CS2410: Removing mid-mowing deck, can't remove from PTO

scratchandgrit · Nov 19, 2016

Hey folks,

Getting ready to remove the mid-mount mower from my CS2410 to get it ready for the winter, and I'm having trouble getting the coupler off the PTO. I can push the gold spring collar forwards, but the assembly won't budget even a millimeter. I've never done this before--i�t's my first time trying to remove the deck since I just bought the tractor late last winter--I'm not sure how difficult this should be, but it doesn't seem like it should be all that hard.

Doesn't help that it's in an awkward place to get decent leverage on it, but I'm not sure if I'm missing something. The instructions in the manual are pretty skimpy and a blog post I found describing the procedure didn't mention any particular difficulty with this step.

Appreciate any help or insight y'all can give!

motownbrowne · Nov 19, 2016

Nothing more fun than a stuck PTO shaft. If you're familiar with the function of the locking collar (there's a few different designs) and you know for certain that it's not what's holding the shaft on, the answer may be "a bigger hammer". You may need another person to hold the collar, and then you can try tapping the end off the stub shaft. Penetrating oil won't hurt the situation. I've had one shaft that was stuck that I could wedge a small block of wood in the yoke with the shaft bent to over side and then it levered against the stub when I straightened the shaft. Personally, I wouldn't try hitting it TOO hard for free at harming a seal, but some solid tapping should be fine.

Good luck. Also, grease it liberally when you reinstall it.

scratchandgrit · Nov 19, 2016

I'm not at all familiar with the design of this collar, unfortunately. This is my first tractor and I've never had the mower off, so I'm only guessing as to what I'm doing. Can't really see anything, either. Great recipe for success.

The collar slides forward easily; it feels like there's a thin metal ring of some type that freely rotates; it has some kind of tab but no idea what its function is. The manual makes it sounds like you just need to pull forward on the entire coupler while the collar is pulled forward... but no dice. So I'm either doing something wrong or its stuck.

I'll give it some not-TOO-aggressive taps and see.

motownbrowne · Nov 19, 2016

Does the PTO shaft look the same on both ends? Often they do, in which case you can practice releasing the collar on the mower side of the shaft.

The pin that holds the shaft onto the stub is usually pretty stout. When you move it out of the way by figuring out the collar, you should be able to feel it.

Perhaps a YouTube search of different PTO shaft types.

SPYDERLK · Nov 19, 2016

There are several balls that the collar pushes into a radiused groove in the pto stub to secure the PTO shaft to it. Sometimes those balls become a little stuck and wont get out of the way easily. Doesnt take much resistance to thwart getting it off. Lube. Tap it. Find a safe pry point, etc. You probably just need a little more pull force to make it move.

scratchandgrit · Nov 22, 2016

Finally got it off!

Now that I can see what's going on inside, it's clear what the problem was: if you slide the collar back TOO FAR, the ball re-engages, causing it to lock again. There's a really small sweet spot where the ball is retracted and it will disengage from the PTO. There's really no indication as to when you've hit the right spot, so it's tricky to pull back but just enough, while trying to remove it from the PTO shaft. I was pulling back on it too hard, thinking it was stuck, when in reality, that was just making the problem worse.

Go figure.

Now it's time to put the mowing deck to bed for the winter. Thanks, y'all, for the help!

SPYDERLK · Nov 22, 2016

scratchandgrit said:
Finally got it off!

Now that I can see what's going on inside, it's clear what the problem was: if you slide the collar back TOO FAR, the ball re-engages, causing it to lock again. There's a really small sweet spot where the ball is retracted and it will disengage from the PTO. There's really no indication as to when you've hit the right spot, so it's tricky to pull back but just enough, while trying to remove it from the PTO shaft. I was pulling back on it too hard, thinking it was stuck, when in reality, that was just making the problem worse.

Go figure.

Now it's time to put the mowing deck to bed for the winter. Thanks, y'all, for the help!

Thanks for reporting that! Ill look for it on the ones I do.