Anyone ever split a tractor

C

Chris142

Joined
Jun 5, 2003
Messages
32,110
Location
Apple Valley, California
I had major failure on my old Case tractor today. The foot clutch( yes just like a car) needed to be adjusted. I followed the instructions on the book but when I moved the adjusting parts something must have fallen off inside the bell housing.

The clutch is now always engaged so I can't use it. Wife said to make it yard art. Something I can't do with it since I was using it , just needed a clutch adjustment that should have taken 5 minutes.

A friend came over with a boroscope camera but we can' t see whats wrong clearly enough. There are no inspection covers to take off to see inside the bell housing.

Having to split it seems like a huge undertaking to me at the moment. Not looking forward to this at all.

Any tips?
 
Yes, I have split a John Deere 20 series (late 60's). If you really know what you are doing (I was working with a real JD mechanic) and have the right tools, it takes about 2 hours.
 
My dad and I did an Allis Chalmers 160 3 cylinder diesel. We rented two large engine hoists, one for the transmission and one for the engine. Set the rear one up perpendicular to the tractor to support the transmission. The other aligned with the center line of the tractor and supporting the transmission. When we needed to actually separate the tractor we left the rear one stationary and rolled the front one forward until we had clearance to work on the clutch. You could do the same thing with a small a frame to hold the transmission and the engine hoist to support the engine.
 
So yes I have split an old Case 530 and 580 - grew up working them.

Realize this was 30 years ago so going from memory, but dad had some giant wooden blocks specific for this event - like 12/12. We would block up both side where the engine splits from the final drive - and slide them apart slowly with a pry bar. Ours had back-hoe's on them so we had a bunch of other stuff to remove - backhoes stayed on, but hydraulics and I think some of the bracing - we had to also block the back-hoe or it would tip over. Without one I imagine it would be much easier. From memory we could do it in maybe 8 or so hours - full clutch replace. Of course dad had done it before, so we sort of knew exactly how things went.

Anyway, its quite a bit of work but it sounds way worse than it is. You just take a bunch of stuff apart and put a bunch back together. Might as well change the clutch and be done while your there.

Surprisingly I never recall any linkage issues ever?

Edit - wow - youtube to the rescue. Dad's blocks were definitely safer than this guys, but it definately looks right from my memory:

 
Last edited:
Maybe you could block up the front and chock the front wheels and use a 3 ton or better jack with rollers and put it under from the back so it rolls with the assembly when you take it apart. When it's apart use a jack stand and chock the rear wheels good too. Never separated a tractor before but I did pull the motor from my Massey harris and the clutch came with it. It's motor sat on the frame rails.
 
Not exactly how I wanted to spend a Sunday. The clutch fork and pivot ball are broken

IMG_20240414_121252675.webp


IMG_20240414_114609838.webp
 
Chris142 said:
I had major failure on my old Case tractor today. The foot clutch( yes just like a car) needed to be adjusted. I followed the instructions on the book but when I moved the adjusting parts something must have fallen off inside the bell housing.

The clutch is now always engaged so I can't use it. Wife said to make it yard art. Something I can't do with it since I was using it , just needed a clutch adjustment that should have taken 5 minutes.

A friend came over with a boroscope camera but we can' t see whats wrong clearly enough. There are no inspection covers to take off to see inside the bell housing.

Having to split it seems like a huge undertaking to me at the moment. Not looking forward to this at all.

Any tips?
Click to expand...
Be careful, we had our splitting stands break and the tractor fell apart.
 
I watch a youtube channel called 'Just a Few Acres' farm. The guy on there (he's rebuilt a few tractors) made a stand with a couple trailer jacks that looks extremely handy. It bolts to the engine side of the tractor, and he's able to roll that forward. It's pretty adjustable with the trailer jacks to get everything wiggled around. The rear, he usually supports with a big old house jack and has the wheels chocked. I'm likely to build a similar setup when clutch time comes.
 
Some are waaay easier to do than others. Size of the tractor and amount of hydraulics generally being the key. I split my 49 Farmall C and that was super easy. My 68 John Deere 3020 went to the shop, that thing is to heavy for me to be messing with suspending halves of it.
You can get hurt bad splitting a tractor.
 
Awesome, good opportunity for a new clutch and/or rear main seal, that bellhousing looks ... well.. dirty. :oops:
 
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