mundamanu
Silver Member
I hooked up my 6' standard duty Woods bush hog to my new TC40A for the first time today. When I engaged the PTO (at about 1300 rpm), the shear bolt broke. It was the first time that I engaged the bush hog this season, so I thought that maybe the blades had frozen up and that was why the shear bolt broke.
I replaced the bolt, checked to make sure the blades were swinging free and tried again. The shear bolt broke.
I replaced the bolt and tried again at idle. This time, I slowly eased the PTO lever back. The bush hog engaged without shearing the bolt. However, because I was paying attention to the bush hog, I didn't realize that I hadn't pushed the PTO lever all the way into position. I freaked out because I remembered reading in the manual that you can damage the PTO clutch if you don't fully engage or disengage the PTO. I quickly slammed the PTO lever down, fully disengaging the PTO.
Then, still at idle, I quickly raised the PTO lever all the way up to the stop, which is how I usually engage the PTO when I run the manure spreader. At idle, the third shear bolt -- my last one -- also broke.
So, the question is, how do you all (especially TC40 owners) engage the PTO with a bush hog? Do you ease the PTO lever up to the stop so that it gradually engages? Do you just raise it up quickly in one quick motion? Is it bad to ease it up? If you just raise it up quickly and it works fine for you, might there be a problem with the bush hog, even though the blades swing free?
Thanks,
Bob
I replaced the bolt, checked to make sure the blades were swinging free and tried again. The shear bolt broke.
I replaced the bolt and tried again at idle. This time, I slowly eased the PTO lever back. The bush hog engaged without shearing the bolt. However, because I was paying attention to the bush hog, I didn't realize that I hadn't pushed the PTO lever all the way into position. I freaked out because I remembered reading in the manual that you can damage the PTO clutch if you don't fully engage or disengage the PTO. I quickly slammed the PTO lever down, fully disengaging the PTO.
Then, still at idle, I quickly raised the PTO lever all the way up to the stop, which is how I usually engage the PTO when I run the manure spreader. At idle, the third shear bolt -- my last one -- also broke.
So, the question is, how do you all (especially TC40 owners) engage the PTO with a bush hog? Do you ease the PTO lever up to the stop so that it gradually engages? Do you just raise it up quickly in one quick motion? Is it bad to ease it up? If you just raise it up quickly and it works fine for you, might there be a problem with the bush hog, even though the blades swing free?
Thanks,
Bob