MF 175 PTO basic question

[MatthewT]

Apologies in advance for a very basic question. . . I'm new to this but need to learn quickly and safely. I just bought a 1970 MF175 with what I think is the "live" PTO set up--settings on PTO are for "Ground, Neutral, or Engine." Can anyone steer me to a good explanation or demo of how to bush hog with this setup? Doesn't the lift drop the bush hog to the ground anytime you press the clutch? Or can I set the lift to prevent that? I think I'm correct that I need an ORC to bush hot. Do I need limiting or stay chains as well to prevent the hydraulics from dropping the tractor when the clutch is engaged? Just trying to get this all straight in my head before I make a rookie mistake. Thanks.

 

[ptfarmer]

Chances are it has live pto that uses a two stage clutch. Push the clutch pedal down about half way you can change gears, push the clutch all the way which works the second stage to engage the pto. The hydraulic pump for the 3 point also works off the same shaft as the pto so you loose the hydraulics for the 3 point. Ground pto is pretty much useless unless the implement requires ground pto drive. With live pto you don't need a over run clutch.

 

[ptfarmer]

If the bush hog isn't too heavy, and or if the lift cylinder seals for the 3 point are sealing good it will hold for a little bit. Best way to see how good your lift cylinder is, is to raise the 3 point all the way up (with nothing hooked to the 3 point), and shut the engine off, and see how long it takes for the lift arms to drop down on their own. If the lift arms drop some overnight the lift cylinder is sealing good, if the lift arms drop to were you can see them drop on their own then the seals could use replacing (but its not critical).

 

[DavidP, South Wales]

Hi Matthew,
In addition to what has been said;
If the 3-point linkage system is working satisfactorily the Position Control will hold your bush hog at the position you set the lever on the quadrant. If the bush hog does not have a ground wheel you may find it an advantage to replace the top link of the tractor with a chain to allow the bush hog to follow any ground contours if you are cutting close to the ground. Your bush hog (mainly called a topper in the UK) may already have some means of allowing this such as steel cables or straps.
The live PTO will drive the BH and allow you to raise and lower the BH. The clutch pedal adjustment is important to ensure that the PTO will disengage easily should you need to. Disengagement of the PTO without any implement attached should be within one to one and a half inches of the pedal being fully pressed in the second stage.
Not clear on PT's point about not needing an over-run clutch. You may already have one in the BH driveshaft. Any machine which builds up momentum should have a device which will allow that momentum to be dissipated when the tractor PTO stops or is disengaged. A tractor with an independant PTO (not yours) will (should) actually stop the PTO when disengaged. Yours will continue turning until the momentum ceases or as mentioned there may be a device in the driveshaft to allow this to happen as it it were fitted to an IPTO tractor.
Hope this helps
DavidP, South Wales

 

[Dieseltech]

The PTO over running safety clutch is NEEDED on tractors with single engine clutch, transmission driven PTO shaft. The clutch keeps the mower inertia from pushing the tractor when the clutch is pushed down with the tractor in gear. Your 175 has the two stage dual clutch like ptfarmer mentioned, pushing through the first stage is for transmission use, keeping the hydraulics and PTO running so you can change speeds, or reverse without stopping the PTO. Clutch pedal fully down will stop BOTH clutch stages. It's normal for the 175 three point to slowly lower with the engine off, not an issue during PTO use as the PTO shaft is connected to the back of the hydraulic pump shaft when lever is shifted to engine PTO. Enjoy your tractor!

 

[FinnMD]

Congrats on the MF. Lots of great folks on this site and the gents below are experts for sure. Your MF has 2 levers, Position Control and Draft. Keep Draft all the way back and leave it alone. Only use Position Control lever for raising and lowering the 3 pt and mower. Draft lever needs to be back in order for proper 3 pt operation. When you need to shift gears press clutch halfway down to release tranny clutch, the 3 pt is not affected at all. Push clutch all the way down to release pto or to engage it. You do not need a ORC on this tractor. For pto use Engine setting, not Ground.

 

[MatthewT]

Thanks to all of you for the help. You confirmed a few things I wasn't sure about and taught me a few I didn't know. I'm an old dog tying to learn new tricks and really appreciate it.

