Mowing PTO Soft Start Questions on New MF

[Wolfman]

So I hooked up my 6' rotary cutter to give my new 2706E a test run doing a little brush cutting. I had read the manual about the soft start - but I can't say that it really answered my questions.

After hooking up my cutter I tried to shift the PTO lever from neutral to 540 and it wouldn't budge. I tried moving the tractor around a little and it just wouldn't shift into 540. Then I figured maybe something wasn't lined up, so I hit the soft start button and pushed and turned the pto start button. After doing that I gently pushed the PTO lever from neutral to 540, and I heard a grind and back off on the lever in a fraction of a second (I kind of expected to hear the grind and was ready to throw it back into neutral). I shut off the PTO switch and soft start and was ready to give up and take another look at the manual and drove to a different spot and lowered the cutter completely to the ground. Just before shutting of the tractor, I tried the PTO lever and it went from neutral to 540 with ease - not sure if there is a trick with this or not, or what I should do if it gets stuck and won't switch to 540 from neutral again. Anyone experience this? Maybe its just because the tractor was brand new and the PTO was never engaged before?

My other question concerns the use of the soft start switch. When starting the cutter (after finally getting the PTO lever into the 540 position), I set the tractor to idle speed, pressed the soft start button and turned the PTO switch to on. The cutter started up as normal and then I brought the tractor up to 540 PTO speed. I expected the soft start button to turn off, but it remained lit. After mowing for a while, I hit the soft start button and the light went out, and I continued mowing until it got dark. I'm wondering if the soft start light should go off after the cutter is brought up to speed, and if it does not automatically shut off - should I press the button after the cutter has been started to shut the soft start light off?

Any tips would be helpful on the proper operation of this would be appreciated. My last tractor did not have a soft start feature, and I basically would just click one lever to 540 from neutral and then shift another lever to start and stop the pto.

Just want to make sure I am operating this properly, and the operators manual did not really address my questions...

 

[bacononeactual]

Can't speak to why you had trouble engaging pto, but I have a 1736 and my understanding is that soft start doesn't need to be switched off once pto is started. It just brings the pto up to speed more slowly then does nothing unless you stop and restart the pto, in which case it again starts the pto more slowly. I always use it. Seems like it's good for tractor and implement.

 

[JWR]

We all like to hear questions & and in many cases the mountains of experience out here can help. I want to comment, however, that these kinds of operating details should have been covered in your manuals. And since this is a new machine you really ought to ask the dealer. The dealers are there for that purpose and most of them enjoy helping people, esp. with a brand new machine.

 

[Wolfman]

We all like to hear questions & and in many cases the mountains of experience out here can help. I want to comment, however, that these kinds of operating details should have been covered in your manuals. And since this is a new machine you really ought to ask the dealer. The dealers are there for that purpose and most of them enjoy helping people, esp. with a brand new machine.

I would agree, but like I stated in the original post the manual was a little vague in the details. As for asking the dealer, to be honest, I have more faith in the knowledge and wisdom of the TBNers here who use these machines daily, as opposed to dealers who specialize in much larger machines.

 

[TSO]

You don't need to turn the button back off. I usually turn it on and leave it on, whenever I'm doing PTO work. If I'm using a non-PTO implement, then I keep it off.

Regarding the lever... Like any other gear system, occasionally teeth don't line up perfectly. So here's how to handle it. Keep the lever "off" unless you're about to turn on the PTO switch. That way it releases the PTO shaft, and you can spin it freely while hooking up implements. (I'm not sure if any other mfgs have this option, but it's really handy). Once you have the implement hooked up, switch the lever forward. If it's stuck, keep the lever "off" and turn the PTO button ON for just a second, it'll likely spin the gear to a more favorable slot. Wait for another second so you don't grind anything, and try the PTO lever again. Once forward, you're ready to turn on the PTO switch.

Technically with the soft start, you can switch the PTO on at PTO rpm, but I still throttle down before I engage the switch.

Enjoy!

 

[k0ua]

You don't need to turn the button back off. I usually turn it on and leave it on, whenever I'm doing PTO work. If I'm using a non-PTO implement, then I keep it off.

Regarding the lever... Like any other gear system, occasionally teeth don't line up perfectly. So here's how to handle it. Keep the lever "off" unless you're about to turn on the PTO switch. That way it releases the PTO shaft, and you can spin it freely while hooking up implements. (I'm not sure if any other mfgs have this option, but it's really handy). Once you have the implement hooked up, switch the lever forward. If it's stuck, keep the lever "off" and turn the PTO button ON for just a second, it'll likely spin the gear to a more favorable slot. Wait for another second so you don't grind anything, and try the PTO lever again. Once forward, you're ready to turn on the PTO switch.

Technically with the soft start, you can switch the PTO on at PTO rpm, but I still throttle down before I engage the switch.

Enjoy!

That all seems very logical and a well thought out system by the manufacture.