Clutch Finger Bolt Stripped?

[DonMountain]

I put a new clutch in my 1959 Cub LoBoy about a year ago, and have been having trouble with the clutch ever since. I discovered that one of the clutch finger adjustment bolts had a loose locking nut on it, and the finger was out of adjustment. So, I tried to adjust it and run it without really getting it working correctly. But now I see that the adjustment bolt itself seems to be stripped. I haven't removed it to see if the bolt itself is stripped or if the hole through the clutch finger itself is stripped. But I can't adjust it. I can turn it, but it doesn't move the finger in or out. So, can anybody give me some help or ideas on what to do with this? Is it possible to just take that bolt/nut combination out and replace it? Is it something I can purchase locally or is it something special. And will the clutch finger come off and allow me to replace that if I need to?

[Eugene]

Tractor split or looking through the hand hole?

[DonMountain]

I am looking through the hand hole and was trying to adjust one of the clutch fingers, and discovered that apparently the adjustment bolt on the finger is stripped. Or the threaded hole in the finger is stripped. And I can't adjust it to match the others. This clutch is less than a year old. When I push the clutch pedal down there is a vibration that told me something was wrong. And the clutch wouldn't release all the way.

[Eugene]

See if you can remove the bolt from the threaded hole in the finger. If you can remove the bolt, perhaps a mirror and flashlight to look at/for threads in the hole.

If there are threads in the finger, you should be able to use the locking nut and or bolt to determine the bolt size and thread pitch.

I've never tried it, but what do you have to lose, split the tractor.

If there are threads in the finger, I would purchase 3 bolts, slightly longer. Reason, some of the aftermarket pressure plates do not have bolts long enough to properly adjust the finger height.

[Dale Finch]

Just a thought...I had one where the spring under one finger had popped out of its hole on one side, so no matter what I did, it wouldn't adjust correctly.

[Glen]

Hi,
They have said on here before that McMaster Carr has new adjustment screws for the fingers.
You probably have to select the size and length you want.
Use screws as short as you can, they can't stick out much above the lock nut, so the throwout bearing holder doesn't hit them.

[DonMountain]

Ok, thanks for your opinions. I am heading out this morning to see if I can remove that adjustment bolt. If the finger threads themselves are messed up, what might I do about that? Put in a larger diameter bolt after redrilling and rethreading? Weld up the hole, redrill and rethread? But maybe I can just run a tap in the existing hole to straighten them up. Or buy an old pressure plate off of one of the auction sites and take a finger off of that. Will the old fingers fit the new pressure plates?

[Eugene]

Will have to wait until you determine the thread condition in the finger.

You need to keep the pressure plate as close to "balanced" as possible. If its only a bolt you will need to replace all three.

My opinion, I wouldn't attempt to repair the pressure plate. My experience with the quality of the after marked pressure plates has not been good. Installed one, started up tractor, one finger broke.

If it gets that far, I would purchase a used IH US made pressure plate from a board member or one of the site advertisers.

[DonMountain]

I screwed the finger adjustment bolt out and discovered that it has a stripped section on it that was allowing the finger to slide down its threadless shaft after adjustment, making the clutch not work properly. I took a close look at the threaded hole in the finger with a light and mirror, and it looks like it is ok. So, that makes the possible repair much more simple. But the bolt is oddly shaped. Its 0.774" long (pretty close to 3/4"), 5/16-24 NF threads with a 5/32" Allen wrench hole in the end. The other end though is slightly spherical, with a 0.200" flat on it. Apparently it must bottom in a slightly rounded depression in the pressure plate. So, now I am going to search McMaster Carr for a replacement as suggested by one of the members here. I appreciate everyone's help on this long term project because now it looks like I have found the reasons for the clutch malfunction.

[lowgearfarm]

If your initial search for a compatible replacement bolt is unsuccessful, you might return to this forum to ask the members to rummage through their/our savage piles for a serviceable bolt (or bolt&finger set) for you. I know that I've got some used, but serviceable, pressure plates in the barn somewhere, and would be pleased to cannibalize them for you.

[DonMountain]

Thank you for your suggestion lowgearfarm. I went to the local machine supply store where I buy all my farm tractor supply parts, belts and hydraulic cylinder parts, and they had an array of these bolts. So, I bought several. The only problem with them is the ends of them are not flat tipped with a spherical section surrounding it, like the original one has. So, instead of the 3/4" one I need, I bought some 1" length bolts and I am trying to both shorten it, and put the flat tip on it, plus shape some sort of spherical end. And also weighing it to match the original weight for balance. Any suggestions would be appreciated for fabricating this. Or, my other option is to ask for one from the group. Unless I happen to find my old clutch pressure plate somewhere in the shop.

[Dale Finch]

Without rereading the entire post, is yours a Rockford clutch? If so, I think I have a parts clutch from which, perhaps, I can rob your bolt. Let me know if you want it, free, and I will go out to the farm and get it.

[DonMountain]

Success with my new clutch finger adjustment bolt. It was the problem all along with this clutch. The original finger adjustment bolt was 3/4" long. So, I purchased a 1" long one so I could reshape the tip of it to resemble the original one. A little bit of work on the grinder and comparison with the original and I had it fabricated. It was just a hair longer than the original, so I had enough space for the lock nut since the other two are kind of short. Apparently the small difference in weight wasn't enough to unbalance the whole thing. So, after carefully adjusting the height of the clutch fingers to 1-1/8", and checking clearance, I took it for a drive to test it out. It seemed to work well, so I remounted the mower deck and went mowing on several acres. And the more I run it the better it seems to work. So, the stripped finger bolt was my entire problem.