BX PTO Did Something Strange

CHDinCT · Dec 5, 2010

Last weekend I was using my DR 3PH PTO chipper on the rear PTO. Most of what I was chipping was in the 1"-2.5" range, which it handles fine. Sort of as an experiment, I ran it at full throttle and put a 10 foot long, 3.5" to 4.0" piece of dry oak into the chipper. As it fed it ran the engine down to where it almost died but didn't. I tried holding the piece of oak back as best I could and when the engine almost stalled, I pulled the last 2' of limb out of the chipper. When the engine regained full RPM, I tried to put the remaining piece of oak through the chipper. It wouldn't go and at first I though the chipper was jammed but after checking it visually, there was no jams. Then I went back to the tractor and noticed the PTO lever had jumped out of the "on" position back to off. If you're familiar with the BX PTO, the lever sort of hook's into a slot when on, and I would think it couldn't come out unless manually disengaged.

I can't find any reference to an automatic return to neutral/off feature for the BX PTO. I suppose this could be engineered into the PTO mechanism to prevent engine stalling from a heavy load, but if so, I've never read about it anywhere. Anyone else have this happen, and should I be concerned about anything? Just don't know if this is normal or not. Thanks

radioman · Dec 5, 2010

I have no idea if it normal or not, but It happened to me with MMM on my BX. The pto lever bounced out, it only happened twice to me since I owned it and it didnt pose a problem for me so I ignored it. When I saw your post, now I know I am not alone with this issue, I dunno if it a issue but reengaging it was fine since.

CHDinCT · Dec 5, 2010

radioman said:
I have no idea if it normal or not, but It happened to me with MMM on my BX. The pto lever bounced out, it only happened twice to me since I owned it and it didnt pose a problem for me so I ignored it. When I saw your post, now I know I am not alone with this issue, I dunno if it a issue but reengaging it was fine since.

Thanks. Was your MMM under a heavy load at the time, or it just popped out on it's own for no known reason?

Skyco · Dec 5, 2010

I thinking the chipper and the tractor were vibrating like crazy when you overloaded it...thus making the handle jump out of the detent...?
I know my portable chipper vibrates like crazy when it is given something too tough or big....

Haywire · Dec 5, 2010

The BX thought operator was trying to kill it, so it quit playing his reindeer games.

Ian

CompactTractorFan · Dec 5, 2010

I'll have to watch out for that...

radioman · Dec 5, 2010

CHDinCT said:
Thanks. Was your MMM under a heavy load at the time, or it just popped out on it's own for no known reason?

popped out on its own- I wouldnt say it was under havy load- it was more of easy cut at the time.

ruralNearDallas · Dec 5, 2010

Are you sure that PTO is rated enough for the DR chipper?

CHDinCT · Dec 6, 2010

Thanks guys. Good to know I'm not alone, but do appear to be in a small minority. Don't recall any excessive vibrations when this happened. As far as the PTO rating vis-a-vis the DR chipper, it really comes down to what size limbs you need to chip. Up to about 3", depending on whether it's green, dry, deadfall, particular wood species, etc., it will handle just fine. I knew I was pushing it with the piece of oak, but as I said, it was a bit of an experiment on what it could handle, and I expected the engine to stall at worst.