PTO Issues - Please Help

[MDVDuber]

Hello, I have a CC 2206 with about 225 hours on it. It has a 48 Inch Deck.

When I engage the PTO the engine bogs down and the whole mower shakes - it won't come up to speed in a reasonable amount of time (30 Seconds or so) and I don't want to push it more than that.

This problem first occured while I was mowing some fairly high grass that was a bit wet (I travel a lot and was trying to get a mowing in between rainstorms). If I turned off the PTO and pulled out of the grass it would seem to be fine when I re-started the PTO. I could mow half swaths and be ok. I cleaned the deck and put the mower away. Then yesterday I fired her up and even on the driveway the PTO/Engine won't come up to speed.

I took the deck off and cleaned it really well, greased all the fittings etc. and re-installed it. All the pullies looked fine, the deck spun by hand - not easily but with one hand I could still move it. Even after all that when I re-installed the deck it wouldn't run up to speed and the mower shuddered and sputtered. The engine was warm and feathering the choke didn't make any difference.

Any suggestions you folks might have would be welcome. Thanks!

 

[EuropaChris]

Are you sure all the belts are actually on the pulleys?

Reason I ask is that the other week I had a belt fall off the right outboard deck spindle pulley on my 2544. I have no idea how it came off as it was operating fine when I parked it the mowing before.

I tried to engage the deck and the engine stalled. Did it again, stalled. Cranked up the throttle, and it would get going, barely.

Only then did I notice the clouds of rubber dust flying out from under the pulley guard. The belt was just grinding around the spindle housing.

Fortunately the belt wasn't wrecked too badly (it'll last at least this season) and no damage to the deck itself.

Still don't know how it just fell off......

Chris
'05 2544

 

[MDVDuber]

Yeah - I pulled the deck off and went over it at make sure all the pullies were solid and that the belt was properly routed. Thank you.

 

[dqdave1]

All pulley's should spin freely when belt is off. Check PTO area; if in high grass , it might have wrapped something around it. Remove mower; and belt; start PTO with no belt; if it runs fine , that rules out PTO area. Remove blades and make sure nothing is under them, binding them.
Make sure belt is routed correctly. This can get confusing when belt routing. Make sure all idler pulleys turn freely.

 

[MDVDuber]

Opps - yes to all of the above - deck has been cleaned and all pullies sprin free when not attached to the belt. Also I started the PTO when the drive belt was disconnected and it was fine - only an issue when it has load on it.

Should also note that the mower was fine till this last time - so belt routing is correct (as it worked fine for many mowing sessions this season)

Thanks for the input.

 

[dqdave1]

I have seen belts jump off pulleys for no apparent reason. Then you have problems. Does engine sound "normal", that is up to power. Does it pull up hills etc. as normal? Might have a compression problem or fuel problem. You have checked everything I would have checked. After belt and deck are attached, follow belt routing and look for rubbing or misalignment. Does it stall engine? If not let it run and observe for problem. Reread your first post. Check end play and side play on all bearings on spindles. Yopu may want to remove blades and try to run it without blades. Check for bent blade.

 

[drifter2518]

Check out the seat safety switch. My 2165 would stall or not come up to speed when the PTO was turned on. I changed both PTO and PTO switch but they didn't help. I then put a jumper wire on the seat switch and now it works like a champ. Maybe this will help you.

 

[dqdave1]

Yes; seat switch can cause this problem.

 

[n5rqd]

I also ran the engine of my Cub Cadet Hydrostatic Lawn Tractor Model LT1042 with the belts to the mower deck removed and had bad consequences. It appears that the belt keeper rod which prevents the belt from slipping off the main pulley also prevents the PTO from spinning around. After I engaged the PTO/Blade Engage knob, I noticed that the engine was vibrating more than before. A quick investigation revealed that the electric clutch was spinning around and had ripped the control wires out. I don't know if it is repairable but as a minimum, I have to determine how to remove the PTO to attempt to repair. Next time, I will put the belt keeper rod back on before running the engine and engaging the PTO.

 

[wojnaroski]

Even though the pto engages ok without the mower, it could still be a bad bearing or bent shaft on the pto unit itself. I saw a similar problem with a 5252 the dealer had.

Alan