JakeBrake
Gold Member
I have a 2002 DR with the 15 HP Kawasaki engine. The mower has about 600 hours on it.
The last time I mowed the clutch was obviously not working properly. That is, it would take two or three tries to engage the blade and it smoked the belt at one point. However, I was able to finish.
The next day when I tried to start the mower, the engine would not turn. It acted like a weak battery. I also have a 1996 DR with an identical battery. Only 460 hours on that mower. I swapped batteries and the engine still would not turn.
I knew the problem had to be the PTO clutch. This is a centrifugal clutch with no electricity. This will be the third time I have had to replace the clutch. I'm not too happy about that, but, otherwise, I love the mower and I have done some truly brutal brush cutting with it.
This time when I removed the clutch retaining bolt, the clutch came apart and almost fell off the engine shaft. This was a bit of good luck. The other two times the clutch failed, the engine would turn, but the clutches were rusted to the engine shaft and I had bad times removing the clutches. The engine ran perfectly after the clutch was removed.
I have ordered a new clutch from DR and I should be back in operation soon.
The last time I mowed the clutch was obviously not working properly. That is, it would take two or three tries to engage the blade and it smoked the belt at one point. However, I was able to finish.
The next day when I tried to start the mower, the engine would not turn. It acted like a weak battery. I also have a 1996 DR with an identical battery. Only 460 hours on that mower. I swapped batteries and the engine still would not turn.
I knew the problem had to be the PTO clutch. This is a centrifugal clutch with no electricity. This will be the third time I have had to replace the clutch. I'm not too happy about that, but, otherwise, I love the mower and I have done some truly brutal brush cutting with it.
This time when I removed the clutch retaining bolt, the clutch came apart and almost fell off the engine shaft. This was a bit of good luck. The other two times the clutch failed, the engine would turn, but the clutches were rusted to the engine shaft and I had bad times removing the clutches. The engine ran perfectly after the clutch was removed.
I have ordered a new clutch from DR and I should be back in operation soon.