PTO bogs down while mowing

[stuckmotor]

Finally got a chance to look at the belt... Definitely need to relace it. Got some cuts and is quite dry and hard. I tightened the spring tensioner about a half an inch and that did the trick. Ran it for 5 hours today and she ran great. PTO handle stayed engaged.... Thanks for the help!

I'm glad it wasn't something more expensive. Congratulations.

 

[Soundguy]

Seriously, the guy talks about changing an old belt and you guys suggest he's being foolish? If you don't want to keep posting, you don't have to, but there's no need to insult the guy.

What's even better is that it turns out that WAS the fix.

His previous observations didn't back up that conclusion. We were trying to help himnot throw money at a problem with random parts swaps.

The fact that it fixed it means prior observations were in error.

Lastly, a slipping belt on the mowers should in NO WAY cause his pro to pop out of engagement. That problem is either not fixed or never existed..

 

[crazyal]

Glad to see you fixed it. I was going to suggest getting a simple bike speedometer. The way they work is a magnet gets mounted to a spoke and then as it passes by a sensor a pulse is sent to the computer. You simply tape the magnet to the PTO shaft and find a way to get the sensor close enough to read. The speed will mean nothing but if the number didn't drop when the mower was slowing down it would have isolated which was the problem, the tractor or mower. It's not a perfect way but would get the job done without spending much.

 

[mac1520]

Glad to see you fixed it. I was going to suggest getting a simple bike speedometer. The way they work is a magnet gets mounted to a spoke and then as it passes by a sensor a pulse is sent to the computer. You simply tape the magnet to the PTO shaft and find a way to get the sensor close enough to read. The speed will mean nothing but if the number didn't drop when the mower was slowing down it would have isolated which was the problem, the tractor or mower. It's not a perfect way but would get the job done without spending much.

I'm glad to see it was easy instead of going the hard route! Some mistakes were made, but I learned a lot about the tractor with everyone's help. When I pulled the pulley covers to observe the belt I thought I'd see the pulleys slip under a load if the belt was loose, but that didn't happen. Your idea may have come in handy at that point. I tightened the belt tensioner a quarter of a turn and noticed when I engaged the PTO, the sound of the blades seemed to sound faster and the slight squeal on the initial startup was gone.

Took it out on a test run and when I hit the thick grass... She the mower deck stayed steady... You could hear the tractor and deck come under a load mind you, but it was in tandem, so good to go with some final adjustments.

One thing I reported incorrectly... The PTO was bogging down, when in fact it was the mower bogging down. That's what it sounded like and early on and I would have sworn on it. The finish mower drive shaft is covered by the sleeve, so I could not actually see it. My neighbor went off that input also so we missed the obvious early on... I can easily understand why folks went deep into the fix. PTO vs. mower deck is a big difference. That's on me...

The PTO handle did pop out of gear several times over the past month. I did not imagine that. One thing I noticed, it seemed to happen shortly after the mower bogged down and it was 100 degrees outside and several hours into mowing. So... Who knows, I may still have an issue with that. The other day it was 80 deg. and after 5 hrs. Mowing she didn't do it once.

Learned a lot and didn't mean to upset anyone... Hope this feed helps someone down the road. Noticed someone else had a similar issue years ago, but never posted what fixed it. To me, that's a shame. We all make mistakes and never easy to swallow your pride, but rather do that than lead people astray,

Again thanks for EVERONE's support. Next time I only report facts. :0)

Also received my repair manual.. I will use it to help folks whenever I can.

Cheers,
MAC

 

[SPYDERLK]

It's a finish mower and positive it's definitely the mower & PTO slowing down. The grass is cut each week, so the mower should be able to cut it with minimal issue. RPM stays rock solid, you don't see the tach needle move at off the 540 at all. Looked at belt and it's good, regreased all the fittings, blades spin nice and easy by hand. All great questions...thx

Negative. Everything works fine, just the PTO & finish mower slows down.

Seriously, the guy talks about changing an old belt and you guys suggest he's being foolish? If you don't want to keep posting, you don't have to, but there's no need to insult the guy.

What's even better is that it turns out that WAS the fix.

This is what we had to go by. Notice the definitive info re PTO slowing and mower and belt condition? ... So, Im thinking the foolishness was not being patronizing and recognizing the probability that definitive descriptive terms were being misapplied at random. --

 

[Soundguy]

The pto handle popping out was not caused by the mower loading up. The pto sees more load, actually with the mower not slipping. When the mower slipped pto actually saw less load. So if pto handle was popping out, expect it to continue.

Double check for pto shaft thrust play with no mower connected, engine off and pto not engaged.

 

[mac1520]

The pto handle popping out was not caused by the mower loading up. The pto sees more load, actually with the mower not slipping. When the mower slipped pto actually saw less load. So if pto handle was popping out, expect it to continue.

Double check for pto shaft thrust play with no mower connected, engine off and pto not engaged.

Yea... I'm worried about that. Hope I didn't mess something up by running it in this condition so long. Shall do, thx.

 

[mac1520]

This is what we had to go by. Notice the definitive info re PTO slowing and mower and belt condition? ... So, Im thinking the foolishness was not being patronizing and recognizing the probability that definitive descriptive terms were being misapplied at random. --

I would say that is an accurate statement... I will work on that!

 

[powerscol]

I read through this with interest as my PTO lever will pop out once in a while. Mine was a simple linkage adjustment to add length for max enguagement (dealer knew where to look).

But I degrees - neighbor was having problems with his very very old post hole digger slipping. ( it was a 50's vintage he thinks) Shear pin looked good, but under load the shaft slipped somewhere in the housing. I finally convinced him to try and pull the auger and shaft and check the head ( bad shear key?). When we did we found the shear pin was good (previously checked), but the retaining bolt on the auger shaft had friction welded/rusted itself in place, both ends, so it looked good, and felt tight. It was a bear to get the auger shaft out with all the rust and metal fragments. We did go ahead and pull the head and pop the cover and clean out the gunk and refill with fresh oil while we were at it. Once cleaned internals looked brand new. Auger shaft and head housing were cleaned , painted, and treated with grease before re-assembly.

I think we have all been in the situation where we assumed something was OK, like a belt, only to find out later it was bad. I think the OP did good in recognizing he needed to go back to square one and try again.