This is fairly easy to diagnose. You may have a bad battery or a bad voltage regulator - or both.
However, the fact that you need to charge the battery means it is NOT being charged when the engine is running. What is happening is that the PTO clutch is electrical and when the battery voltage / amperage drops below a certain point the clutch disengages. Since it is not being charged, it only takes a little while for the clutch to drain the battery below the disengagement voltage / amperage point.
The easy way to diagnose the problem is to use an electrical multi-meter. Turn on the tractor and read the voltage at the leads going into the battery. If it is below 13.8 Volts, then the charging circuit is not working. The voltage should be between 14.2 and 14.6 Volts at the battery when the engine is running and revved up to 1500 - 2000 RPM.
If the voltage is okay, then you have a bad battery or the clutch needs adjustment. You can take the battery to some place like AutoZone or other car parts dealer and they can load test the battery. If the battery checks out as okay then it is the clutch.
But, I had the exact problem with my GT275, and the fix was a new voltage regulator board. You can get them from a local John Deere dealer or on-line from a number of sources. The real problem is replacing the board. It is located on the left side of the tractor (as you're sitting in the seat) in back of the center column.
You will have to have someone take off the lower side panel, the throttle cable, steering wheel and loosen the entire center column so that it can be lifted up slightly and tilted back to get at the electronics boards.
You take off the steering wheel to allow the center column to be lifted up, remove the throttle cable from the carburetor so that you can lift up the center column. If the throttle cable is not free, it will not allow the center column to be lifted far enough to tilt it back slightly.
The voltage regulator board plugs into the main board. Once you have the main board out of the tractor it's fairly obvious how to change the voltage regulator board.
It took me about 2 hours for the entire swap out as I had to figure out what needed to be done to access the board. If I had to do it again it would probably be about 1.25 hours as you have to adjust the throttle cable after everything is back in place and that is a trial-and-error process that takes a little time to get it to run from idle to full throttle at the full throttle detent.
However, the fact that you need to charge the battery means it is NOT being charged when the engine is running. What is happening is that the PTO clutch is electrical and when the battery voltage / amperage drops below a certain point the clutch disengages. Since it is not being charged, it only takes a little while for the clutch to drain the battery below the disengagement voltage / amperage point.
The easy way to diagnose the problem is to use an electrical multi-meter. Turn on the tractor and read the voltage at the leads going into the battery. If it is below 13.8 Volts, then the charging circuit is not working. The voltage should be between 14.2 and 14.6 Volts at the battery when the engine is running and revved up to 1500 - 2000 RPM.
If the voltage is okay, then you have a bad battery or the clutch needs adjustment. You can take the battery to some place like AutoZone or other car parts dealer and they can load test the battery. If the battery checks out as okay then it is the clutch.
But, I had the exact problem with my GT275, and the fix was a new voltage regulator board. You can get them from a local John Deere dealer or on-line from a number of sources. The real problem is replacing the board. It is located on the left side of the tractor (as you're sitting in the seat) in back of the center column.
You will have to have someone take off the lower side panel, the throttle cable, steering wheel and loosen the entire center column so that it can be lifted up slightly and tilted back to get at the electronics boards.
You take off the steering wheel to allow the center column to be lifted up, remove the throttle cable from the carburetor so that you can lift up the center column. If the throttle cable is not free, it will not allow the center column to be lifted far enough to tilt it back slightly.
The voltage regulator board plugs into the main board. Once you have the main board out of the tractor it's fairly obvious how to change the voltage regulator board.
It took me about 2 hours for the entire swap out as I had to figure out what needed to be done to access the board. If I had to do it again it would probably be about 1.25 hours as you have to adjust the throttle cable after everything is back in place and that is a trial-and-error process that takes a little time to get it to run from idle to full throttle at the full throttle detent.
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