D17 PD adjustment?

I'll try to help and put your post back to the top.   When you adjust the PD clutch, there are three sets of shims all the way around in three different places.   There are shims in the low side, the middle, and the high side.   If I am right, to adjust you take shims out of the side you want to tighten up(in your case both high and low) and then put them in the middle part.   You don't remove the shims, just change location of them.   Do it the same on all three spots, and then try it.   As far as how much to take out to try, that I couldn't tell you.   Hopefully one of the true experts will chime in.   The power steering should have nothing to do with the power director.  

Engauge the PTO, If it quits turning when you engauge PD the foot clutch is out. If it continues to turn problem is in PD.  MACK

Hi an thank you for that info, I am going to take a look inside the cover. By the way if I takethat cover of for the PD will oil come out? thanks

Hi Mack thanks for your help on this issue, I can say that this morning I engaged the PTO and then engaged the PD ,the PTO kept turning with no problems, so I am assuming that it is a PD problem , you wouldn't have a diagram or instructions on how to adjust the shims ? I live in south central Canada and there isn't anyone around here that can give/sell me that info. Thanks again 

I wish you would find another D14-D15-D17-D19 and actually feel what the handclutch should be like and then report back......I have a hard time believing that it needs shimmed that badly on both low and high sides.

Drain plug for PD is on foot clutch side .Drain before removing cover.

The foot clutch overrides the PD as far as gear selection so yes you can leave it in hi range, neutral, or lo, come to a complete stop and select the gear you choose. Mush easier to engage gear if tractor engine is at idle.

You've had the tractor since last year. Did the hand lever stay in LOW range then?? if it did, I'd guess that you have a piece of low range linkage inside now broken, especially if it never wants to stay in low at all when you pull back on the lever and springs forward when you let go. If your tractor has any kind of linkage hanging from the hand lever down to under the tractors belly, REMOVE all of those parts and try it. The lever should "feel" the same when you pull back on it as it does when you go forward into HIGH range. If it "feels" the same, and will stay back with the engine OFF, you may have badly worn ramp plates and rollers. No adjustment fixes that. New parts inside does. If it feels "soft" when you pull back on the lever and it slowly works forward to neutral, shim adjustment might help that.

Len , when I was a young man learning to operate our tractor on the farm I was told the foot clutch is for changing gears and engaging PTO . The power director (hi-nuetral-lo) lever is for making the tractor move or stop . This is how I was instructed. The foot clutch is ahead of the power director and hydraulics. It can be used to make tractor move or stop without disengaging power director. My father's theory was by using the power director to move and stop and the foot clutch to change gears would save wear on the foot clutch. Power director is submerged partly in oil/fluid and takes a lot of abuse and doesn't wear out as fast . AllisChalmers made a good foot clutch and have not heard about a lot of tem wearing out . My father said they had a WC that wore out foot clutches (probably from running a roto baler on it) and when the D17 showed up the dealer told him told him to use the power director as much as possible and he would never wear out a foot clutch again. Now having said this I have an elderly neighbor up the street that keeps his D17 in the high position and has never taken it out of high position.He grew up on super M and says he can't get used to it . His tractor runs fine though and uses it to mow a couple acres of pasture each year

Edited by Pat the Plumber CIL - 30 Oct 2023 at 7:57am

If the hand lever immediately jumps out of low range (not slowly, but right now) there's no adjustment for that.  Sounds like a broken linkage arm to the front of the clutch or low range ramp plates and rollers completely worn out. I suppose someone could have it shimmed terribly wrong to cause this, but I don't think so. So many people think that when the hand lever jumps to neutral on its own, that is a shim issue. It ain't.  Rearranging the shims is to make up for wear on the clutch discs and plates. Changing the shims makes a slipping or "soft" clutch not slip anymore. Not repair it to stay locked in engagement.

DrAllis wrote: If the hand lever immediately jumps out of low range (not slowly, but right now) there's no adjustment for that.  Sounds like a broken linkage arm to the front of the clutch or low range ramp plates and rollers completely worn out. I suppose someone could have it shimmed terribly wrong to cause this, but I don't think so. So many people think that when the hand lever jumps to neutral on its own, that is a shim issue. It ain't.  Rearranging the shims is to make up for wear on the clutch discs and plates. Changing the shims makes a slipping or "soft" clutch not slip anymore. Not repair it to stay locked in engagement.