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Every time a customer says, "It just needs a new pto switch," I say, "I hope so, but it's most likely not the switch." Then, to keep them from accusing us of lying, I go show the customer in person clear evidence of clutch or wiring harness damage. That makes the bad news easier for them to accept and approve the quoted repair. Sometimes, they can't accept the facts, and I'll even install a new switch right there in front of them to prove that the switch is not the issue.
Another quick way to remove it is to first, like you said, tighten then loosen the bolt. Then with the bolt loose start the engine while the friction releases and drops the clutch. Works every time for me.
Thanks for the info. 96 Simplicity with an older battery. Troubleshot the system and didn't know about current draw of PTO. Recharged battery and all's good. I have more work to do but at least I'm not throwing money at the wrong parts. Thanks again!
Check to make sure your charging system is working. Here is a video I made on how to check it. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Xj1w8dWxapI.html
First time viewer. I decided to check your video out being that you talked about ways to remove stubborn clutches. My clutch came off on this very old yazoo keys. I've never seen one of these. So I have the clutch removed and I'm afraid that this adjustable clutch is very locked up. Very hard to spin free hand.
Really helpful video! I’m trying to take the clutch off a JD 661R to replace the drive belt but the 16mm clutch bolt just spins when I try to take it off, what needs to be done to stop it from free spinning? The pulley does not spin with it unless I apply pressure to the clutch w a pry bar but I don’t wanna break it bc it seems to be working fine. Thanks!
First off, very informative video. Second, I hope I can find an answer soon. I have a Z254F Husqvarna 54 inch cut mower. The other day I was starting to cut my grass when the deck belt through. Its a little stretched so I figure I will just get a new one. I put it on the pto engaged blade pulley spin but its not really cutting. Put new blades on it and still not cutting. Im lost, pto is on mower runs fine, spindles are spinning. Its just not cutting. PLEASE, ANY SUGGESTIONS?
Hey David, I would check each pulley and spindle individually with the belt removed. Spin each one and carefully listen and feel for rough bearings. Check for play or slack in the bearings of the spindle and pulleys that would let the belt pulleys to tilt or move. I bet you have one that had become too hard to rotate and slowing down the belt. I bet that is what caused the belt to jump off the first time. The spindles might still be spinning but not at full speed.
What would cause blades to come on when I engage the pto switch ? but when I go to turn blades on they semi disengage but not fully. Thanks! Cheer, Great video!
Your clutch must not be fully disengaging for some reason. Inside the clutch is a large magnet above the friction plates. So when the magnet is not actived the plates should separate. My guess would be there is some type of physical damage not allowing the plates to fully separate OR the plates have gotten really hot and they are sticking together. Bad bearings can cause extreme heat and you will have to replace the entire clutch. There also some springs on one one the friction plates and they sometimes get messed up or come loose. You can get a new Warner clutch from PTO direct.com for much less $$.
A great info. Jhon deere and cube Cadet are mowers you wanna stay away for owning. Constant issues. I know mower need to be serviced but those come out of the box already junk.
I have a JD LA115. With the pto lever engaged, the blades Will intermittently disengage and then re engage. I replaced the belt; which is extremely loose by the way, and it is the correct belt. What could be causing this to happen?
Mine currently starts and runs great but as soon as i start my blades is loses power and is weak/motor struggles to keep rpm when moving and cutting but will idle back up when sitting any ideas?
I have an older John Deer tractor when I engage the PTO switch the tractor wants to stall out any idea what I should be looking for to get the PTO operational
I'd start by checking the clutch wiring harness. Make sure it's fully connected to the clutch. If that's not the issue, use a test light or multimeter to check if your getting power to harness and clutch
Is a clutch supposed to move when you touch it? My Troy bilt blades turn on, rumble a little, and disengage. It seems to kick back on when I go forward, but shuts off when I stop too.
It should have a little bit of play side to side. There is a anti rotation bracket or stud on them and it needs a little bit of wiggle to allow them to engage and disengage
Not at all from what Ive seen as a JD mechinac who works primary on JD commercial mowers (about 4 or 5 a day)... Ive replaced 100 clutches and 100 harnesses for every 1 switch. Warner clutches are used by JD and most of the other major brands.
Sounds like the clutch is probably about to go out fully. They eventually start to cut off from getting too hot. The overheating is often caused by the bearings going bad. Id remove it and inspect it for signs off overeating and inspect the bearings
Jd 636m the blades will run for a min or 2 then turn off wait a sec they will turn back on then turn back off I changed the switch and the battery I think it's something electrical going on bc they will turn back on.
