B7100 Clutch Repair
Just got my 1980 B7100 bolted back together after splitting it a week or so ago for clutch issues. When cold the clutch would not completely dis-engage & with trans. in gear, clutch pedal fully depressed, the tractor would want to move when attempting to start. It improved quite a bit when warmed up which was also kind of strange. Turns out most of the problem was the amount of grease a previous owner had pumped into the zerk on the carrier for the throw-out bearing. It had oozed past the bearing & was splattered all over the inside of the bell housing & all over the pressure plate/clutch disc. I actually had to pry the disc away from the pressure plate with a screw driver. I had ordered throwout bearing, clutch disc, pressure plate, pilot bushing & seal over a year ago, but got busy & never changed them out. Old disc was worn almost to the rivets - normal I guess for a 32 year old tractor, but clutch never slipped after warming up, in fact I used the tractor last Feb. in -20C weather to cut & skid out 10 cord of Maple logs for firewood. Today it took waaaay longer to attach all the bits & pieces than it did to get things lined up & tractor bolted back together. Another thing I found was significant wear on the forks that push the throw-out bearing carrier out when the pedal is depressed. They were worn about 1/8" flat. Built them up with my little wire-feed welder & ground them back to a round profile. I also got stung with the 2 different sized rear main seal dilema reported by a previous poster - no sign of leakage but only want to split it once. Older tractors require the smaller seal & took time to get the correct one. While waiting for parts I removed all the sheet metal, sanded, primed & sprayed, then applied new hood decals that a local sign shop made for me. Used Valspar Kubota Orange (4432-24) & their hardener with Naptha as a reducer. Flows out well & nice gloss. Can't call it "Ol Rusty" any more. Not a Barrett-Jackson restore but looks good to me.
Just got my 1980 B7100 bolted back together after splitting it a week or so ago for clutch issues. When cold the clutch would not completely dis-engage & with trans. in gear, clutch pedal fully depressed, the tractor would want to move when attempting to start. It improved quite a bit when warmed up which was also kind of strange. Turns out most of the problem was the amount of grease a previous owner had pumped into the zerk on the carrier for the throw-out bearing. It had oozed past the bearing & was splattered all over the inside of the bell housing & all over the pressure plate/clutch disc. I actually had to pry the disc away from the pressure plate with a screw driver. I had ordered throwout bearing, clutch disc, pressure plate, pilot bushing & seal over a year ago, but got busy & never changed them out. Old disc was worn almost to the rivets - normal I guess for a 32 year old tractor, but clutch never slipped after warming up, in fact I used the tractor last Feb. in -20C weather to cut & skid out 10 cord of Maple logs for firewood. Today it took waaaay longer to attach all the bits & pieces than it did to get things lined up & tractor bolted back together. Another thing I found was significant wear on the forks that push the throw-out bearing carrier out when the pedal is depressed. They were worn about 1/8" flat. Built them up with my little wire-feed welder & ground them back to a round profile. I also got stung with the 2 different sized rear main seal dilema reported by a previous poster - no sign of leakage but only want to split it once. Older tractors require the smaller seal & took time to get the correct one. While waiting for parts I removed all the sheet metal, sanded, primed & sprayed, then applied new hood decals that a local sign shop made for me. Used Valspar Kubota Orange (4432-24) & their hardener with Naptha as a reducer. Flows out well & nice gloss. Can't call it "Ol Rusty" any more. Not a Barrett-Jackson restore but looks good to me.
Last edited: