L48 PTO Gear Shift Lever Stopped Working

[ChompinBrush]

I've got an L48 and am pulling a Gearmore flail mower behind it. I use the PTO gear shift lever to disengage the PTO when I'm just using the bucket or moving from place to place. A few weeks ago the gear shift lever stopped working. Even when I have the PTO lever disengaged as soon as I start the tractor the mower starts spinning. Took off the housing and checked all the linkages and they are fine. Any idea what can cause the clutch/gear to shift and more importantly how to fix it?

Thanks!!

 

[equipman]

The PTO lever works with a cable, is your's broken? Maybe the cable broke while engaged and the lever isn't disengaging it.
Lewis

 

[ChompinBrush]

I looked at the cable it isn't broken and moves when I move the lever. Every once in a while I can get the PTO to disengage but it works less and less frequently now. Pretty much have to turn the tractor off and then once in a while I can start it and it won't engage the PTO. So it works once in a while (which I figure means the cable/linkage is probably not broken anywhere) - just not very often.

 

[equipman]

My second thought was that some debris was obstructing the lever on the other end of the cable from moving, but if you looked to see if the lever was moving and didn't see any then that isn't the problem either. There is a clutch pack the engages the PTO internally, but our shop has never seen any problems there.
Lewis