154 clutch question

[Kirk-NJ]

I'm going to look at a 154, maybe not today because of the snow, but sometime soon. Anyway the son of the owner said it's his 73 year old dads tractor. He said the clutch is stuck.
He said if you start it in gear it will run/go but if you start it in neutral you can't get it in gear. He said his dad doesn't want to spend the money to get it fixed.
I have unstuck clutches on fords and a cub but not on a # series lo-boy. My question is could this be a simple spring adjustment or somekind of other ajustment or the clutch is most likey shot? What do you guys think?
Thanks

[Gary Dotson]

The clutch brake on the 154 is a pretty fussy adjustment. When you look at the tractor, start it in gear, then see if the tractor will stop moving when you depress the clutch. If it does, the clutch brake probably just needs attention. Excessive clutch pedal free travel can cause similar symptoms, so make sure the pedal feels normal. If the clutch is actually stuck, it shouldn't be too hard to get in there to un-stick it.

[BigBill]

The clutch adjustment and the flywheel brake are out of sync on there adjustments.

The throwout bearing should have a .090" air gap when the clutch pedal is fully up and at the sametime the flywheel brake pucks should have a .010" air gap between them and the flywheel at the sametime when the clutch pedal is fully up. Once these two adjustments are in sync together by pushing the clutch pedal down the flywheel brake stops the flywheel from spinning as the clutch releases so shifting of the gears is possible. By removing the center driveshaft cover both adjustments are visable.

My very first int154 had the same problem at first. It would grind when i tried to engage it into gear. After setting the two adjustments in sync together its been working for four years now with no clutch problems. That was the only problem with my int154 at first. The PO thought it was something major to fix it.

Now once the clutch is adjusted correctly try backing up to see if it pops out of reverse. If it does the 1st & rev shifter fork maybe loose or cracked. Mine was loose and i tac welded the fork so it can't flex and get loose anymore after i tightened the hex bolt up i welded the sides of the upper par of the fork were the bolt binds both parts of the fork together. Its a common thing to see a loose fork in need of repair. If your tranny stays in gear your fork is ok or its been welded already. Most of the tranny's i look into have the 1st & rev fork welded already.

Since my 1st & rev fork was just loose and wasn't cracked I tightened up the loose fork and squared it to the saft so it algined and i packed my tranny with old welding gloves and left the 1st & rev fork open so it could be welded while the tractor was together. Its more work to open up the tranny than fix the fork.

[Kirk-NJ]

Thanks for your input. I'm suppose to look at it on Wednesday. I will post back when I return. I'm sure I will have more questions.
Thanks again, Kirk

[Kirk-NJ]

I picked up the 154 the other day. It runs in neutral but won't go in gear. I did not try start it in gear because one of the wheels is locked up. I' m not sure if it the brake rod may be stuck or if it's something else. any advise??? I will do a little checking around on it today if the weather holds out.

Kirk

[HAMILTONBOB]

KIRK
THE WHEEL COULD BE LOCKED UP DUE TO MOISTURE FREEZING ON THE BRAKE DRUM. GET IT WARM BEFORE LOOKING ELSEWHERE.
GOOD LUCK
BOB

[Kirk-NJ]

Thanks Bob.
I was thinking it might be something like that. PO told me that he drove it about 3 weeks ago and the wheel was find but it was a lot warmer than. Suppose to be in the mid fortys today. I will check that and see what happens.
Kirk

[Kirk-NJ]

Because it was so warm yesterday I checked on the 154 and the wheel was unstuck. It rolled no problem. We'll see if it does it again when it gets cold.I didn't get to work on the clutch because I wanted to get the mower deck off and put the Ag tires, wheel weights and snowplow on my other offset lo-boy to get ready for the next round of snow.

Kirk