Spontaneous PTO Problem

[Russell Meerdink]

I recently sold my much beloved Jubilee and bought a 1972 2000, 3 cylinder, gas.

The tractor was owned by a landscape contractor who had it stored inside for the past 5 years. It came with a number of known problems, most of which have been resolved by researching past posts on this board. .

The tractor has live PTO with a two stage clutch. Prior to purchase (and during the weeks of making needed repairs) the PTO engaged and worked perfectly, although not under load.

Today I hooked up the Bush Hog, went out to the field and attempted to engage the PTO. The gears just ground and I was not able to engage the PTO. The ultimate work-around was to put the tractor in lowest idle and ram the PTO into gear. In short it worked a few days ago but spontaneously stopped working while parked in the garage!

Any of your expert suggestions will be appreciated. Be optimistic and try not to tell me that I have to break the tractor apart and replace the clutch. BTW, the transmission clutch works perfectly.

 

[Matt L]

Sounds like the pto clutch isnt being disengaged. Just had this problem on my IH 424 and my father in laws 861. All that was wrong is the linkage wasnt adjusted correctly.

 

[souNdguy]

would have been better to shut tractor of, put pto in gear then start her.

have you adjusted clutch free play to minimum or a lil under?

soundguy

 

[RodinNS]

Either the PTO clutch is stuck or not adjusted correctly. Some of those tractors also had a clutch rod clevis with two holes. Use the hole that causes the pedal to raise the highest. Otherwise adjust free travel to the tight side of spec and see what happens. Beyond that you will need to split her open.

Rod

 

[Russell Meerdink]

Thanks to all of you who insisted that it was a clutch adjustment problem. That was the problem but with an unsuspected cause.

After much head scratching, I discovered that the clevis on the clutch pedal end was hitting against a muffler clamp. This prevented the clutch from engaging a critical fraction of an inch or so.

Life is so simple once you figure it out!

Thanks to all for your help.

Russ