understanding the Torque Amplifier and Engine Clutch on

AnarchyAcres

New User
I have an IH-300 with a very worn-out engine clutch and torque amplifier. The T/A works in high, but slips a little in low. The engine clutch is very difficult to disengage, and if I adjust the clutch linkage enough for a good disengage, it starts to slip. I would like to limp this rig through the summer, and split the case next winter. My top priority is getting the engine clutch to disengage enough for easier shifting. Right now I have to go to dead idle, and it still crashes gears at every shift.

Why does the T/A have to be in low for tractors IH with T/A to shift? Why do these T/A's fail on the low side? This doesn't make any sense to me, because the T/A clutch is engaged in high, and disengaged for low. Does anyone have a good explainer that would help me tune this thing up enough to get through the summer? Everything is so loose and beat up that the specs in the manual are impossible to meet presently.
 
I fail to understand the workings of the TA I recently acquired a 300 that it worked partially. I tried to follow the set up on the owners manual. Finally I put the TA in high and kept tinkering with adjustments till the clutch worked well and the tractor would roll downhill backwards if the clutch was depressed. Then without changing the clutch setting I made fine adjustments to the TA. It now works as it should. Luck??
 
The small 7 direct TA clutch is disengaged in low or reduction. The one-way locking clutch is what slips or is usually what fails for the low side to ..go out..
I do not have a lot of time tonight to go through this. I will post a couple pictures and some wording from an email I recently sent another poster who had questions about a TA. I am going to email Anarchy a document that will be referenced in the wording. The young man I was in contact with about his TA also had the unit partially disassembled so he had that as a reference as well. I will say one thing. The angled linkage that goes between the front clutch lever and the TA direct clutch lever can cause the TA direct clutch to slip off it is not adjusted properly. In other words is holding it partly released. Also I will add these 5 speed transmissions are not synchronized like modern manual car transmissions so they have nothing to keep the gears from grinding if the shafts have not stopped spinning.
Here is the copy from the email.
.. If you are familiar with how planetary gears work, in these TAs the sprague or one way clutch holds the mount points of the planet gears stationary in the low or reduction drive. Look at those first two diagrams in the manual I sent you. The TA clutch when it is engaged spins the entire planet carrier, which then just spins in the over running direction of the one way clutch. Also when the TA clutch is engaged it also locks the planet gears and sun gear from being able to turn together or do that thing gears do. So the transmission driving gear on the left turns the same speed as the shaft the engine clutch is driving or direct drive as it is called. When that TA direct clutch is disengaged the power is flowing through the planetary gears. This immediately places force on the mounting for shafts of the planet gears in the carrier cage so it wants to spin backwards but the one way clutch locks to hold it and then makes the tractor continue to drive in reduction through the planetarys. Just a note the diagrams only show one shaft of planetary gears for simplicity, but there are 3..
The 2nd photo sets to the right of the top photo to make one. I had to blow it up that big to make the wording readable.
We will see what type of discussion this brings.
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On a tractor with a properly working mechanical TA like a 300, the tractor will only roll in the direction of the gear it's in with the TA in direct. If in a forward gear, it will not roll backward. If in reverse it will not roll forward. This is due to the one-way clutch (often referred to as "ramp and rollers") that is part of the design of the gear reduction section of the TA.

When you push the clutch and come to a stop, more often than not, the tractor will "set back" slightly. Think about when you come to a stop in a car, you kind of lurch forward in the seat slightly, then set back. Same idea. Due to the one-way clutch in the TA, this puts the driveline in a bind when the TA is in direct. Releasing the TA clutch lets the gear reduction section of the TA spin free, relieving the bind.

Even on a TA that slips in low the ramp and rollers often still hold good enough to bind up the driveline, so the TA needs to be in low to shift. Normally that is done automatically when you push the clutch by that short link that connects the clutch to the TA on the side of the tractor.

There may not be a solution for limping your tractor through the warm months. Things may be too far gone in the main clutch.

You can live with a TA that slips in low by simply not using it, but the main clutch has to work properly.

All you can do there is adjust it for proper free play per the owner's manual. No more no less. Shift the TA into low manually for now to shift, don't worry about the short link.

When there is any more than zero free play in the clutch pedal, the clutch is at maximum clamping force. There is no adjustment to make the clutch "clutch harder" so if it's slipping, it's shot and needs replaced. If the clutch isn't releasing fully you can cheat with a little less free play, but don't go past zero free play in the pedal. Then you are starting to partially depress the clutch and it will slip, and wear out the throwout bearing in about 10 minutes.
 
Thanks very much for the advice. I'll keep trying to make this work. The transmission fluid was down to less than two gallons of oil and water when I got it, so maybe things will come back to life a little once I drive it with the fresh fluid. Right now we are in mud season, so I can't put any miles on it yet.
 
Whatever brand of oil you get for the rear end, make sure it's compatible with the T/A on the tractor. That topic has been rehashed here ad nauseam, so a quick internet search for the right fluid should go quick 'n' easy.

Mike
 

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