I do mine on my tiller when I get it out in the spring. I loosen all the springs and let it slip for 5- 10 seconds. You would be amazed at how tight the plates can be stuck together. Mine does set out alot though.

X2 - Its purpose is to protect the gear box. It only works if it slips. We did that with a square baler I bought to make sure, but when we tightened the bolts down, didn't get it tight enough. Under load, clutch would slip and slug the baler. Just kept giving them all one more half turn until that stopped, but would still slip if it really hit something (like pulling a wood fence post into the bale chamber) Slipping now and then is better than blowing up a gear box or bending the frame.

Shear pins do something similar, but only if you use the grade of shear pin it was designed for. A soft pin vs. a grade 5 or 8 bolt. Use the latter and something is going to break instead of pin shearing.

Never purposely slipped a clutch or ever heard of anyone doing that in my entire farming life.

Never purposely slipped a clutch or ever heard of anyone doing that in my entire farming life.

Never purposely slipped a clutch or ever heard of anyone doing that in my entire farming life.

I chuckled at this thread as I never grew up farming and started learning it around 40 years old. I never heard of anyone intentionally slipping a clutch either but I know I just plan on replacing the clutch discs about every year when I burn them up. I generally get them slipping just fine when I hit a root or rock tilling and they start smoking. But, yes they definitely have save my gearboxes and $20 a year aint too bad to replace to get tilling again.