It could be a faulty operator presence swtich. Its on the lower right side of the platform where you stand. They way I check that is by bypassing that switch to see if that sloves the issue. It could be the clutch wiring harness is damaged and makimg a bad connection (this is common) or has gotten hot OR your clutch is getting hot from and about to go out. The clutches sometimes get hot from bad bearings or they have an internal electrical issue. That is also common.
Ok how do I bypass that switch just unplug it? I also changed the brake safety switch as well turned it on an it ran fine for about 10min then I turned it off will let it run longer in the morning to see if they turn back off.
@@dougwilliams2531 Look at the wire I show @ 9:12 in this video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZzE5X8s2AnU.html. That is what you need to make to bypass the switch for testing.
I’d say it would get very expensive paying $100 for a voltage regulator . But I’m not surprised if it’s a green mower . Cost me $100 for a o-ring for a swing cylinder in my hoe
Only time Ive seen that happen is when the pto has locked up. Usually due to the bearings going bad and overheating the clutch. It may be more difficult to remove
@@Mechanical_Mind I have a cub cadet zt1 42” blades turn on but don’t disengage all the way as they should So I should replace the pto clutch correct Thank u for this video and replying back to me
I just got a used bobcat 218es. The pto always engages after first start but once it warms up and I try to engage the pto it takes a minute or two before it engage. Do you think this would be a bad clutch?
My John Deere had to be jumped started. The PTO would engage once and never again. My alternator was bad and wasn't giving the PTO enough voltage. Just another possibility.
@thestraitgateway in theory a brand new battery should be able to engage the pto clutch several times with no issues But after a while, the drain of not being charged fully takes its toll on the battery. For the longest I would jump start the mower and it would give me just barely enough voltage to engage my pto clutch just one time. Besides your alternator it could be your voltage regulator.
So recently, I had some welding tanks, oxy, and acetylene that I could not get the caps off, those caps can get stuck on their good because it’s a course thread, I tried tapping them, grabbing this giant 4 inch round cap with stuff very hard to do alone, tying the tanks off and still trying sticking prybars in the hole in the cap, nothing then the lightbulb moment happened, I had an SDS battery hammer drill with a chisel bit in it, this does hammer mode, drill mode, or both put it in hammer mode, put that chisel into the hole on the cap And three seconds later two days of frustration gave way to just jittering those things right off, vibration is your friend ha ha ha ha
Technically they could be but it would be difficult on the magnet side. The one on the sheave is retained be a spring type ring. But the other bearing on the magnet side is held in by the bearings being pressed in.
@@Mechanical_Mind Thanks for the response. Replaced the snap ring bearing yesterday, 12 bucks ( it was junk ) the magnet side one felt fine so I guess I'm good for now . Enjoy your vids.
Great information-Thank You! Have had PTO bearings replaced once two years ago, now having the same issue and considered having service again at $200. However, you shared the Warner Direct info, I decided I would replace with new at $200, saving $300 if purchased from local supply house. New Subscriber
Too bad; my issue is my blades are always on… I’m going to check if I have always power at the clutch, if not, try to unstuck the clutch with a lubricant anti rust…
DIAGNOSING ALERT. My deck was making a god-awful screeching and clicking noise when the blades were engaged (more on the right side). Everything… spindle, idlers, etc seemed tight. Took off clutch and it appeared fine. Installed new spindle. Still making noise. Replaced new idler. Still making noise. Finally took off clutch again and disassembled. Plates appeared scored. MUST be the clutch. After replacing with new clutch…STILL making noise. $hit…. Turns out it was the metal cup just above the blade that keeps debris out of the bearing that wore loose and spinning. Probably due to mixing and matching different parts from different spare spindles there was a bit of play. Wedged a bit of twine around it (yeah, its Macgyvered) to snug it up and back to normal. Just something to keep in mind.
Cub cadets don't have sealed pto switch & pto relay is sealed w electric tape cub cadet sucks buy a john deer becouse if you wash your tractor or leave it outside water damage to switch is common on the crap cadet steering also sucks they are cheap and strip pain in the but to change belts mower pain to take off self stripping chassis bolts flimsie cheap mower trust me YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR BUY A JOHN DEER FROM A DEER DELER NEVER LOWS OR HOME DEPOT THOSE ARE CRAPY JOHN DEERS NOT THE SAME IF YOU CANT CHANGE HYDRO FLUED ITS A CHEAP PEACE OF JUNT NOT MENT TO LAST THATS AN ECONAMY TRACTORE
Thanks for the tutorial and tip on where to purchase. JD 717a Z mower (2005) Pulley wear out. PTO Clutch is where to go to purchase. Saved me a ton of money.
