Splitting an M

I'm splitting my M to replace the flywheel ring gear. I am concerned that after removing the bolts holding the frame rails to the clutch housing, there seems to be nothing to hold up the back of the engine. Is the 1/4 inch plate at the rear of the block bolted to the rear of the block itself? Or, should I place a support under the pan and attach that to the rails and thus to the support arms that rest on the floor? I will be rolling the front half of the tractor away from the torque tube. Any and all tips, suggestions, details on how others do it will be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Bert

I would strongly suggest rolling the rear half away from the front half and leave the front half stationary.


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I agree with Rusty, roll the back. The front gets pretty top heavy and will try to fall over.

Yes the plate is bolted to the block itself, but not to the frame rails. I slid the bolts back through the frame rails and the plate after I split mine.

It slid my front forward. It worked fine. We do the same when we split the 4455 hot farm 2-10 times per summer :lol: Ok...I think 5 is about the most we have done. We had a problem keeping clutches in it for awhile. (It's not mine, but I stare at them work and hand them wrenches)

Look at this thread. It is on the "Tool Talk" forum right now.
http://ytforums.ytmag.com/viewtopic.php?t=867778
There are some shots of my stand. I just use a jack/blocks in the back.

When splitting a Farmall ya leave atleast the one top and one bottom bolt sticking thru the rear engine plate This will support the the engine as you have splitting stands bolted to the frame rails . and making up a splitting stand is not that hard to do that will roll forward and leave the back setting on blocks or jack stands . Just make the stands so that you can adjust each side and have good steel casters that do not swivel . My first set were made for a 806 and later modified to be totally adjustable for both width and hight . and i made adapters to fit so i could split anything from a Farmall A on up to a 1586 .

I like that stand Rusty!

That swivel caster on the rear axle will give you MUCH "wiggle room" to get alignment just right!!

Its been awhile since I split one, but I do beleive there are two long bolts at the top of the torque tube that go into the plate??? Could be wrong, has happened before.

(quoted from post at 15:43:09 02/07/12) I like that stand Rusty!

That swivel caster on the rear axle will give you MUCH "wiggle room" to get alignment just right!!

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Exactly!! That is why I built it that way. It is a crude copy of an O.T.C. splitting stand I used many times when working at a John Deere dealership.

John: Are those the two bolts right under the front gas tank support that point toward the front of the tractor?

Yep!

Tractor Vet: Are the holes in the clutch housing countersunk so that more than a 1/4 inch of bolt sticks through or into the backing plate. Is there enough wobble in the bolts to let the rear end of the block sag while rolling it forward and possibly breaking the front engine supports? In other words, are the top and bottom bolts on the rear of the frame rails dedicated only to secure the backing plate to the rails, or is the backing plate threaded to hold the block while rolling it forward and gettingenough room to insert the bolts that have been remove?

What keeps the rear of the engine from dropping down until you can slip the bolts back in?

Thank you!!!

Yes there is enough and ya never let the engine hang off the ft. mount as guess what it will break off . Do not loosen any other bolts other then the the ones on the bell housing . You can leave all 8 stick thru the frame rails into the back engine plate if ya want . When you remove the first bolt you will see how much will stick thru . Myself i just leave the top and bottom ones in on each side. This also helps on any twisting of the frame rails while on the splitting stands. The stands that i made have a wide stance so tipping of the ft section is not of concern , i mount the splitting stands to the rear of the frame rails for better handling . Minje are made out of 2 1/2 x 1/4 box tubing and one side has a piece of box tubing over the bottom tube and the uprights can move in or out for frame width , that tube has four lock bolts to lock it to the bottom tube . the uprights have a piece of 3/8ths plate that is 12 inches by 10 inches with a lot of holes and slots drilled or cut into them for mounting on different frame rails and for mounting of adapters that i have made for tractors that do not have frame rails . The casters are five inches in dia. and are heavy steel with grease fittings and also adjusting screws on each side with 12 inches of travel , they are fine for up to 20.8 x 38 tire . never had to split anything with larger tires.

(quoted from post at 17:08:31 02/07/12) Tractor Vet: Are the holes in the clutch housing countersunk so that more than a 1/4 inch of bolt sticks through or into the backing plate. Is there enough wobble in the bolts to let the rear end of the block sag while rolling it forward and possibly breaking the front engine supports? In other words, are the top and bottom bolts on the rear of the frame rails dedicated only to secure the backing plate to the rails, or is the backing plate threaded to hold the block while rolling it forward and gettingenough room to insert the bolts that have been remove?

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I'm not The Vet, but nope. They are both clearance holes. If you are really hardcore you can use the stand to hold the frame rails and a floor jack to hold the tractor. When I did the MD I just rolled it forward then put the bolts back in when there was room. I guess that would be a pro of rolling the rear away.

(quoted from post at 17:11:41 02/07/12) What keeps the rear of the engine from dropping down until you can slip the bolts back in?

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Nothing unless you don't take the bolts all the way out.

Dont take the 2 bolts all the way out, if I recall, you can go a good inch out before you really need to take them out to go any further. Then you can slip the bolts back into the frame rails and backing plate. If you dont put the bolts back in, the back of the engine will drop once the those top bolts are out, and you clear the aligning dowels. The are the 2 bolts are in will hold the engine in place, or at least Ive never had anything break back there, as TV implys. (Id almost bet its can happen, and has happened to him)

Tractor Vet. I now have a clear picture of what I have to do. Thank you. It took awhile for me to grasp what you all said. Most of what I split in my career bled and I had to sew them back up, cows etc.

Here are a couple pictures of a 656 Hydro that I have split in my shop for repair of the Hydro.
The 3rd picture is a closeup of a 450 I had to split a few weeks ago to replace the rear crankshaft seal. I prefer to move the front half of the tractor as it's much lighter than the rear half of the tractor. Good luck and be careful.