GC2400 PTO spins slow - Any Ideas GC owners?

reverton23 · Aug 21, 2018

Hey there! Looking for some advice, before I take this tractor apart to get the transmission opened up.

I was using the tractor as normal, to cut grass with the MMM, when I hit a rock (last year Comcast dug a trench, which with all our rain has caused all these fist size rocks to rise up). Hitting the rock immediately caused the mower to stop working (blades stopped spinning). I turned the tractor off, and checked the the blades and deck, and saw nothing wrong. I started it back up, reengaged the mid-pto, with nothing happening. I removed the MMM, turned the tractor on, and engage the PTOs and saw that neither PTO shaft would spin at all. After a few hours I came back and tried again. This time the shaft spins, but VERY slowly. The rear-pto spins equally as slow.

Here is a link for a video of the shaft spinning, (and yes my hand reaching in and stopping it)

GC2400 Slow PTO - YouTube

as far as I can tell the linkage seems ok (that seems more like an on/off setup, it either engages or it doesn't)

I'd love to know what you all think it could be.

Fiziksgeek · Aug 21, 2018

I'm interested to see how this turns out, it sure doesn't sound good. I've always assumed/hoped that if I ever hit something big, any significant damage would be limited to the mower blades, spindle, or gear box.

atsah · Aug 21, 2018

Throw out bearing maybe.. Any grinding at all? You’re hydro filter looks damaged, did you check your fluid level?

jimmyhouser · Aug 21, 2018

Either you stripped a gear or rung out your pto clutch hub. Most things to do with this tractor are under the front transaxle cover. The cover is no fun to pull, but I've done a few and found that a wedge in the rh side frame rail can save lots of time. The big charge pump on the front has (4) 9/16 or 14mm head bolts and some O-rings behind it. Pay attention to these splines on this shaft and see if they are stripped or not. Also, check the notorious hydraulic pump on there too of course. If you see that these are ok, proceed to taking everything else out to get to the pto clutch. Disassemble and repair or replace the whole thing. Clean all contaminants out of the transaxle and put it all back together. Watch out for the detent spring and ball on the 4x4 lever. I wish you the best on your adventure through the innards of a gc.

reverton23 said:
Hey there! Looking for some advice, before I take this tractor apart to get the transmission opened up.

I was using the tractor as normal, to cut grass with the MMM, when I hit a rock (last year Comcast dug a trench, which with all our rain has caused all these fist size rocks to rise up). Hitting the rock immediately caused the mower to stop working (blades stopped spinning). I turned the tractor off, and checked the the blades and deck, and saw nothing wrong. I started it back up, reengaged the mid-pto, with nothing happening. I removed the MMM, turned the tractor on, and engage the PTOs and saw that neither PTO shaft would spin at all. After a few hours I came back and tried again. This time the shaft spins, but VERY slowly. The rear-pto spins equally as slow.

Here is a link for a video of the shaft spinning, (and yes my hand reaching in and stopping it)

GC2400 Slow PTO - YouTube

as far as I can tell the linkage seems ok (that seems more like an on/off setup, it either engages or it doesn't)

I'd love to know what you all think it could be.

reverton23 · Aug 21, 2018

atsah said:
Throw out bearing maybe.. Any grinding at all? Youæ±*e hydro filter looks damaged, did you check your fluid level?

No noises and engagement seems normal. When I disengage the PTO the shaft is slow to stop, but eventual it does. Fluid level is near the top of the site glass, probably a tad too much, but I can't imagine its causing this.

The filter has had a dent in it for awhile, but I'm not sure why. I need to pickup some new trans fluid, so I can drain it. I was going to do that see if there was any metal shavings that might come out... and a new filter too

Thanks!

reverton23 · Aug 21, 2018

jimmyhouser said:
Either you stripped a gear or rung out your pto clutch hub. Most things to do with this tractor are under the front transaxle cover. The cover is no fun to pull, but I've done a few and found that a wedge in the rh side frame rail can save lots of time. The big charge pump on the front has (4) 9/16 or 14mm head bolts and some O-rings behind it. Pay attention to these splines on this shaft and see if they are stripped or not. Also, check the notorious hydraulic pump on there too of course. If you see that these are ok, proceed to taking everything else out to get to the pto clutch. Disassemble and repair or replace the whole thing. Clean all contaminants out of the transaxle and put it all back together. Watch out for the detent spring and ball on the 4x4 lever. I wish you the best on your adventure through the innards of a gc.