Oh man I’m having a hard time, took of the old clutch but now the screw won’t fit, the shaft is all messed up I wanted to put on a new screw a little bigger but threatening its so complicated in this position I’m about to weld a whole stud on but things are getting complicated
Hm mine is slow to Engage the blades it takes awhile to spin them up and it almost kills the lawnmower a lot more than usual it’s a craftsman t3200 husqvarna made lawn tractor.. I took off the deck and cleaned it everything seems good deck seems good and plenty of tension I recently had rebuilt the carb I replaced the voltage regulator aswell and it has a new battery 😅 not sure maybe something wrong with pto clutch
That will happen if the bearings in the clutch are bad. They get harder to start turning. I'd remove the clutch and feel the the bearings. I've also seen were debris, like metal wire from a fence, can get caught in the clutch causing issues. If the deck belt is wet, that also will cause a delay in bringing the deck spindles up to speed.
Your video was very thorough an I have similar issues with my Z930m machine. Purchased used from a local lawn care guy, he had no Operations Manual for the machine, so lots of things I try to troubleshoot an/or fix myself. That is if I can see physical damage on parts that I can replace. My issue that I have experienced recently after having my machine worked on by someone that found and corrected an issue I was having for over a year now, was that while I was mowing my place, I would have to change batteries sometimes 3 or more times to cut the acreage that I maintain. He changed my clutch, repaired my wiring harness, and replaced PTO switch. Machine worked perfectly my first cutting. I cut again yesterday and machine would often lose power to the clutch and blades would shut down. Sometimes it would just be the blades to disengage, several times it would shut the motor down too. Any suggestions as to what could possibly cause this ISSUE? THANKS in advance for any info you could shed a bit of light on!!!! I haven't Subscribed as of yet, but keep up the work on supplying videos.
Hey Louis, it sounds like your mowers charging system is not working. The pto clutch needs constant amp draw from the battery. So when the battery gets too weak, the first thing to stop working is the pto clutch / blades stop. I did a video on how to diagnose the charging system. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Xj1w8dWxapI.htmlsi=iZX_YceI70QL3vgt
What is the problem when your blades won't turn all the way off?? After turning the PTO switch off the blades still spin about 500 to 1000 rpm or so and never quit. Turn the switch back on and the blades are back to full speed and turn the switch back off and they are low speed again but won't never completely quit spinning.
I'm not sure but I believe you just hit the nail on the head it's brand new battery and I've been having to jump it off and I just finished mowing my lawn and and the PT shut off and I think you're right kind of a relief but now I got to figure out why my charging system ain't working LOL
Hey Bobby, a bad battery or charging system issue is a very common issue I see when customers think it's a clutch or pto switch issue. Here is a video I made on how to check your mower's charging system ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Xj1w8dWxapI.html
What's it mean after you've been running the mower and everything has been working fine but once you turn the PTO off and you try to turn it back on when it's hot it won't re-engage until it's had cool down time
I would not be surprise if your clutch is about to fail completely from overheating. Which is most likely being caused by worn or damaged bearings. I would remove the clutch and inspect it.
Good video My John Deer F 725 PTO doesn't release and the blades keep turning I guess the bearings are bad . Im going to pull off the PTO after you showed Me how . Thanks
My issue is 99% it is not holding battery. I jump start with the car and after sometime I see the numbers on the dashboard fading down and then the blades desingage. I am going to see your next video of charging system. Thanks buddy.
Most of the time its a bad voltage regulator. Your battery may also need to be replaced if its been drained down too many times but it sounds like yout battery is ok and just your charging system is bad. In the other video I show how to check if its voltage regulator or the stator
Good quality left hand drill bit and a good easy out. I’ve never not been able to get a crank shaft bolt not to come out with that combo. I think not only does the left hand bit help loosen the bolt it also heats it up facilitating extraction
Absolute genius. You mentioned in passing that the charging system could cause the PTO clutch not to engage, but still let the engine operate, and that was it! Thank you. You saved me untold hours of trying to debug the problem. BTW... I have a Husqvarna riding mower with a dead battery that I jumped to get it started. As you said, it was enough voltage to keep the engine running, but not enough to engage the clutch.
