154 cub will not go into gear after running

[brian kov]

it wont go into gear after its runnin ,goes in fine when its not runnin. am i lookin at big bucks for a new clutch or what .tried to start it in gear and the clutch wont even soak up enough to do that it just tries to move the cub with its own starter which is not good .

[beaconlight]

Brian I am a slow old fossile and don't quite understand you problem. If you try to start any thing in gear the starter will make the tractor move. Do the gears grind when you try to put it in running?

[Bigdog]

Bill, If I understand Brian correctly he is saying that the clutch won't disengage so he can shift gears once the tractor is running. And even with the clutch depressed which should disengage the clutch the tractor will move. If I recall correctly the number series had some clutch issues. I suspect Brian is looking at a clutch job in the near future.

[brian kov]

gears deffinately grind when i try to put it in gear with the clutch all the way in .

[beaconlight]

Thanks BD..I am not at all familiar with the number series.
Delivered Hay in an old GMC Straight job with a peak over the cab. The farmer himself burned out a rear wheel bearing. A farmer near Allentown PA allowed him to leave the truck there. Al rented a truck to deliver the hay. Months later he and I went back with a replacement rear. Took us a day and a half to change the rear in the barn yard and get the truck running. Farmers in that area kept everything in sheds because of the acid rain from all the nearby cement kilns. We had a screw bust off taking the cover off the dist to clean the points. Good old drill a hole and bail wire to hold it together. The pressure plate stuck to the fly wheel, so Al started in gear and took off. I loaded the tools and followed. Shory way down the road he was over with plugged gas filter. I don't remember how many times we stopped to clean that dirty filter. We finally got a replacement at the Hawk in Binghamton. Only truck stops were open on Thanksgining Day. We got back to the farm at 3:330 just in time for dinner. The clutch never did let go. We used that truck a couple of more years. I took a picture of it in the weeds while Bev and I were there for Als Funeral recently.

[Paul B]

Brian
You can try adjusting the linkage from the pedal to the release arm, it may not be releasing the clutch. It depends on whether the tractor is an early one or a late one on how that is done. There were changes to the clutch, the linkage, and the driveshaft during the 154 run, BUT, you probably better get ready to spend some money if you want to fix it. In my opinion, the 154 Lo-Boys were not one of IH's better ideas, and I don't think a 185 is much of an improvemen, but I never owned one of them.

[ScottyD'sdad]

154 clutch is a pain to adjust. Linkage on mine was worn badly when I got it. Clutch abd pressure plate are priced comparably to a cub. TOB costs about $100.00. Changing clutch depends on ser.#. Some require engine to be unmounted. On some. the driveshaft moves enough to change the clutch. Ed

[brian kov]

i have a 72 154 , i have never used one and found a decent price (so i thought ) that needed a starter , meanwhile i just put a complete wiring harness on it . insulation was all gone in places . and then i figured out that i need a key switch after fiddling with the old one for an hour or so trying to fix it . so i ordered the switch and carb to air cleaner hose today thinking that would be the last of it , WRONG .now i probably need a clutch. i will look at adjusting the clutch , for some reason i think it is probably not as easy as the later cubs

[Lance Leitzel]

Brian, I just did battle with the same thing on my 154. It turned out that I had 2 things I needed to do:

1) Check to see how much slop there is when you press the clutch. The center pivot tends to wear and you end up with with a throw out bearing that isn't pushing too much on the clutch fingers.

2) There are two little clutch brakes (look like black buttons) that stop the clutch from turning when the clutch is depressed. Follow the linkage from the top of the clutch pivot towards the rear of the tractor. There will be a bolt with two springs on it. Tighten the rear nut to only have .010" clearance when the clutch is released. The TOB should have .090" clearance to the fingers.

And YES this design was not IH's best idea.

Lance

[Lance Leitzel]

Oh Brian - One more thing. A quick test to see if the clutch isn't releasing enough is to press the cluch down, stand on the brakes to keep the tractor from moving at all, and then trying to see if you can manage to shift it while it is running.

[Clark Thompson]

Brian,
The numbered series loboys that have the clutch mounted on the transmission have a light duity flywheel on the trans that the clutch bolts to. On the rear of the flywheel there is a clutch brake system that is actuated when you disinguage the clutch. This brake system is spring loaded. It stops the clutch from spinning when the clutch peddle is inguaged. There are two brake shoes . these look like a 3/4 wood dowell pin about 1 3/4 inch long.These dowell pads are mad out of wood and bakeolite. You may have to adjust the tension on these pads but most of the time the pads are wore out. I just replaced a set on a 154 a few months ago that had the very same shifting problems.I was only able to get new pads from a case IH dealer. they werent cheap about 25bucks.
Hope this helps!

[BigBill]

Its the flywheel brake that needs adjustment. Lance is correct. Otherwise the gears keep on turning all the time. I adjusted my flywheel brake and it solved my gear grinding problem and it shifts great now.

For parts go to http://www.partstree.com click on cub cadet, then on international harvester then on 154 loboy.

[Paul B]

The flywheel brake can be the problem, but it can also be the linkage between the pedal and the clutch release arm. As someone else said, the release arm wears, the pin it pivots on wears, and then it does not depress the throwout bearing enough to release the clutch, which in turn will cause the clutch brake to wear trying to stop the flywheel/clutch.

Your 72 should be above S/N U018709, so it should have the better clutch system, so take the frame cover off and push the clutch pedal down to see if the disc is actually releasing. If not adjust (shorten) the rod from the release arm to the cross shaft bellcrank. There is two nuts on the front of that rod, on either side of the clevis/yoke, back off the rear one a couple of turns, and tighten the front one until you have .090 clearance between the throwout bearing and the clutch release fingers of the pressure plate.

[John in Ct]

I was wondering, I adjusted my IH 154 to have (Whatever the manual specified) , I think it was 1 inch freeplay at the clutch pedal. Is it better to use the spec from throwout bearing to clutch finger to adjust the clutch?

[Paul B]

JohnIn tThe service manual I have (GSS-1408 Revision 4, Sep 1978) For Adjustment, it states quote "Remove the frame top cover. The clutch linkage should be adjusted to provide .090 inch clearance between the release fingers and the bearing. Adjust by loosening the two nuts on the clutch rod adjusting yoke and positioning the clutch adjusting rod to give the specified free travel, Retighten the nuts" end quote.

It says the same thing for both the clutch on tractors below S/N U018709 and above that number, although the drawing for the clutch /pedal assembly below the number does show a pedal "up" and a pedal in what could be a free travel position, but does not list a free travel distance for the pedal. The drawing for the tractors above the number is different and does not show the two pedal positons. Since the adjustment procedure is shown as the same for both, one of them could be a miss print in the manual I have and there could be a pedal free travel that was omitted in this manual.