Removed my clutch cover tonight to take the last shim out of my secondary and to install the black secondary spring from EPI, low and behold I had some serious mud and crud on the inside of the cover and splattered around the clutches and such. At first I thought that I had simply gone to deep in a mud hole, but that was not the reason. After installing the spring I started to clean the inside of the cover and noticed a hole in the cover, directly in front of the primary clutch at about the 9:00 position if looking from the side. The hole was definitely burned through from the inside as I could see a sharpely defined edge in line with the primary clutch surrounding the actual hole. I also noticed some scuffing on the outside of the cover in the line that crossed over the hole. Ok, the light bulb just turned on as I finished the last sentence. I must have been hung up on a rock or pushed a stick up in the area of the hole that pushed the cover in far enough to touch the clutch. Hence the scuffing on the outside of the clutch cover in a space you can barely get your fingers into. (fender is right there.) So much for the mystery. But something to watch out for. Anyone else done this stunt yet?

 

Haven't heard of it.

I think most of us have broken something in a strange way.

 

Trbolvr - there's not much clearance between clutch and cover, your diagnosis is probably correct. Only other thing I could think of would be the primary clutch backing out on the shaft, but that ain't likely.

 

trbolvr, I've had a similar situation with my wife's polaris. The plow is raised and lowered with a hand-operated lever. If I pull the lever back too far it crushes the clutch cover against the pulley inside. The loud squeel that results instantly tells me to let go. I can see some deformity already, so if I'm not careful I will soon have a hole like yours.
You may not have a plow, but just another hint for others to watch out for.