Brand new JD zero turn PTO issues

[fishboy]

After the long hard debate of whether to buy JD or Kubota I purchased the JD Z920A ZTrak Pro Series 60" 7Iron Deck commercial grade zero turn mower to take on the task of cutting the 3.5 acres on my property that requires a finish cut.

It was delivered last Friday early enough for me to get a complete mow in that same Friday night. The tractor preformed flawlessly and the cut quality was great. Tonight was another story however.

Today after getting about 1/3 of the way done, during mowing, the PTO shut off randomly with no warning. I looked down to see if the was diagnostic codes and there weren't any. I pushed in the PTO button and pulled it back out to engage the PTO again and the mower deck spun back up and blades were spinning again. 30 seconds later the PTO shut back off without warning again. I cycled the PTO again and nothing happened. I drove the mower back to the garage and before I pulled it in I thought I would try to PTO button again and it worked. So I motored back out to where I left off and continued mowing... for about 2 minutes this time and the PTO shut off again.

I called the dealer and told them about what was going on and they are coming out to pick it up tomorrow morning. The guy at the dealer told me it sounded like the PTO electronic clutch was overheating.

I'm not real happy about this (kinda pissed actually) since the tractor is brand new and I've put 4hrs on it.

Greg

 

[ChuckinNH]

That is hard to take when we do our homework, and spend a lot of money on something like your mower. Hopefully it will be an easy fix, and you will go a long time before you have any other problems. Does Deere have the same 30 day return policy on their Z turns as they do on their riding mowers? Sometimes I think that manufacturers should get more of the stuff they ship that has problems back. Hoping it works out well for you........ sometimes you just have to tie a knot in the end of your rope, and hang on.

 

[Scooby074]

no seat switches?

That would be the first place id start troubleshooting. Sometimes they can be over sensitive to a person's seating position (ie: sitting off to one side etc.) Never heard of a clutch having a heat sensor. My electric clutch x540 has none that im aware of (I work it pretty hard, so if it was possible to over heat i would) The pro zturns could very well have one though

 

[fishboy]

I wasn't buying the over heating issue either. So after letting it sit for 2hrs last night (to ensure that it was cool to the touch) I started it back up and had the same problem instantly.

So, I pulled out the ole trusty multimeter and started checking the electrical circuit, starting with the seat switch and that checked out fine. I then checked for continuity in the electric clutch harness and had an intermittent (weak) signal. Looking at the harness I found that the pigtail connector for the clutch switch had a pin that was pulled half-way out of the connector.

The harness was zip-tied down so tight that the pin pulled out. I pulled the connector apart and pushed the pin back in and heard it 'click' and fired it up. seems to work just fine now.

It's still kind of sad to see the build/manufacturing quality (and quality of the cheap china connector) on this machine is lacking. Hopefully, there won't be anymore nonsense issues (or any for that matter) that arise.

Greg

 

[9973720wb19]

I have a JD 997Z and a JD WAM -

997Z:
Problem: When getting ready to mow, it "sometimes" stalls when I try to take the park break off. Took it to the dealer and they said they could not duplicate the problem.

Solution: I'm 130 pounds. the guys at the dealership are more. I sometimes need to make sure the mower knows I'm there by putting my legs out while I release the park break...puts more weight on the seat. Although, I'd like to get to the bottom of this issue, I can live with it...no other issues.

WAM:
Problem: I mow Fields with this. When I got it, had problems with it shutting off the PTO just about every time I hit a bump...about every 20 mins...so here we go again...

Solution: lifted the seat and secured the seat safety switch down with zip ties so it thinks I'm on it. Problem gone!

 

[om21braz]

Glad to hear you were able to solve the issue on your own. It's good to have the ability to fix it yourself. On a $10,000 lawn mower you expect zero issues, but I believe it's too much to ask for considering how things are made today.

 

[MoKelly]

Glad to hear you were able to solve the issue on your own. It's good to have the ability to fix it yourself. On a $10,000 lawn mower you expect zero issues, but I believe it's too much to ask for considering how things are made today.

Ditto. Good job.:thumbsup:

 

[jinman]

Sometimes there is just no way of knowing what will turn up on a new mower. When I read your post initially, I thought it sounded like intermittent contact and it turns out to be exactly that. During the manufacturing process, they can't do much more than check that everything works. How would they know that your connector was about to pop a pin? It is VERY frustrating, but just the kind of failure you'd expect on a new mower. It's something minor and you found it. I'd bet there is not another mower of the same type with the same failure anywhere. It's a one-time thing and you were the unlucky recipient. I would not let this put a damper on that new piece of equipment. Your dealer was going to give you good support, but you found the problem. Good for you!:thumbsup:

 

[Scooby074]

Glad you got it figured. Usually its something simple.

Yes, its an expensive machine, but id cut JD a little bit of slack. Should have been caught in the plant or pre delivery, but an operating test would have showed the deck engaging... it wasnt till after a bit of use that it loosened up enough to stop. Physically checking all the connectors on a machine wouldnt be practical... and a visual, in its working state would be easy to miss.

I do agree that with increasing use of offshore connectors we'll be seeing more of these type issues though.. not good.

 

[fishboy]

I totally agree with what you all are saying about this being a fluke and I don't mean to sound like I am bashing on JD. But considering this is a commercial grade piece of machinery you would think this should warrant more robust components in more than just a few areas. Don't get me wrong, this issue aside, I still really like the mower.

Greg