Hello everybody, I have a 96 1715 Ford New Holland 4x4 that I bought brand new. It had the block of wood on a string to place under the clutch pedal to keep clutch from sticking to pressure plate and flywheel. I never used it until I had everything stick together, twice. Had to pull the starter, stick a brass rod inside and tap on it with a hammer to get it to release. Not sure, but I believe the clutch material is like the brake pad material on today's cars, which are semi metallic. I live in Michigan and used it quite regularly at my moms house mowing and plowing snow, but after she passed and the house was sold, I don't use it near as much as I did. It would sit for weeks on end before using it. I will be blocking it now, after replacing the clutch in it this summer. The clutch itself still had some wear left on it, the throwout (release) bearing seized up.
A little heads up for you Ford New Holland owners (other tractor owners may want to check this out also). I noticed some brownish, red colored stains splashed on the block by the starter. Didn't pay a lot of attention to it, thinking it was just dirt. Starter ended up going out, replaced it, then the release bearing went out. Went to New Holland's website and while looking at an exploded view of the transmission, I notice there is a weep hole and in that hole is a cotter pin, serving NO PURPOSE AT ALL!!! I went out to my tractor, pulled it out and about a QUART AND A HALF of water came out
. Now I know why my starter and release bearing went out!!! So my suggestion to everybody is to make sure that weep hole is clear and to block your clutch pedal if it is going to sit more than a week at a time.
Mike