John deere 301 pto lever stuck engaged

[jcharley]

Good afternoon,

I was using my 1970s john deere 301 with a post hole digger and after a few holes, when I went to disengage the PTO, the lever is stuck engaged and won't budge.

Pressing in the clutch disengaged the pto, but I can not get the lever to disengage.

I have tried to disengage the pto lever with the engine running and engine off. I've tried using it and then retrying to disengage the lever, no matter what, I can't disengage the lever.

Looking for any advice.

Thank you in advance,

Jeff

 

[DJ54]

If you open this link:https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/sidebyside/equipment/16923/referrer/navigation/pgId/115741 It will take you to the John Deere online parts book for the 301, and one of several PTO set ups. Don't know if your 301 is set up with a mid-mount PTO, if not there are several more to look over.

But if similar to this one I'd have to guess part #9 in the exploded view may be part of the problem, with the dowel pins (parts 8) be the rest of it. Could be broken not allowing the yoke to pivot and disengage the shift collar #17. Could also be parts 10 & 11, the spring and ball that is a detent to hold in place once shifted in or out of gear.

The tractor will need to be split to repair. Probably not what you wanted to hear, just the cold hard truth.

We had 2, 301's back in the mid 70's with side mount sickle bar mowers to mow roadsides. The PTO engagement lever was on the left side on the torque tube case. I loved those tractors, but some of the guys didn't like mowing. Some found out that if you weren't pretty gentle engaging the PTO there was a roll pin in the shaft that would shear, and you couldn't engage the PTO. A very poor design in my mind for a tractor that you used the PTO quite a bit. Doubt that is your problem though, because that lever would flop back and forth pretty easy, and the PTO was not engaged.

Don't know if this will help but should give you an idea what is on the inside and what to look for.

 

[Tx Jim]

Link DJ54 posted is control linkage for mid pto shaft. I think you're referring to rear pto being difficult to disengage which control linkage for that is in the following link. I can't envision what would make that difficult to disengage unless splines have been galled. You could remove cap(item 5) which would relieve tension on detent ball. https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/sidebyside/equipment/16923/referrer/navigation/pgId/234517

 

[DJ54]

Thanks for the correction. The engagement lever looks just like the one the 301's we had. #2 is the pin that would shear. But like you, seeing that collar and possible galling on the shaft could very well be the problem.

 

[jcharley]

Thank you both for the reply. I never got an email notification showing that I had a response.
I do not have a mid pto, it is rear only and I am away from home for a few weeks.

Is cap 5 in the picture on the side of the tractor or inside

Thank you so much!

 

[Tx Jim]

Item 5 is item 14 in photo below on trans case exterior.

 

[jcharley]

Unfortunately, that did not help. The lever is still stuck engaged

 

[DJ54]

 

[Tx Jim]

Unfortunately, that did not help. The lever is still stuck engaged

Accessing that pto shift collar to R&R it isn't a very easy task.

 

[jcharley]

Does the tractor have to be split? Can it be accessed with the rockarm cover off?