Kubota L2900 "Weak" PTO - Help Please!

Bill Cheatham · Sep 30, 2017

Hi, I've owned a Kubota L2900 for a little over a year and haven't used any PTO attachments until recently. Now I am noticing a problem after hooking up a finish mower: when I engage the PTO, the blades spin just fine until I get into thick grass or if I pick up ground speed. When I encounter some resistance, the blades stop rotating (as well as the PTO shaft connected to the tractor). When the shaft stops spinning, a loud banging/clanking noise comes from the tractor.

I know this is not good. The PTO drive system is damaged. My searches on this site point me to PTO clutch damage. I don't suspect gears because everything rotates and seems to operate smoothly and quietly until there is resistance on the PTO implement. The L2900 does not have a simple system and I will most likely have to split the tractor.

I'm not sure I'm comfortable doing this. Would you knowledgeable folks on here agree with my line of thinking so far? What other possibilities could there be?

Thanks for your help!

3Lfarms · Sep 30, 2017

I think you have to start by pulling the PTO stub shaft out of the rear of the tractor. On lots of machines, you can remove the four bolts from the flange around the shaft and pull it out to replace it and the bearing without splitting the tractor. All I can think is that the stub shaft is broken on the inside and when you put a load on it, the rough ends grind against each other.

Phillip w · Sep 30, 2017

I have a mf that acted similar. Their was enough left that it would spin with no resistance, but put a load to it and it did the same as yours. You might try turning the tractor off, leave pto engaged, grab pto shaft and see if you turn it or there is any play. It should be solid with no play. Mine was shelled, tlol a total rebuild and cost me 5500 dollars.

Bill Cheatham · Oct 1, 2017

3Lfarms and Phillip: thanks for the replies. I'll start with checking for any play in the PTO shaft. My model does have the four bolts in the flange around the shaft so I'll also pull out the PTO stub shaft. Let's hope it's not the same situation as Phillip' s Massey Ferguson. Ouch.

super55 · Oct 1, 2017

How many hours you on the tractor and how many would you estimate to be PTO hours? I'm not sure with the layout of PTO driveline fro kubota but it really sounds like your PTO clutches are either shot or it is out of adjustment.

If the tractor has a mechanical engagement you might want to follow the linkage to see if there is a threaded rod in it where you can tighten up the linkage. My oliver has an access plate to adjust the PTO clutch.

Might be time to invest in tech manual and do a little researching.

Phillip w · Oct 1, 2017

super55 said:
How many hours you on the tractor and how many would you estimate to be PTO hours? I'm not sure with the layout of PTO driveline fro kubota but it really sounds like your PTO clutches are either shot or it is out of adjustment.

If the tractor has a mechanical engagement you might want to follow the linkage to see if there is a threaded rod in it where you can tighten up the linkage. My oliver has an access plate to adjust the PTO clutch.

Might be time to invest in tech manual and do a little researching.

We had an old John Deere 730 (50-60 hp) that the pto clutch pack started slipping. It did not make any noise that I recall. However, when baling hay, if baler was in heavy hay the pto clutch pack would slip and stop the baler. No noise though. On a 730 the is an inspection plate you could remove and adjust the clutch pack. The John Deere 730 was made from like 1958-1960 I think, so I'm not sure on this new stuff. My mf is newer stuff and it shelled completely. I guess the Japanese don't have harden steel gears.

Bill Cheatham · Oct 1, 2017

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, guys. This is a 20 year old machine with 2000 hours on it. Unfortunately, I know very little about the history on this one. I can't even make a guess about PTO hours.

When the PTO starts to slip, the noise is similar to a cordless drill hitting its torque breaking point (only louder). And like I said, without a load on it, the PTO sounds and looks fine. I can even cut the grass if I keep the throttle down and creep in 1st gear.

Otherwise, the tractor is running fine. The transmission and hydraulics are perfect.

Does anyone have any experience with splitting this era of Japanese tractors and replacing clutch packs? This is beyond anything I've done before. I'm doubting my ability!

Phillip w · Oct 1, 2017

It is pretty tricky. Once you get in there you have to set everything up just right (tolerances, clearence, torque specs, etc). I'm pretty decent at repairing things and I chose to have somebody rebuild my massey ferguson. It was about 2500 dollars for parts and 3000 dollars for labor. I know that's high, but I didn't feel comfortable tackling it.

Redlined0002 · Sep 9, 2024

Bill Cheatham said:
Hi, I've owned a Kubota L2900 for a little over a year and haven't used any PTO attachments until recently. Now I am noticing a problem after hooking up a finish mower: when I engage the PTO, the blades spin just fine until I get into thick grass or if I pick up ground speed. When I encounter some resistance, the blades stop rotating (as well as the PTO shaft connected to the tractor). When the shaft stops spinning, a loud banging/clanking noise comes from the tractor.

I know this is not good. The PTO drive system is damaged. My searches on this site point me to PTO clutch damage. I don't suspect gears because everything rotates and seems to operate smoothly and quietly until there is resistance on the PTO implement. The L2900 does not have a simple system and I will most likely have to split the tractor.

I'm not sure I'm comfortable doing this. Would you knowledgeable folks on here agree with my line of thinking so far? What other possibilities could there be?

Thanks for your help!

It's in your pto clutch pack. There is a tang on the side of the clutch pack that catches on the center housing so the pto shaft will only move 1/4 turn one way or the other to aid in hooking up implements. That tang is bent or broken. If you grab your pto shaft now without the tractor running you can probably turn it 360 degrees. You need to let a professional split that tractor in half to fix it.