First off, sorry for the long post here...
I just brought my new L2800HST home yesterday, not brand new, new to me, 430 hrs on it.. I have read almost every thread I could find on here concerning issues to watch out for and it seems I am cursed with them all. Jerky 3pt, and PTO engagement issues.
I was mowing this morning with a rear PRD7200 woods finish mower and noticed a couple of things with the PTO. First off, HST is new to me but I think I understand the gist of how it all works, or should work anyway. Issues that I had this morning was,
1. Sometimes when I would engage the PTO (clutch down) I would ease off clutch and here the grinding sound of it not fully engaged, I immediately re-engaged the clutch and shifted the PTO again applying a little forward pressure on the handle and then as I let out on the clutch it would engage. I mowed approx 3 acres with it and had this happen a couple of times when I would stop and start for various reasons and had to reengage the PTO.
2. One time when I was mowing along the PTO just disengaged on it's own and started grinding, I immediately engaged the clutch, then fully disengaged the PTO and that is when I stopped mowing until I can figure out what is going on here.
I have read all the post about the PTO issues and seen the pics of the internal gears / clutch mechanism. I have to say that I think I have over read and now am more confused then ever. I understand that I have an ORC and I have heard it make the clicking noise which seems normal to me and sounds like a much more tolorable sound then the sound I here when the PTO does not engage fully. From my reading, it seems that people are saying these are the same issues and same gear / clutch pieces making both noises. I have to disagree there, I think they are totally different because the sound is coming form two different locations and sounds different. I have also noticed where people try to hit the clutch as they disengage the PTO to prevent the ORC from clicking. In my mind that is why the ORC is installed in there and should not be hurting anything by working as designed and clicking a little. Now the sound I get when the PTO does not fully engage is a different story, I can tell this is not normal and should not be happening. So that leads in to my next portion of this book.. How to adjust, or attempt to adjust the PTO engagement cable. I noticed up by the PTO handle where the cable comes in there is a threaded portion run through the mounting bracket. By adjusting the two nuts (one on either side, loosing one and tightening the other) will this adjust the cable??? I noticed also that I could do the same thing at the bottom where it is connected to the lever on the side of the transmission housing. I just wasn't sure if this is the adjustment place or does that only adjust the cable housing and do nothing to the internal cable??
The cable has been well lubed and the handle seems to work smoothly and easily but I don't think it is pushing the lever far enough at the transmission. (this may not be the tranny but the area below the floor board where it goes into the tractor).
I have read about the rubber boots that are on the cable allowing the cable to bend in those areas and also the possibility that the cable is made to weak to apply enough force to fully engage the PTO.
Bottom line, I just got this thing home and the last thing I want to do is mess this internal PTO up to where I have to spend a ton of $$$ to get it fixed. I am a little scared to use it as is.
What recommended fix should I start with???
Again sorry for the long post, but I thought I needed to bring this to the experts and see what I should do...
Thanks in advance....
I just brought my new L2800HST home yesterday, not brand new, new to me, 430 hrs on it.. I have read almost every thread I could find on here concerning issues to watch out for and it seems I am cursed with them all. Jerky 3pt, and PTO engagement issues.
I was mowing this morning with a rear PRD7200 woods finish mower and noticed a couple of things with the PTO. First off, HST is new to me but I think I understand the gist of how it all works, or should work anyway. Issues that I had this morning was,
1. Sometimes when I would engage the PTO (clutch down) I would ease off clutch and here the grinding sound of it not fully engaged, I immediately re-engaged the clutch and shifted the PTO again applying a little forward pressure on the handle and then as I let out on the clutch it would engage. I mowed approx 3 acres with it and had this happen a couple of times when I would stop and start for various reasons and had to reengage the PTO.
2. One time when I was mowing along the PTO just disengaged on it's own and started grinding, I immediately engaged the clutch, then fully disengaged the PTO and that is when I stopped mowing until I can figure out what is going on here.
I have read all the post about the PTO issues and seen the pics of the internal gears / clutch mechanism. I have to say that I think I have over read and now am more confused then ever. I understand that I have an ORC and I have heard it make the clicking noise which seems normal to me and sounds like a much more tolorable sound then the sound I here when the PTO does not engage fully. From my reading, it seems that people are saying these are the same issues and same gear / clutch pieces making both noises. I have to disagree there, I think they are totally different because the sound is coming form two different locations and sounds different. I have also noticed where people try to hit the clutch as they disengage the PTO to prevent the ORC from clicking. In my mind that is why the ORC is installed in there and should not be hurting anything by working as designed and clicking a little. Now the sound I get when the PTO does not fully engage is a different story, I can tell this is not normal and should not be happening. So that leads in to my next portion of this book.. How to adjust, or attempt to adjust the PTO engagement cable. I noticed up by the PTO handle where the cable comes in there is a threaded portion run through the mounting bracket. By adjusting the two nuts (one on either side, loosing one and tightening the other) will this adjust the cable??? I noticed also that I could do the same thing at the bottom where it is connected to the lever on the side of the transmission housing. I just wasn't sure if this is the adjustment place or does that only adjust the cable housing and do nothing to the internal cable??
The cable has been well lubed and the handle seems to work smoothly and easily but I don't think it is pushing the lever far enough at the transmission. (this may not be the tranny but the area below the floor board where it goes into the tractor).
I have read about the rubber boots that are on the cable allowing the cable to bend in those areas and also the possibility that the cable is made to weak to apply enough force to fully engage the PTO.
Bottom line, I just got this thing home and the last thing I want to do is mess this internal PTO up to where I have to spend a ton of $$$ to get it fixed. I am a little scared to use it as is.
What recommended fix should I start with???
Again sorry for the long post, but I thought I needed to bring this to the experts and see what I should do...
Thanks in advance....
