BCS troubleshooting - slowed motion when implement engaged, pto lockout appears fine

[aovsurbanfarm]

hi all, we're borrowing a sister farm's bcs at the moment that recently came back from being serviced. we're needing to do some flail mowing but there's some issue causing the bcs to move too slowly or not at all when the implement is engaged.

starts fine, shifts gears fine, has clean oil, full gas, and a new air filter. without pto engaged, all 3 speeds running correctly in forward and reverse. at first, with the flail mower on, it shifted into pto just fine but then when you released the clutch, it wouldn't go anywhere. there doesn't appear to be any issue with the pto lockout, it's in the correct position (facing away from the tractor for a front-facing implement, lever in reverse for forward motion) and is swiveling fine, but sprayed some penetrating oil just to be extra sure.

took the flail mower off to see if it would have the same problem with no attachment on it - it didn't, we let it run for a minute and could engage the pto and it would move forward at correct speed.

put the mower back on: it's not completely standstill once you engage the pto anymore, it'll move a little, but not smoothly or at the correct speed - one was kind of jumpy and slower than normal one, two was about the speed of normal one. the mower blades are spinning but not at full capacity, it cut a little grass but isn't gonna go through tall stuff like it's supposed to. you can hear it do sort of a rising and falling whine sound like a scooby-doo ghost (i wish there was car talk for tractors, sorry i can't do the noise). mower blades are clean and clear and we've never had a similar issue with the mower before.

apart from switching out the mower for a rear-facing implement and seeing if it has similar issues or if it's only for front-facing implements, we're not sure what to try next. any troubleshooting would be much appreciated, thanks yall.

 

[Jens767]

Hi aovsurbanfarm

As a regular BCS owner/user - not a BCS technician - I have read your post a few times, trying to come up with some advice based on my experience.

To take your last statement first, the tractor has no idea witch way the PTO is facing, so there is little reason to believe that switching from a front-PTO to a rear-PTO implement should chance anything. If you would like a confirmation, you could simply try to turn the handlebars to the rear-PTO position, while leaving the flail mower attached, like this:



If you drive forward a little with this setup, your tractor should behave exactly as it does with the handlebars in the proper position. Be careful with your feet though, as they are very close to the spinning flails in this setup!

The one thing that made me curious in your post, is that the tractor recently came back from being serviced. This wouldn’t be the first time that a car, an airplane or a tractor came back from service, and not all was right. I hope the service was done by a competent person/company, and if so, you should be able to bring it back and let him/them correct the problem.

The only thing that comes to my mind when trying to understand what you say, is that perhaps the clutch is not fully engaged when you let go of the clutch handle.

Without the PTO engaged, the tractor runs fine in all 3 gears, and in both forward and reverse. This is a „low load“ situation, and I would imagine this could work even if the clutch is only partially engaged. As soon as you engage the PTO with a „high load“ implement as a flail mower, a partially engaged clutch might slip, and the tractor will struggle to run and power the implement properly. The whining sound that you hear under load, sounds to me like the slipping clutch, crying for you to stop!

The BCS 739 has the PowerSafe clutch, which engages using oil pressure. Like with the traditional cone clutch, it is very important that the clutch is fully engaged when the clutch lever is released. To ensure this, there must be a little „slup“ in the clutch handle when the clutch is engaged, to make sure that you don’t „ride“ the clutch. You can easily check this yourself, and if necessary, adjust the clutch cable accordingly.

If this easy fix isn’t the problem, I would give Joel Dufour at Earth Tools a call.


Best regards

Jens

 

[super55]

I agree its definitely clutch related. Either not fully engaged or it is slipping. If it's mechanical there should be linkage that can be adjusted.

 

[NibbanaFarm]

"recently came back from being serviced"

Check the level of the hydraulic fluid. If it's low the hydraulic clutch won't work properly.
Look at where the clutch cable attaches at the machine. Visually verify that it's freely and completely engaging and disengaging that mechanism.

 

[chris the wrench]

I second the check hydraulic fluid remark, and we need to know more regarding what the service was done.

 

[aovsurbanfarm]

thanks to everyone for the kind and helpful replies! yall were correct about it being an issue with the clutch after having come back from servicing - a little more troubleshooting and it turns out there was hardly any free play in the clutch handle at all, and not even enough slack in the line to free it up using the clutch cable nut by the handle. we were able to move the battery plate and access the nut at the base of the cable and then feed more slack up towards the handle that way, then adjust the handle nut.

it was recommended to us, so i will pass on here to future readers as well, to check for the right amount of free play (about a vertical inch, not too little not too much) in the clutch handle with each new use, as rotating the handlebars (which we do frequently, especially with the harrow) can cause the cables to shift and seize up over time.

thanks to our amazing bcs service provider, and again to all of yall for the advice.