JD 430 Lawn Tractor, PTO thing slipping off

[JohnDeereLady]

Hello John Deere owners:

I am having an issue with my JD 430 lawn tractor and I was hoping someone might know the solution. I'm female so I might not call these parts right but here goes. There is a stick (I think it's a PTO) that fits over the drive shaft (grooved stick that appears to be coming from the engine) that connects to the mower deck. This thing keeps falling off and I cannot mow the lawn. This piece has a sleeve that I think should be able to be pulled back and slid over the grooved shaft. It also has little ball bearings. Anyway, I just don't seem to have the strength to pull this thing over the grooved thing that turns and makes the mower deck or whatever attachment work. I'm no mechanic (obviously) but I'm wondering if something needs replacement here or oiled or something, Sorry if I don't make any sense. My email address is: fastframebelair@yahoo.com or I guess you can just contact me here if you are willing to give me a tip. My husband isn't here a lot to fix this but, frankly, I think something is awry because it keeps coming off when I am mowing the lawn. I want a more permanent fix than slipping it back on. Thanks and hope to hear from you soon. Debbie

 

[TraderMark]

Welcome to the forum, Debbie.

I think you're one the right track basically.

If you look at the diagram I've attached, it may help some.

Item 9 is the sleeve I think you're talking about.
It does need to be pushed toward the mower deck until you can see the little ball bearings.
While holding the sleeve back, slide the yoke onto the grooved stick that appears to be coming from the engine until the ball bearings sink into their holes in the yoke and the sleeve should snap back toward the engine and completely cover the ball bearings.

If you can't push the sleeve toward the mower deck or if the yoke won't slide all the way onto the grooved stick and allow the bearings to "drop in", then you can try dousing them both with some sort of penetrating oil.


Hope this helps.

Mark

 

[JohnDeereLady]

Wow, Mark. Thank you so very much for the information and diagram. I'm gonna to stare at this and make sure all the parts are on this thing, in particular, part number 10. I've found that over the years these little things (I know they have a name but God only knows I don't know what they're called) disappear from the tractor and have to be replaced.

Before you know it, there will be a Lady John Deere 430 Mechanic up here in Maryland! lol

Thanks again and I will let you know how I make out with parts/oiling this thing.

Debbie

 

[TraderMark]

Glad to be of help, Debbie.

If you'd like more info you can go to the JD parts website and look at a complete parts list for your machine.

http://jdparts.com

Enter your model number in the box, then select 430 Lawn and Garden tractor.

That will take you to a complete parts breakdown for the entire machine.

Mark

 

[B8FISH]

I'd also suggest that raising or lowering the deck so that everything is more parallel will make the connections easier to manipulate--otherwise Mark is right on!

 

[Craig B]

I have a 430 also. The drive shaft that connects the pto to the deck has a very stiff collar (the part that slides back and fort) that is difficult to lock into place. Also, there is not very much room between the deck and the pto. So you must get on your knees and raise your arm at an awkward angle to slide the collar. I had my pto drive shaft come completely off once when I failed to get the collar pushed all the way on. It took me a while to find it since it was in tall grass.
Make sure it slides straight. Mine can get a little crooked making it tough to move.

Good Luck!