PTO not working under load after hitting log

   / PTO not working under load after hitting log #1  

brackman

New member
Joined
Nov 2, 2003
Messages
11
Location
Palm Bay, FL
Tractor
Kubota L185
I have an L185 that I recently bought used with a 4' bush hog. It was working great until yesterday when I hit something. The PTO turns up to speed slowly with the bush hog under no load. As soon as I get into grass, it bogs down and stops. I recently replaced the shear pin with something, in hindsight, that probably was not a shear pin. My original shear pin fell out and I just bought a bolt from ACE hardware that was the same size.

Anybody out there experienced this behavior from their PTO? I read on a previous posting that there may be a spring loaded PTO clutch reset that didn't reset fully maybe.
 
   / PTO not working under load after hitting log #2  
Have you tried rotating the bushhog by hand with the PTO disengaged?

Egon
 
   / PTO not working under load after hitting log #3  
WE don't have but a few of the older model Kubota's around and I'm not familier with the drive for the PTO on them to give a good answer but for the way it sounds if you did have a muti clutch pack unit to engage it, you don't have a working one now.
 
   / PTO not working under load after hitting log #4  
brackman
Welcome to TBN. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Maybe we can solve 2 problems at the same time. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

You may have something rapped around the blades or main shaft of Bush Hog.
Check the gearbox on Bush Hog to make sure it is moving freely.
Check oil level in Bush Hog gearbox.
Does your tractor run OK with out the PTO engaged?

There is another TBNer in need of some information on a L185. He needs to know the length of the 3-point hitch arms. Probably the length from center of the ball ends of the arms.
Check out this link to the thread.
Click Here
 
   / PTO not working under load after hitting log #5  
First the good news - if your pto spins up without making a lot clunking noise, then you did not damage anything very serious. The pto drive gears on these tractors can break when you hit something hard - they usually break two or three teeth - they still run, but the noise is terrible and you'd know it right away.

If everything spins up smoothly but won't keep spinning under load, there's likely just a sheared pin or key somewhere on the mower. Look closely at the pto shaft/gearbox/blade attachment. Any spring clutch would be external and very obvious - my bet is there isn't one on a 4' rotary.

You probably didn't hurt anything by using an Ace Hardware bolt - as long as it has a plain head (no marks or lines). They have similar soft bolts to those at Aubuchon's. I call them "butter bolts" - they are pefect for protecting driven agricultural machinery , shearing off clean with very little torque. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif But the broken part inside the shaft can still rub just enough to spin everything up.
 
   / PTO not working under load after hitting log
  • Thread Starter
#6  
You know, after reading your reply, I wonder if the bolt did shear on the bush hog shaft but still catches enough to spin it up and slipping too. I'm anxious to check it out now. It's at a remote location and it gets dark early, darned time change. Thanks, at least I have some hope now.
 
   / PTO not working under load after hitting log #7  
Welcome Brackman.

Please complete your Profile. We are a group with a Curious Side.
 
   / PTO not working under load after hitting log
  • Thread Starter
#8  
I checked the shear bolt on the bush hog this morning. Was bent but not sheared. I tried the PTO in all Combinations of gears. Still slipping. I can turn the PTO shaft with the tractor off and in gear. It doesn't turn easily but it does turn. It turns easily when not in gear. Seems like some kind of clutch internally. Tractor runs fine otherwise. I ordered a shop manual. Scheduled for delivery on Monday. Hopefully this will provide me with some insight as to what could be going on.
 
   / PTO not working under load after hitting log #9  
I believe a 185 has a clutch pack. You will be able to turn the PTO shaft easily about 1/4 turn and then you will feel resistance. The pack is a wet pack and the clamping force is oil pressure..

I'd hook up another implement to make sure that it wasn't the pto clutch pack before delving into the pto itself.

Usually, when a clutch pack type pto slips, you can hear it, it will make a groaning noise under load.
 
   / PTO not working under load after hitting log #10  
Daryl - is the clutch pack you are thinking of a Kubota-supplied part? Where is it mounted - inside the housing on the pto shaft? Other late '70s early '80s Kubota models I'm familiar with had just a dry 2-stage clutch for the pto, with straight gear drive from there. The L185 was sold around '77-'82. I thought Kubota's hydraulic clutch packs came later - showing up first in the shuttle. I may be wrong - wouldn't be the first time.
 

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