L4240 PTO wont go into neutral.

[kleetus]

as the title suggests, I was out chipping yesterday, had a branch get caught, shut off the tractor with out disengaging the PTO, I know I am not supposed to do that.. so now that its off, the tractor wont start, says I need to put the PTO in neutral, which I have. I pulled the chipper off the PTO shaft and it spins about 1 turn, it spins like it isnt in gear. I have moved the yellow knob back and forth a few times, but doesnt seem to do anything.

and of course this happens a mile away at the other end of my property, so the walk of shame adds to my pain.

 

[5030]

I'd say the pto brake is working properly. The Kubota PTO shaft will rotate about 1/2 turn before the brake is engaged. It's that way to allow you to easily engage the coupler on the implement to the splined pto stub. Far as not disengaging to allow you to start it, sounds like a faulty switch.

 

[kleetus]

I went back and worked on it some more after talking to the local dealer. still shows the PTO engaged when you turn the key and wont start.

 

[dstig1]

Any chance a stick got into the wires below where the PTO switch is? I managed to mess up the wires without realizing it, doing another install and had to search under there and finally found a short from damaged insulation. It was throwing the PTO error on trying to start until I found that.

 

[5030]

What I'm thinking. Sounds electrical. My M9's as old as they are have no electrical interlock on the PTO at all or a neutral interlock. I'm left up to my devices to make sure everything is in neutral prior to getting things in motin.

I did defeat the operator presence seat switch with a paper clip a long time ago as well. While mine won't shut anything off if not in the seat, it does produce a shrill whistling sound that I find irritating.

I surmise that the newer the unit is, the more 'safety' oriented junk they have installed. I don't want any myself. I can physically look and see what the PTO or anything else is doing as I have 2 eyes and good hearing though my wife tells me I have 'selective hearing'...

 

[kleetus]

so after working on it some, got the PTO switch out, looked fine. disconnected it , still wouldn't start... tired disconnecting the battery thought it might have been a glitch in the electronics.

of all things... ended up being a 5amp fuse for a T/M controller... Ive never seen a fuse blow on a tractor.. now I have.

not sure if the switch is bad (I am assuming it is) or not, going to test it this morning, didnt want to do it in the woods where I only had the one extra fuse.

 

[dstig1]

That does point to a short. Or possibly just a one-time fluke - it happens. Otherwise, time to start searching for the short...

 

[5030]

One thing I do and it's 'saved my bacon' more than once and that is, I fill all my connectors (including the fuse blocks) with di-electric grease. Still sounds like either an intermittent short to ground in the switch itself or a bare wire somewhere.

 

[terrtay]

When the fuse blew did it just melt open or did it blacken the inside of it? If it blackened the inside it indicates a sudden short circuit. That can give you an idea what to look to look for. I know it sounds strange but reading a blown fuse can help in diagnosing a problem.

 

[angusblack]

I'm interested to hear the outcome of this. My MY 2000 L48 PTO safety switch has often caused headaches after winters with the snow blower on. Working the PTO lever back and forth repeatedly (engine and key off) always solved it. But it's getting worse so I'm replacing it this year.