 

[MF#1]

The Link below was a question posted on the Tractor Talk board a few days ago. Has a lot of good info about hoggin'. Would be good to review "just in case". It's about a guy with a MF 65 so it's relevant to your set-up. SAFETY is always the primary concern. Good Luck!
Link

 

[Caryc]

(quoted from post at 17:31:42 10/05/17) Congrats on the MF. Lots of great folks on this site and the gents below are experts for sure. Your MF has 2 levers, Position Control and Draft. Keep Draft all the way back and leave it alone. Only use Position Control lever for raising and lowering the 3 pt and mower.[b:fa3f3e86de] [color=red:fa3f3e86de]Draft lever needs to be back in order for proper 3 pt operation.[/color:fa3f3e86de][/b:fa3f3e86de] When you need to shift gears press clutch halfway down to release tranny clutch, the 3 pt is not affected at all. Push clutch all the way down to release pto or to engage it. You do not need a ORC on this tractor. For pto use Engine setting, not Ground.

I'm a little confuse here. I've asked questions about my MF202 hydraulics and heard people talking about that draft lever being back. I don't understand what the means. Take a look at the pic below. As I see it both levers are down. If I move one to the rear of the quadrant I consider that lever going up.

Just what is meant by moving the lever back?

 

[ptfarmer]

(quoted from post at 11:24:42 10/06/17)

(quoted from post at 17:31:42 10/05/17) Congrats on the MF. Lots of great folks on this site and the gents below are experts for sure. Your MF has 2 levers, Position Control and Draft. Keep Draft all the way back and leave it alone. Only use Position Control lever for raising and lowering the 3 pt and mower.[b:c89377c88b] [color=red:c89377c88b]Draft lever needs to be back in order for proper 3 pt operation.[/color:c89377c88b][/b:c89377c88b] When you need to shift gears press clutch halfway down to release tranny clutch, the 3 pt is not affected at all. Push clutch all the way down to release pto or to engage it. You do not need a ORC on this tractor. For pto use Engine setting, not Ground.

I'm a little confuse here. I've asked questions about my MF202 hydraulics and heard people talking about that draft lever being back. I don't understand what the means. Take a look at the pic below. As I see it both levers are down. If I move one to the rear of the quadrant I consider that lever going up.

Just what is meant by moving the lever back?

Back =up, forward = down.

 

[Caryc]

(quoted from post at 13:17:40 10/06/17)

(quoted from post at 11:24:42 10/06/17)

(quoted from post at 17:31:42 10/05/17) Congrats on the MF. Lots of great folks on this site and the gents below are experts for sure. Your MF has 2 levers, Position Control and Draft. Keep Draft all the way back and leave it alone. Only use Position Control lever for raising and lowering the 3 pt and mower.[b:d8aff7197c] [color=red:d8aff7197c]Draft lever needs to be back in order for proper 3 pt operation.[/color:d8aff7197c][/b:d8aff7197c] When you need to shift gears press clutch halfway down to release tranny clutch, the 3 pt is not affected at all. Push clutch all the way down to release pto or to engage it. You do not need a ORC on this tractor. For pto use Engine setting, not Ground.

I'm a little confuse here. I've asked questions about my MF202 hydraulics and heard people talking about that draft lever being back. I don't understand what the means. Take a look at the pic below. As I see it both levers are down. If I move one to the rear of the quadrant I consider that lever going up.

Just what is meant by moving the lever back?

Back =up, forward = down.

OK then...in another thread someone said that to use position control you should move the draft lever all the way back = up.

If I do that, the implement just goes all the way to the top and moving the position control lever does nothing. If I leave the draft lever at the bottom, and use the position control lever it seems to work just fine.

Why would someone tell me that the draft lever had to be all the way back = up?

 

[RandyB(MI)]

Maybe these will help,hope they are clear enough.

 

[RandyB(MI)]

well , they didn't come out very good sorry.

 

[Keith Molden]

With the pto in ground speed, it will turn in relation to the gear you have the tractor in. With the pto in engine speed, it will turn in relation to the rpms of your engine. In ground speed the pto will quit turning when the tractor clutch is depressed enough to stop movement of the tractor. In engine speed it will keep turning till the clutch is fully depressed. The ground speed is especially nice if tedding around the outside of a hayfield so you don't throw hay all over the place. Also it's great if digging a post hold & digger gets stuck, put tractor in reverse and the pto in ground speed, hold down on 1 brake and ease the clutch out a little & the digger will back out. Just my thoughts, Keith

 

[RandyB(MI)]

To brush hog you want engine speed pto and you want the draft control lever all way back and use the position control lever (inner one) to do raise & lower. Mine has "independent " pto with single clutch but I don't believe your hog will drop when you clutch it. It's already pumped up and it will stay until lever is used to lower it. I believe the position control lever works just opposite the draft lever in that , position control ; forward raises and rear lowers wher-as draft control;forward lowers and rear raises. Either way, it should not drop just because you clutch it. My ole JD "B" doesn't have live power at all and you can lift 3pt and turn off tractor and it does not "drop". Eventually they will slowly fall,which most tractors will do, but no drop.