PTO Clutch Woes.....

[LDPosse]

The PTO clutch on my 147 has slipped under load as long as i've had it. I finally got tired of having to move at a crawl so the blades wouldn't stall out, so I put a new friction disc kit in. I checked and re-checked everything as I was putting it together, per the included instructions.

When it was all done, there was a slight amount of drag when the clutch was disengaged, I didn't know if that was normal or not, but the clutch seemed to work ok.

I mowed my lawn, which took about half an hour, and I went to engage the blade one last time out back and it wouldn't move. I checked the three 'special machine screws' on the PTO clutch and I could easily spin them. I don't know how they could have backed out, I tightened them thoroughly, and applied red loctite to the jam nuts.

Does anyone have any suggestions?!?

Thanks!!

[steve59]

Sounds like the bearing is slipping on the crank. Hate to say it, but you may have to take the whole thing apart again and tighten the bearing lock collar. You know there are 6 of these on the PTO. 3 short on the inside and 3 long with the lock nuts.

[Yosemite Sam]

As much as I hate to agree with the above post, you will probably have to remove the PTO again. However I'm not convinced that there is anything wrong with the bearing. If the screws are loose, then there is something wrong. Just a guess, but I'm thinking that for some reason it got hot a ruined the spring.

If it were mine I'd take it off again and check it out. Posting pictures would be a good thing. OH... and no more loctite, it simply isn't needed and only makes things harder the next time around.

[johncub7172]

Did you install the eccentric locking collar correctly...?

[Ash_129]

Originally Posted by steve59

Sounds like the bearing is slipping on the crank. Hate to say it, but you may have to take the whole thing apart again and tighten the bearing lock collar. You know there are 6 of these on the PTO. 3 short on the inside and 3 long with the lock nuts.

The bearing is only there to allow rotation (free-wheeling) of the PTO pully when disengaged.
If LDPosse was having trouble getting his blades spinning again, which means getting the PTO and crankshaft to turn as one piece, then I'd think it would be a clutch problem. Not a bearing problem.

Just my two cents.

Cheers

[CMA's129]

Not a bearing problem. They all seem to take a little adjusting on the turn buckle after a rebulid, unless the adjusting screws came lose from the vibration of a bad bearing. Pull it back off and readjust. You do have double nuts on them right? Was the pressure plate checked for flatness? I always spin them on a lathe to check them for warping, I've had them be out from .02 to .19 if there real bad you need to turn them down true if not just a quick buff on a belt sander.

[LDPosse]

Well, after some of this, I got my PTO clutch back up and running without having to drop any $$ on it.

I think where I went wrong, is I did not adjust the turnbuckle on the PTO engagement linkage properly, and I ended up pulling the diaphragm spring too hard, and bent it backwards.

So I took the PTO clutch apart, flipped the diaphragm spring upside down, and re-assembled the clutch. I also adjusted the linkage turnbuckle to just pull lightly on the clutch.

Now it's working like a champ! Just got done mowing an acre of grass without a hitch!

[william1041200]

Thats an awesome success story! My .02c.... If there is heat at the application, locktite is useless.

[LDPosse]

Originally Posted by william1041200

Thats an awesome success story! My .02c.... If there is heat at the application, locktite is useless.

I won't be making the mistake of using loctite on the clutch again! I had a heck of a time getting the nuts off of the special machine screws!

[Matt G.]

You don't even need loc-tite in there to begin with; that's what the jam nuts are for.