Cadet Clutch/shaft removal??

[BigBill]

Ok my clutch crapped out and it won't release no matter were i adjust it. I can see that something moved towards the rear it looks like the release bearing. I pushed out the split pin on the tranny and disconnected the channel iron arm that connects to the clutch pedal. Now is the clutch setup removable out thru the bottom of do i need to take out the engine or the tranny to get it out? It looks to me like something has to be removed to get it out. I figure while i'm having problems with it I may as well rebuild the whole setup while its apart. Any thoughts??

[junkman1946]

Hi Bill sounds like you fried the trow out bearing. Different models require different procedures. I found it was just as easy to unbolt the engine and slide it forward until the rear coupling clears the transaxle. It goes without saying be really careful when you realease that spring. Its around 800 lbs.

[Jim Becker]

Did this happen while you were using it or while parked? If parked, the clutch facing may be stuck to the other surface. Cadets seem to be prone to doing that. You need to pry the parts apart. Replace the facings if damaged then latch the brake down when parked in the future.

If it happened when in use, junkman is on the track.

[BigBill]

I always latch the brake/clutch down when i park it and i been running and using it ever few days the little 70 is my legs so i can get around. It must look funny me being a big person on a little machine but its better than an "off road hoveround" plus its more seat time too. I started using the 70 with the snowplow/dozer blade to level my dirt driveway before i added 3/4" stone as a first layer to it. The short wheel base and the ratchet stop on the plow allows it to level and pitch the dirt no problem and it does a better finish job at it too over the larger tractors i use them for roughing the top layer. I dropped my driveway about 7" and pitched it away from the house. My wife was told by a co worker that he used his cub cadet to landscape his entire yard too. The larger snowplows hinge right and left so its hard to level but its easier to change the pitch with them because they follow the slope once you set the first angle with them. Then the cub cadet makes easier work of the finishing. I was plowing dirt for days skimming the top with the cub and my jeep tractor with no end in site I just kept on working. Finally it all came together and the cadet finished it so quickly. My new house was an estate sale and everything was let go for many years its like building a new house and doing the landscaping. I been there too with my Dad. I have a lot of drainage work to do along with changing the pitch on the grond away from the house too. The tractors sure do make short work of it too.

Fact; Once the 4 tires are sitting level on the cub cadet you set the ratch on the plow depth exactly at that spot and it will keep the level dozed perfect. So after its roughed in start with the cadet at the spot were its the most level and work out from that section and the rest will be all the same level too.(food for thought)

Ok all of a sudden the tractor won't stop when i push the clutch down it stays going. I was looking at the throwout bearing and it looks like it came apart or moved somehow. I have the shaft and clutch ready to come out but i may move the engine forward too so it will have more room to work with. Something was noisy in the clutch too and its funny my other 122 has the same noise too.

I was thinking of replacing all the springs and the clutch parts as needed along with a new throwout bearing. Its rather expensive at around $100 or so but it will last forever then after all there are over 50 years old now.

So the bottomline is when you get a used cub cadet, first i plan on changing out the head gasket, second if the clutch is noisy take out the clutch assembly and repair that right away too. I'm going to make up a check list form so i can use it on every tractor and keep an on going log book of maintanence too. Once you have a few its hard to keep track of everything besides i have a truck and 2 cars too and i fix everything most of the time.(brakes/oil changes/repairs)

[BigBill]

Hi Bill sounds like you fried the trow out bearing. Different models require different procedures. I found it was just as easy to unbolt the engine and slide it forward until the rear coupling clears the transaxle. It goes without saying be really careful when you realease that spring. Its around 800 lbs.

I figured i had to remove the engine so just unbolting and sliding it forward is so much easier. I think i'll look at the spring setup and fabricate a tool for taking it apart so things won't be flying around I hate when that happens.

I need this tractor for the planting season which is comming up soon too.

[junkman1946]

Bill If you have acces to any machine equipment you can make a clutch disc out of 1/4 aluminum, just use the fibre disc as a pattern no more sticking, no more slipping, have one in the puller going into its 3rd season. Frank

[BigBill]

Bill If you have acces to any machine equipment you can make a clutch disc out of 1/4 aluminum, just use the fibre disc as a pattern no more sticking, no more slipping, have one in the puller going into its 3rd season. Frank

I just got a big piece of aluminum its 1/4" plate too. I think i can make one, two, three or even 50 or more(kidding). Thank's it sounds doable. I'll have to put this in all my cadets for sure.

Down the road I been thinking about using a pulling clutch spring too in my backhoe/front loader project cadet too. Plus the new soft disc that should do it.

[Paul B]

The aluminum clutch is fine for a puller, but for a tractor you are going to use for it's intended purpose, you will be better off with a stock fiber disc. The aluminum disc tends to be a bit too "grabby" for normal use.

[BigBill]

When i worked in the test lab we tested different friction materials for the linings/pads for disc brakes and after the test they thru everything away which i took all the left over material home in a box. I have the "best stopping friction material" that we tested too. I wonder how it would work in a clutch on the disc its some mean stuff friction wise. It was stopping 6,000ft.lbs to 9,000ft.lbs no problem. The area of a cadet clutch disc material would be at least 25% of the size or more of our brake disc pads that we used to test too.

