Farm Equipment - D17 power director?

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D17 power director?

Printed From: Unofficial Allis
Category: Allis Chalmers
Forum Name: Farm Equipment
Forum Description: everything about Allis-Chalmers farm equipment
URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=191116
Printed Date: 04 Apr 2026 at 6:01am
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Topic: D17 power director?

Posted By: Hunt4Allis
Subject: D17 power director?
Date Posted: 07 Oct 2022 at 8:05am

How are these supposed to be used? I don't know if it's right or not but I use mine to slow down as I'm driving if I'm coming up on a bumpy area and then back into high when I'm past the bumps type thing. Is it okay to use the hand high /low lever while driving? Is it bad for it in certain situations to use while moving (like if carrying a thousand pound round bale on the back)?

Replies:

Posted By: Pat the Plumber CIL
Date Posted: 07 Oct 2022 at 11:01am

Power director is a wet clutch which will stand up to a lot of abuse. I would not feather the clutch while plowing or other tillage work but while pulling a rotary mower , baler or all crop combine you can feather that clutch all day long . I use mine to slow the tractor down from hi to low . Also when Bush hogging I will coast backwards downhill and use the power director in forward gear as a brake , feathering appropriately .

My father's instructions for operating power director on a D17 . Use the foot clutch to change gears , engage pto . Use power director to make tractor move or stop.

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You only need to know 3 things to be a plumber;Crap rolls down hill,Hot is on the left and Don't bite your fingernails

1964 D-17 SIV 3 Pt.WF,1964 D-15 Ser II 3pt.WF ,1960 D-17 SI NF,1956 WD 45 WF.

Posted By: Hunt4Allis
Date Posted: 07 Oct 2022 at 11:10am

Okay so I'll have to pay attention the next time I run it and use the hand lever to stop instead of the foot lever. What are the advantages of using hands clutch when running a baler (I'm looking at getting a small round baler like a new idea 484 I think, so that's why I'm asking)
Thanks Matt

Posted By: Pat the Plumber CIL
Date Posted: 07 Oct 2022 at 11:31am

AC Small round baler requires stopping while twine wraps bale .

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You only need to know 3 things to be a plumber;Crap rolls down hill,Hot is on the left and Don't bite your fingernails

1964 D-17 SIV 3 Pt.WF,1964 D-15 Ser II 3pt.WF ,1960 D-17 SI NF,1956 WD 45 WF.

Posted By: Allis dave
Date Posted: 07 Oct 2022 at 11:50am

It's ok to use the foot clutch to start and stop as you would any other tractor. You'll just need to use the power director to stop if using the PTO. Yes the foot clutch will eventually wear out, but it will on any tractor. I do use the power director sometimes to to start out if I'm pulling a heavy load such as a wagon of corn or load of hay.

Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 07 Oct 2022 at 11:46pm

The WD- series was the first to have a "wet" hand clutch designed to disconnect the rear wheels from power so the tractor could stop travel while the PTO remained running. I've seen roto-balers that one had to stop/start every 100 feet to spit out a bale and then go for another 100 ft and stop all day long. The D-17 Power Director clutch was the next generation wet clutch capable of doing the same thing plus having two speeds.

Posted By: AaronSEIA
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2022 at 6:14am

As others have said, its a 2 speed wet clutch setup with a neutral in the middle. Its NOT a mechanical TA style 2 speed. You can pretty much use it like a rented mule and it'll be just fine. Like Pat said, you probably wouldn't want to slip it a lot doing heavy draft work. Major advantages to it are it's wet vs the dry (and much more prone to wearing out) tranny clutch and you've still got PTO and hyd functions when using it to stop.

AaronSEIA

Posted By: Hunt4Allis
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2022 at 7:12am

Okay thanks for the info. I thought that it was broken a while back but it was just low on fluid and what was in there wasn't real great so after draining it and refilling it to the proper height everything works again. Maybe I'll use it more now that I know it's intended functions. I never used it to stop the tractor in neutral position, I always just push the foot clutch in(I guess I never used it that much because I didn't want to ruin it)