Time to bite the "billet"
 

My 2182 is struggling this year. Just no power while mowing the lawn. Have to really slow down to keep deck speed up. Checked the mule drive and deck pulleys twice. No issues there. Figured the PTO was showing its age. When I was mowing this past Sunday the PTO clutch began chirping when flipping the switch to engage it. Tested the battery. 13.9 while running wide open. Tested the PTO wires. 13.7-13.8. Said to hell with it and orded an Xtreme clutch. Hoping this makes a huge difference or this tractor is coming off mowing duty.

You are correct Steve! A 2182 shouldn't struggle! :beerchug: You will be please with this clutch! They are quality parts!:beerchug:

Good luck and let us know how it works out!:biggrin2:

When are you planning on installing it? Hope it fixes your issue.

Saturday morning, I hope. :bigthink:

Been there, done that. No regrets.:beerchug:
It was a night and day difference. You should be happy, happy, happy.:biggrin2:

How do you know it was the PTO making noise and not the belt? Sure you needed a PTO and not just a new belt? The sides wear out. Cracks aren't the only tell tale on a belt.... bottoming out in the pulley is also something to check.

Yeah, I was looking at the belts. They are riding high to outside on each pulley and the mule tensioners are right in the middle of their throw. Mule belt does not seem stretched. Belts are Cub Cadet and the mule drive pulley belt is less than 2 years old. Deck is clean without obstruction. There is no "streaking effect" to the cut. But man oh man do I have to slow ground speed to a crawl where the grass is thicker or over an inch tall to keep blade speed up. :angry:

Did you check the air gap on the old PTO?
Did you take the belt off and make sure the spring tension idler was free, and could move all the way foreward?

The metal clutch on a PTO usually only wears out if the air gap is out of adjustment and is allowed to slip too much. The rotor and pulley clutch can be grooved pretty bad and still hold. Galling can make it slip. But they can be faced. The magnet coil either works or it doesn't.

I'm OK replacing this one. If the original clutch is serviceable, well..... I gots another project in mind for the future. :biggrin2:

Well yeah.... if that was actually the problem. My point was, what if you just needed to tighten 3 bolts to fix the old one? Or what if it's the mule tensioner? Hope it fixes it, or you just spent a lot of money....