2555 Cab HST - Clicking PTO

[clevalley]

Bought a new 2555 Cab HST in December 2016 and used it for the first few months moving round bales, general loader work, gravel road maintenance with a york rake, chain harrow dragging horse pasture, etc... no PTO work.

Moved to a new farm in March 2017 and a BIG snow storm was predicted (of course, we didn't get squat) but I hooked my 72" rear snow blower up and started checking everything out. Tractor had approximately 25 hours on it.

When I started the PTO I got out of the cab to inspect the drive line and noticed a 'clicking sound', very similar to when you put a baseball card in the spokes of a bicycle. Disconnected the blower from the PTO and ran it with zero load, clicking sound was still there.

Called the dealer and they picked it up, tore it down and replaced PTO carrier assembly, seals and a few other items (do not have the list in front of me) - cost of parts under warranty was $1200. They were delivering the tractor with a 7' HD Mahindra Cutter...

...when the salesman was hooking the cutter up he started the PTO before connection, just to make sure, and sure enough the clicking came back.

He immediately called the owner (good friend of the family) and asked what to do. The owner of the dealership said to call me but his recommendation was to deliver it, let me run it and if it blows they will snatch it out of the field and repair it. Now, I trust my dealership and the owner - I have had other work done there and EVERYTHING I have had done has come back with zero-issues. I said bring her out because I have 40 acres to mow - if it breaks, Mahindra is on the hook to fix it.

I mowed for about 8 - 10 hours this weekend with zero issues but the clicking is still there. You can REALLY hear it when the mower is winding down after the PTO is turned off and inertia is still spinning the blades. I want to say the "click" happens every 1 revolution of the PTO shaft.

Again, it does it with or without and implement connected to the PTO.

My previous tractor was a JD 2320 and I used the PTO quite a bit with a mower and 64" rear mounted blower and never noticed a clicking sound.

So I guess my question is; is this sound normal for Mahindra?

 

[clevalley]

Attached is the portion of the parts replaced and what was found.

 

[millsan1]

Can you make a recording of the sound with your phone? Might help us troubleshoot it. My first thought is something in the driveline associated with PTO is rubbing, like a plastic wiring connector or some such. I had a clicking sound on my BX and it turned out to be a loose wire loom that ended up getting ripped off by the driveshaft.

 

[clevalley]

Video of PTO

 

[clevalley]

Can you make a recording of the sound with your phone? Might help us troubleshoot it. My first thought is something in the driveline associated with PTO is rubbing, like a plastic wiring connector or some such. I had a clicking sound on my BX and it turned out to be a loose wire loom that ended up getting ripped off by the driveshaft.

I sent a message to MahindraUSA corporate - the dealership is talking with the service manager to get his thoughts.

When I first heard this I immediately stopped everything and the dealer came and got it - replaced **** near the entire PTO system and it started doing it again...

I'm using it until the dealership says we're coming for it, corporate steps in or it blows then it's on Mahindra to make it right.

Any insight would be great, but it's under warranty so I am not cracking the case - just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this.

 

[millsan1]

Wow there is definitely something amiss there. No suggestions, but like you said, it is covered and you tried.

 

[clevalley]

Wow there is definitely something amiss there. No suggestions, but like you said, it is covered and you tried.

LOL! Amiss is a good way of putting it!

Since everything has been replaced it's bugging the life out of me what caused the failure a second time.

 

[bmohr1954]

The pto has a overrunning clutch so the mower doesn't drive your transmission when shut down.
On this model it is a cam on a ratchet plate that is spring loaded, some are louder than others. It actually is a normal sound, but like I said before some tractors are louder ....,

 

[mcfarmall]

Most overrunning clutches I've heard only make the clicking sound when the implement is back driving the tractor PTO shaft. The OP's PTO is making this sound with no implement attached to it at all...something seems wrong here.

 

[DirtHauler]

WOW! With the tractor not running, can you easily turn the output shaft clock-wise by hand? If so, you or the dealer, should pull the seal retainer cover (the part with the two bolts as seen in your video), remove the seal and circlip. Check the bearing pre-load shims. These shims either weren't installed correctly or not enough or, as in my case, destroyed them selves which causes the P.T.O. shaft to "walk away" from the spring loaded side of the over run clutch. Also if the shims have been destroyed, the noise you're hearing could be caused by shim fragments in the bearing races (as in my case). P.S. There should be 3-4 shims between the bearing and the clip.