1206 HELP!!!! ONE MORE TIME!!!

Ran it around a little today. Just exercising it and checking for leaks seeps and drips. Found I need to pull the engine oil pump and replace a couple of tube packing's. Steered nice. Brakes work. Three point works. Auxiliary remote hydraulics work fine. A little slower than I am used to but passable. Now the problem. The Clutch on this thing takes 2 men and a dozen boys to depress it. Can someone point me in the right direction on this? And another request is if the adjustment requires a manual reference please please send me a copy of the pages needed or at least a very detailed set of directions. Are all the 1206's equipped with a boosted clutch and if it is, is the boost mechanism, cylinder or what ever internal? I noticed that on the right side of the tractor right under the battery is a silver thing that is cylindrical but one end is anchored and the other hooks the the right hand end of the clutch shaft. It looks more like a spring affair rather than a hydraulic device since there are no lines connected to it or places to attach them. This device is right under the batter. I am going to attach a photograph and I hope you all can see it and can tell me whats going on. I just had my left knee replaced and I wasn't looking forward to wearing the darn thing out before the middle of the season. I went onto the Case IH site and looked into the parts manuals and couldn't find anything on this boosted clutch, leaving me to believe that maybe this model wasn't equipped but as stiff as that thing is there has to be something wrong. I hope its something simple. I am counting on all you IH Gurus to help me out of this one. In the picture you can see it under the battery sloping back at about a 45 deg angle and looking like a shiny screen door closer. I can't see that it does anything. I also included a picture of the left side. You all feel free to save these pics and make notes or what ever and you can either post it back here or catch me by email. If you want to chat about it on the phone email me and I will call you or you can get my number. I just need to get this thing fixed. Thanks from a man that doesn't have all the answers. Everyday provides a learning opportunity. LarryT

The cylinder on the RH side is the spring assisted transmission brake linkage. It's an aftermarket item from Hi-Cap. I had one on my 1206 and didn't notice where it made much of a difference in effort needed to depress the pedal.

The clutch itself does not have an "assist" unless one from a 66 series was added to it. IF it was, there would be a large cylinder located midway in the linkage from the clutch pedal to the bellcrank.

My guess on why your pedal is hard to depress is that a Heavy Duty PPA is installed in the tractor. The springs on a HD PPA are much stronger than a stock PPA. This setup virtually eliminates any clutch slippage. The drawback is that the pedal press much harder.

To fix this you can replace the HD PPA with a lighter one OR buy a 2-stick MACK truck and drive it on mountain roads or in a busy city (to build up leg strength), or sell the tractor.

Power assisted clutch was not an option on the 1206. It did not become available until the 66 series in 1971. It can be retrofitted to the 1206 with some minor modifications.

Good luck finding one at a reasonable price. They are rare and bring good money because as soon as one comes available, someone in your situation snaps it up, paying way too much.

I haven't seen one for sale in a while.

Your pictures are too far away to positively identify anything, but the silver thing is NOT any sort of power assist for the clutch. It does not look stock at all, and if it's attached to the end of the clutch shaft, it has no leverage anyway.

The hydraulic clutch option would be on the left side, in the clutch linkage itself.

You've got three viable options:
1. Get used to it.
2. Get rid of the tractor.
3. Install a lighter clutch out of an 806. This, however, will result in short clutch life if you use the tractor.

Thank you all for the information. Guess iys time to go to the gym.

I had the same problem with my 1256.My simple"remedy" was to lengthen the clutch pedal.It helped...some.The little silvery thing is hooked to the transmisson brake arm. looks like it is some sort of a assist spring mechanisim.

Pretty easy to tell if the clutch booster is working or not. It will depress much easier when tractor is running than it will shut off if it is working properly. There was two different pedals used on the 66 series tractors and that is where this booster came from so it has to have the correct pedal. Also, unhook that clutch brake on right side to check for interference and being way out of adjustment. You want just enough tension with pedal down to stop gears for shifting. Too much tension causes hard shifting out of gear and harder clutch pedal. Better yet, throw the spring loaded one away and put the original style rod on and give it one to one and a half turns of tension with pedal down. No doubt the tractor has a heavier springed pressure plate making it more difficult.

There is no clutch booster. It is a box-stock 1206.

I can't see through the shadow good enough to tell if it has a clutch booster or not. We all know they didn't come factory with them and the 56 series nor first 66 series did not and the clutch pedal on 56 series and first 66 series really made it tough, worse than the 06.

If the force required to release the clutch is really objectionable and the other things suggested here have not helped, remove the cover under the clutch to see if you have a 15 spring pressure plate rather than a 12 spring assembly. If you have three groups of five springs you have the 15 spring PPA. If you torch off the spring retainer on the middle spring of each group you can convert it to a 12 spring PPA that will work easier.