154 clutch brake issue?

[IH154]

Hello all

I have a 71 154 lo boy with woods belly mower that the clutch or clutch brake recently decided to stop working so i have been looking into how to fix it with little luck finding answers. During a season of mowing last year i noticed that my clutch disc ? would take roughly around 10-20 seconds for it to come to a complete stop to be able to safely shift gears without any grinding . One day while i was mowing i was getting ready to switch gears only to find out my clutch pedal went to the floor without stopping the disc . Thankfully i was still in gear and managed to limp into its storage area without any issues other than not being able to change gears due . Once i got it to a stop i pulled it out of gear (2nd) and it goes into gear without any issue while it is not running . I looked into my case ih service manual which didn't help very much other than saying to loosen/tighten some nuts which didn't solve the issue . I am thinking it is the clutch brake pads but i have no idea how to get to them as i cannot get a good look at how it is installed as i cant take off the structure under the seat off so iam working through the shifter slot and center tunnel cover off .

Does anyone happen to have any pictures or tips on how to get these brake pucks out without any major disassembly ? as i looked through the internet at manuals that show the same basic information about the clutch adjustment but not on how to replace the clutch brakes .

[seahaul]

Sounds like the clutch brake is not stopping the flywheel, as you suspect. The seat and fenders have to come off in order to get to the clutch brake. Then you will see the brake fastened onto the front of the transmission and held in place by two bolts. The brake is about 5" long and pivots forward when the clutch is depressed. There is a long bolt from the clutch yoke (which moves the throw-out bearing) connected to the clutch brake. The brake itself has two round "plugs" about 1" in diameter that actually press against the flywheel and stop it. These plugs wear out over time and have to be replaced.
Removing the seat and fenders is usually not too difficult. Four bolts in the "tool box" that the seat is fastened to, two bolts on the foot rest where the fender attaches, and maybe a couple bolts in the rear are usually all that has to be removed.

[Bob McCarty]

Welcome to the Forum. There isn't a service manual for the 154 on the Forum, but there is an Operator's manual you can find in the tool bar above if you don't have one. HamiltonBobsCubs (forum sponsor with link at the bottom of the page) has the replacement pucks. It's probably advisable to disassemble and see exactly what you need before ordering. I don't have a 154, but enough guys do that you should be able to get any new questions answered.

Bob

[IH154]

Thank you for the replies and glad to be here

Seahaul , Thanks for the tips , I hoped i could have worked through that small area through shifter tunnel and center panel but doesn't look that way now . While i was attempting to adjust the linkages i noticed the throw out bearing doesnt have a zerk fitting for some reason . In my manual it shows the zerk fitting on top but when i look at mine the only thing that is there is a serial number is that common ? .



Bob McCarty , Hamilton bobs is a good company , i ordered a 3 point system from them a few years ago and they forgot to put a bracket in the box so i told them about it and they shipped it out next day .


Update - I unbolted the seat structure/fenders and was surprised on how easy it was to all come off in one piece . I ended up buying new clutch brake pucks as the originals were wore all the way down into the plastic base and once i installed them i started adjusting the clutch throw out bearing and got it to .090 inches between fingers and throwout bearing then the brake pucks to .010 inches between pucks and disc . Once i got things back together i gave it a whirl to see how it worked out , while i was cranking i noticed it was cranking slower than normal so i thought maybe the brakes were too tight so i loosened them . Well i tried it again once they backed off a few turns and now its back at square one with the disc not slowing down so now i have to keep adjusting ...

[seahaul]

The clutch brake adjustment is a trial and error type thing, so keep trying different settings. I always start out way too loose to avoid putting strain on the engine while starting, as you have mentioned. If you are very careful, it can be adjusted with the engine running to speed things up. Make a change, depress the clutch by hand and see how quickly it stops. You don't want it TOO tight or it will actually stop the tractor with a jerk, like slamming on brakes. It should stop in 2-3 seconds.
The throw-out bearing may be installed with the zerk on the bottom side. If so, now's a good time to change it back to the top because it's very difficult to grease it from the bottom. Just pull the pin from the yoke, drop the yoke down off the throw-out bearing and turn the bearing over.
Charlie

[IH154]

Well worked on it for a few hours and still couldn't get the disc to slow down again . After using the feeler gauge on the all 3 of the fingers on the clutch to get .090 inches i found out that one of the fingers has a lot more space than the other 2 fingers , is that normal or is it a sign that the clutch is failing ? . This is the first time ever working on a clutch system so iam still learning as i go .

[IH154]

Managed to get the pedal to have some resistance like it used to and it seems to slow down a bit but the disc will not stop no matter how much i adjust the brakes . I think i got the clutch just right now since i got the "feeling" back in the pedal but now when i adjust the brakes i end up smelling the pads burning so i loosen them up a little only to find the disc spinning faster . After all this adjusting i felt the drive shaft , throwout bearing retainer and the clutch all of which were warm so i let them cool off for awhile . The tractor was only running for maybe 30 seconds to a minute so is that normal for it to get that warm that quick ?

What should i try next ?

Seahaul , i dropped the yoke and rotated the throw out bearing all the way around and i didn't find a zerk fitting anywhere , so is this some sort of old design or is it some fluke ?

[seahaul]

After rereading your first post, I may have steered you wrong about the problem being the clutch brake. It sounds like the clutch itself is not releasing, therefore the clutch brake cannot stop it from turning. That's why the parts are getting too warm.
Please go back to working on getting the clutch itself to work properly. You should be able to see the pressure plate actually move away from the flywheel a little bit when the clutch is depressed. Adjust the linkage between the pedal and the yoke until you see this separation. Even with the clutch brake completely removed, the flywheel should stop turning eventually (may take 15-20 seconds) if the clutch is actually disengaging.
Don't know about the throw-out bearing not having a zerk in it. Sometimes they are pressed in and maybe this one just fell out. But it needs to have one so you can grease it. Did you see a hole where one used to be?

[IH154]

Well got the clutch disc to stop turning today , i just had to adjust the clutch in a little bit more and finally got lawn mowed . I looked a bit more carefully at the throwout bearing retainer and found a small hole where the zerk went so i put tapped the hole to put new threads in . While i was mowing tho i ended up losing the ability to change gears again so i will need to readjust the clutch which i needed to do anyway as the yoke forks didn't go onto the throwout bearing retainer slots ( i bought it this way so figured it wouldn't hurt it just one time mowing with it )

[IH154]

Fixed it for good this time (i hope) , When i bought the tractor the yoke was not in the slots on the throw out bearing so never thought anything of it but since i readjusted it and put the yoke back into the slots i have a much firmer clutch pedal now and quicker disc slow down time ( about 2 seconds from pedal fully depressed) . It looks like iam done now with this project thankfully , i was mowing many acres of land with a small push mower which was a total pain but thanks to the input here i fixed it and i thank you all for that .

My next project is getting the 3 point installed