This is great info! I was thinking I might be able to open the cover and possibly pull it off and get a look inside to see what might be going on, so the wedge info is great idea... pretty sure I'll figure out exactly where a wedge needs to be put once I get started

If I can get a good look inside I'll feel a lot better about ordering what I think it needs.

*I promise I didn't intentionally leave this out, but a couple months before this happened, I had some grinding when I would engage the PTO's. I figured it was the clutch, but after a few more times of using it it went away, and was fine. like I said that was 2 months before this happened.

It's been a pain to get parts - dealer isn't close, and won't drop ship. Some of my past orders took 2+ weeks to get; so the idea of opening it and waiting that long for parts isn't great, but then again so is special ordering what I think it needs, and finding out its something else. Just trying to narrow it down.

Everything else on the tractor works great, including the front end loader, so I've assumed the hydraulic pump is ok, but I will check everything over.

jimmyhouser · Aug 21, 2018

reverton23 said:
This is great info! I was thinking I might be able to open the cover and possibly pull it off and get a look inside to see what might be going on, so the wedge info is great idea... pretty sure I'll figure out exactly where a wedge needs to be put once I get started If I can get a good look inside I'll feel a lot better about ordering what I think it needs.

*I promise I didn't intentionally leave this out, but a couple months before this happened, I had some grinding when I would engage the PTO's. I figured it was the clutch, but after a few more times of using it it went away, and was fine. like I said that was 2 months before this happened.

It's been a pain to get parts - dealer isn't close, and won't drop ship. Some of my past orders took 2+ weeks to get; so the idea of opening it and waiting that long for parts isn't great, but then again so is special ordering what I think it needs, and finding out its something else. Just trying to narrow it down.

Everything else on the tractor works great, including the front end loader, so I've assumed the hydraulic pump is ok, but I will check everything over.

Double check the splines on that front charge pump though for sure. I've seen strange things happen in this area. Know what your serial is because these tractors do have several serial breaks. Double check part numbers. My dealer drop ships and you can call Herrington Equipment. 843 889 2248

reverton23 · Aug 21, 2018

jimmyhouser said:
Double check the splines on that front charge pump though for sure. I've seen strange things happen in this area. Know what your serial is because these tractors do have several serial breaks. Double check part numbers. My dealer drop ships and you can call Herrington Equipment. 843 889 2248

Thanks so much! Hoping to have an update for everyone next week.

atsah · Aug 22, 2018

Pull the screen as well when you change your fluid and filter and clean in with brake clean.. I don't think it's your problem though..

cdaigle430 · Aug 22, 2018

reverton23 said:
Hey there! Looking for some advice, before I take this tractor apart to get the transmission opened up.

I was using the tractor as normal, to cut grass with the MMM, when I hit a rock (last year Comcast dug a trench, which with all our rain has caused all these fist size rocks to rise up). Hitting the rock immediately caused the mower to stop working (blades stopped spinning). I turned the tractor off, and checked the the blades and deck, and saw nothing wrong. I started it back up, reengaged the mid-pto, with nothing happening. I removed the MMM, turned the tractor on, and engage the PTOs and saw that neither PTO shaft would spin at all. After a few hours I came back and tried again. This time the shaft spins, but VERY slowly. The rear-pto spins equally as slow.

Here is a link for a video of the shaft spinning, (and yes my hand reaching in and stopping it)

GC2400 Slow PTO - YouTube

as far as I can tell the linkage seems ok (that seems more like an on/off setup, it either engages or it doesn't)

I'd love to know what you all think it could be.