Bad PTO clutch?

se3388

se3388

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Well after seven years my BB finally failed me. I was mowing with my ZT Elite 60 inch and stopped to move some stuff and when I got back on and pulled the switch to engage the blades it turned maybe a quarter turn and bogged the motor down. I checked the belt and then checked all the spindles and idler pulleys which all checked out good. Clutch has all the wires hooked up to it, does that sound like the electric clutch finally went out? Motor runs fine and it drives good. What say you guys and girls that are smarter than me?



Steve.........
 
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hlw49

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Pulled the switch to engage the blades it turned maybe a quarter turn and bogged the motor down. Motor runs fine and it drives good. Does it run now or is it locked up? You can take the clutch stop loose and see if the engine turns over. Would not run it if it does since turning the clutch like that could cause some damage to the mower and or engine.
 
se3388

se3388

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It cranks and runs and drives fine it just does that when you pull the switch to engage the PTO for the blades.
 
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hlw49

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Sounds like something wedged in one of the blades or a locked up blade spindle. If it were the clutch it would either not let it start or the blades would run all the time.
 
se3388

se3388

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Nope, nothing wedged in the blades, they spin freely when I took off the belt to check the spindles. Belt isn't binding up on anything either.
 
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bertsmobile1

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Take the belt off and see what happens when you turn the clutch on
Unplug the clutch and do the same
Let us know what happens.
 
StarTech

StarTech

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Before getting to aggressive about the PTO clutch being the problem it may not even be the PTO that is the problem.

Being a 60" cut mower it probably has a v-twin engine. If so it can be running on only one cylinder. Hydros don't put much of load on the engine and v-twins can run very well off load on one cylinder. I try a cylinder balance test first before ruling a PTO or deck failure.
 
se3388

se3388

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Well I feel like an idiot, when I initially checked the spindles I did it from the under side. I started on the left side of the deck (sitting on it) and had checked the first and middle ones when I had to go help the Wifey with something and when I got to it a couple of days later I thought I had checked the spindle on the chute side and the center so checked the one on the left side and all felt well, or so I thought. I went out to tinker with it again and discovered the right spindle (chute side) is locked up tighter then the proverbial drum. I'll try changing the bearings unless something else is wrong inside the spindle, warped shaft, cracked housing etc. etc.
Thank you all for your advice.

Steve........
 
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