Besides my cadets i was thinking about my front loader project too. When i put the bucket down to scoop will the clutch be strong enough to let it work properly. I will have an awesome gear reduction between the finals and the orginal cadet gear reduction added in too but will the clutch be the weakest link in the system. Having enough low end grunt and power comes from the gearing. Since the second gear and the third gear is way too fast for my application it may be just right with the final gear reduction added in. That would make 1st gear like a very low granny gear. The ground speed can also be adjusted by the rear tire size too.(diameter) I can use the 24" cub rims or the 15" rims for that with taller tires till i get the correct ground speed. Just thinking out loud but its interesting to play with gear ratios vs. low end grunt power.

[Paul B]

I don't know what you are planning to do with a Cub Cadet with a front bucket, but of the ones I am aware of, the stock clutch, as long as it is in good condition and properly adjusted, and stock gearing work fine for scooping gravel, loose dirt, snow, ect. The front bucket is not made for digging holes or for digging out hard packed undisturbed soil, nor is the tractor. The biggest problem with a front loader on a Cub Cadet is the lack of weight on the rear end of the tractor. As for the addition of the finals from a Cub to get more "grunt" keep in mine that the power from the engine to the rear wheels is is all transmitted by a couple of 1/4" pins and a 5/8" shaft, and with too much torque multiplication, something is going to give.

[Jim Becker]

The clutch only needs to be strong enough to handle whatever torque the engine produces. It doesn't matter what gearing, tires or grunting you do downstream of the clutch.

[junkman1946]

Speaking of torque, The puller being a different bird altogether but still putting a lot of torque on the ground. I sheared a few driveshaft pins- changed over to the split collar locks.- Actually bent the driveshaft-severely. Changed that to a hi-tensile steel shaft with a pillow block center support. Now all I have to watch is the rear pins where the shaft attaches to the transaxle. I use the hardened ''full roll' pins-change them every 8 to 10 runs. As to the aluminum clutch yes it does grab suddenly. Remember---suicide clutches.? Frank

[BigBill]

I'm sitting here with a combination of choices for gearing my cub cadet front loader/backhoe project.

The tractor is a cub cadet 100 w/10HP kolher

I have the options of using a creeper setup too.

I'm using the finals from a 154 and the front axle from a 154 with the 10" turf rims and the 24" rims on the rear with small AG tires. But i still have the 15" rim option to think about too. It all depends on the ground speed that will dictate the tire diameter.
I'm thinking of using a 154 gas tank and hood too so it will hold 9 gallons of gas too. With the 154 finals turned towards the rear it will extend the length and give me room for the backhoe setup. With a subframe I was thinking of extending the front axle about 12" towards the front too that will give me a space for the hydraulic tank. The subframe will run from the front to the rear.

With the clutch if its geared correctly the clutch and drive shaft pins should see less of a load than the orginal cadet sees.

This is going to be a fun task and getting/finding parts a little at a time too.

Thanks for all your help and down the road as we go on with this project i'll need more input for sure. I have an idea,, a dream and i think it can be done with a little help from the guru's here and my experience i think it can work.

What can we call it when its finally born??

Since its made from 100 tractor /154 parts what do we call it?
1154? 1540?
I was thinking of calling it CADA-HO at this time i don't think thats a good thing with Imus.

[Jim Becker]

So basicly you are putting small wheels and a 10hp Kohler into a 154?

[BigBill]

So basicly you are putting small wheels and a 10hp Kohler into a 154?

You are so right i been thinking that too like why not get another 154 and strip it down and fab everything i need. I was just looking at my pile of parts today just thinking that. I'm missing a 154 frame, engine, clutch, tranny and some sheetmetal parts. I don't need the PTO nor hydraulics. I will add on my own hydraulic setup driven from the pto pulley. I been kicking this idea around too.

I won't touch my orginal 154 it has the 3pt hitch, the PTO and 60" mower deck. It just has too much to strip it down. I was moving "I" beams with the 3pt hitch and it was so easy. I need this tractor for property maintenance.

My only problem is I need a front loader/backhoe in about two months when things dry out so i can put in curtain drains. I may just rent one till i build one. But a cadet the size of an economy tractor sounds good. Well a super sized cub cadet. There's so many choices and so little time.

I would like a front loader/backhoe in a smaller tractor so it can be stored really easy rather than have a larger tractor on my about 2 acres of property. So size does matter. On the machine builders site there are a lot of guys like me who like to build things. I have over 40+ years of being an auto mechanic, 4x4 jeep mechanic, CNC lathe erector/builder, (36" chuck to 144" chucks vertical turret lathes) assembled 155mm howitzers for the US Army and worked 20 years for an engineering group in R&D, product assurance and life testing. With all my talent being retired now its just wasted so why not have fun and build stuff for me now.

As we get older the front loader makes a great powered wheel barrow and the backhoe is good for digging or lifting anything too. I look at things now that i can no longer do but if i had a machine to do it i can get it done now.