Mowing Disengage PTO before idling down?

[LD1]

Idling down does NOT help lessen the wear on the brake as others keep mentioning. There is the overrunning clutch preventing the engine from slowing down the implement.

When you Idle down, and the mower or bushhog slows down, it is not due to the motor slowing, it is the brake assembly at work. So it makes NO difference wether you disengage at full RPM, or wether you idle down. There are only 3 things that can slow down the implement
1. The brake
2. Friction and resistance of bearings/gearbox (just slowing down on its own)
3. Having the blades doing work(still trying to cut in tall grass, etc.)

If your tractor does not have an overrunning clutch, this does not apply. But if you didn't have one The inertia of the blades spinning would make the tractor idle down very slowly, and if in gear, will actually try to drive the tractor.

With older tractors such as the N series fords, which didnt have live hydraulics or two stage clutches, it was very easy to be pushed through fence rows and such with a bushhog, unless there was an overrunning clutch adapter.

 

[radioman]

radman1 is right ...the pto brake.
My L4200 has it and I would guess the sound you hear is the brake being worked hard... KennyV

pto brake? hmm this is new to me. How would I go about finding out if my BX has them ? I would imagine that the sounds ld1 heard would be simalar to the jake brake effect ecept that the engine valves are not shut off. Perhaps both ?

 

[TripleR]

Well I hate to admit my ignorance, but I have done both, so I guess I am right at least some time though most of the time I disengage at speed. I have a tractor forty years old and one close to thirty.

 

[keyman1808]

I could be wrong but I believe the manual says low RPM or half way to engage and disengage the the PTO. Thats what I do. I forget now. But on my BX24 I engage it at about 1500 RPM the bring it up.

 

[TripleR]

I could be wrong but I believe the manual says low RPM or half way to engage and disengage the the PTO. Thats what I do. I forget now. But on my BX24 I engage it at about 1500 RPM the bring it up.

I remember the part about engaging, but not disengaging, so I too need to go check my manuals.

 

[beppington]

I have been (without thinking too much about it) "usually" disengaging my PTO at slow PTO speed ... mainly because my dealer told me that starting the PTO at slower engine speed is easier on everything. I was just thinking in reverse.

 

[DiezNutz]

I would offer that before anyone take any advice from this thread, they first understand what type of PTO they have, and whether or not they actually do have a PTO brake.

"One Size Fits All" does not apply here. "Engage at low-to-mid rpm" is the only thing that could be said universally true of all.

 

[pitt_md]

My MX5000 has the PTO brake but I can't really say if it spins down quicker if you idel down before disengaging or not.

 

[David_Kb7uns]

pto brake? hmm this is new to me. How would I go about finding out if my BX has them ?

The Bx tractors have a hydraulic clutch pack. These have several disc sets that get compressed by the hydraulic clutch cylinder. When the Pto is shut down the hydraulic flow is stopped and the clutch cylinder is pushed back by a spring and the brake disc then is compressed against the clutch and thus is braking the Pto.

David Kb7uns

 

[Marcussen]

With my HST and the know issues of the L2800/3400 PTO clutch problems I always engage the PTO at low speed and disengage at high speed before going to idle, and I always use the clutch while engaging or disengaging. I about had a heart attack when my Son In law engaged the PTO at high RPM without using the clutch. I don't think these economy tractors have a PTO brake.