Scag 36 Advantage electric PTO clutch change out ?

[mag41vance]

I have a 2007 Scag 36 Advantage Walk behind. Yesterday the blade quietly quit working. A year ago the same thing happened and the Mower repair man replaced the original clutch with a new one.
This time I want to change it myself.
I tested the switch and it is getting power to the clutch, but the clutch isn't responding.
It appears to have 1 nut holding it in place on the shaft. How do I remove the nut so it doesn't rotate the shaft? :confused2:

 

[benski]

I have a 2007 Scag 36 Advantage Walk behind. Yesterday the blade quietly quit working. A year ago the same thing happened and the Mower repair man replaced the original clutch with a new one.
This time I want to change it myself.
I tested the switch and it is getting power to the clutch, but the clutch isn't responding.
It appears to have 1 nut holding it in place on the shaft. How do I remove the nut so it doesn't rotate the shaft? :confused2:

The best thing I've found is a 1/2" impact gun. Diconnect or remove your spark plug before trying this, just as a precaution. If you don't have access to a "rattle gun", you can try cutting a 2X4 to fit to keep the blade from turning as you back the nut off with a breaker bar. Either way, be sure to use a 6 point socket so you don't round off the bolt head. Another thing I've done to keep engines from turning over is what I call the "rope trick"; take some clothesline, or about that size rope,(3/16'') and stuff it down the spark plug hole with your engine at bottom dead center, or close to it. Obviously, leave enough cord sticking out so that you can remove the cord after you use the rope to keep your engine from turning over while you remove the bolt to your clutch.

 

[SONOFADOCKER]

Both of those methods work . I picked up a impact gun from eBay that has jumper cable ends - come in very handy when not near the garage . $20.00 plus shipping
Quick burst on the impact gun and the nut will be off in a second .

 

[benski]

Both of those methods work . I picked up a impact gun from eBay that has jumper cable ends - come in very handy when not near the garage . $20.00 plus shipping
Quick burst on the impact gun and the nut will be off in a second .

Or the head of the bolt will be in the socket, and the rest will still be inside the output shaft of the engine.:ashamed:
I've got a couple of those "t-shirts"..:ashamed:
I'm a big proponent of using Never Seize on reassembly.

 

[mag41vance]

I have an impact wrench, but couldn't use it. The rear axle is dead center of the engine PTO shaft. I had to use a regular metric wrench. I removed the engine cover on the top, and found a good spot to wedge a large screwdriver( my 75 year old dad held it in place) in the flywheel gear to seize the engine while applying pressure to the bolt with a wrench and a hollow pipe making in affect a breaker bar for my wrench. That worked great, but I ended up having to unbolt the engine and lift the motor in order to remove the clutch due to the close proximity of the rear axle.
Now I'm waiting on the new clutch to arrive, and I will be back hurting myself with this blasted mower in no time. :biggrin: Thanks for the suggestions.:thumbsup: