993 Very good product and great guy to talk with. I believe it's Dennis. He also has the adjustment nut and the locking washer. He is very knowledgable about these clutches too. He's a little cheaper than Bates....$80/disk.