I have a cub cadet 46rzt that intermittently when I pull the PTO switch either the blades are slow to engage(meaning they start slow and work up to full speed), don't engage, or engage properly. I have notable squealing or noise. Not sure where to start. Any ideas? Could it be a belt issue? @@Mechanical_Mind
@plbjr123 I would guess you have a clutch/pto issue. First disconnect the the deck belt and check each spindle and idler for bearing issues. Remove the clutch and feel the bearings. I bet you have a clutch with vad bearings
My Ferris IS2000Z PTO won't turn back on after it was working fine all day. I shut the machine off for a few minutes, and now it won't restart. It just clicks when i hit the key. The charging system fuse was melted but not blown. Any idea on where to start? Thanks
Sweet tips thank you. I have a z920m. How long do you those style clutches lasting? I’m at 900 hours now. Your video makes me confident I can do it myself. 👍🏼
Thanks docoolstuff! Ive seen them go out as earlry as 400 hours but Id guess the average is around 1000 hours from my experience. They are easy to replace and Im sure you can handle it. The hardest problem (that sometimes happens) is if the bolt breaks off inside the crankshaft. That can turn an easy job into a nighmare.
JD 915B when clutch engages it seems to be putting excess strain on engine and rpm not as high as it should be. This mower has a 60” deck swapped by the dealer when purchased 10 years ago. May have added stress to the clutch. 648hrs on the machine. Do you think it is the bearings or worn out clutch that I should just replace? Great video!
I doubt anyone knows... but installed a pto clutch on a cub cadet, aftermarket not Warner, it caught fire! apparently it still works but i wasn't there to see what exactly occurred thoughts? dried and tall grass? it was getting broken in so extra heat being generated...
Man at 13:50 it was supposed to be the best explanation video of all time answering everyone's questions and covering every possible situation. I guess it cut out....
Hi my friend my bolens tractor makes noise went engaging but work sound like belt but belt are new how to check if is clutch? I like you video please help
Thank for this! My Bad Boy doesn’t do anything when I pull the switch. Makes no noise, effort or anything. I already bought a new switch. That wasn’t it 😂.
I have a John Deere 160 lawn tractor 80s model. The belt from the pto broke but I noticed it was real hot the pto was real hot I guess it melted the belt. I checked pulleys they spin easy I guess I have a bad Pto clutch getting hot what do you think.
Thank you very much for the video explanation of how to fix clutch problems with my lawn tractor. I followed your instructions and it worked perfectly. Thanks again
I notice when I disengage my blade clutch on my 2013 SR130 Country Clipper there's an approximate 3 second delay, It use to be Instantaneous. Any Ideas what's causing It? Thanks for the Informative video.
hiya, thanks for sharing your wisdom in this video, lots of great tricks and hints. but a question.. why are the main bearings above the pto clutch no lubeable or set up with a lube tube with say a high temp lube oil thats thick but drippable, seems crazy they arent lubable in some way. surely most would wear out well before the two year warranties finish
Thanks for the nice comment. You would need to ask Warner, the clutch manufacturer about the bearing design. I do see many of them burn up before the warranty goes out. I often see them go out as low as 600 hours on units with 1200 hr warranties
We have a lx279 that the clutch bolt keeps coming loose. I always clean the threads, use locktite, and this last time, even used a longer bolt that threads on further, and it still keeps coming loose, wrecking the clutch, any tips?
Is it the clutch . I have a fs36 walk behind Ferris mower . When I have been mowing all day when I try to engage the blades they have a hard time coming on . Can you tell me what is it
After watching a couple of your videos and doing some testing with my volt meter, i have found out that my stator is not charging properly and causing my battery not to charge. Should i start there first with my issue of the blades disengaging or replace the pto clutch first? Vidoes have been very informative btw.
Before diagnosing anything the battery and charging must be working properly. As the battery gets too low on power, the pto clutch will be the first thing that shuts off. The engine will continue to run.
I replaced the battery today and after about 30-45 minutes the same thing happens. I can hear a random metal clicking sound just before the blades start trying to shut off. Looked at it while the blades were engaged and could see the pto skipping and occasional sparks🤷
Good video. Have a Toro 228D with a seized clutch (can't turn off the mower blades). Looks like I need to remove the clutch which probably has bad bearings.
@@Mechanical_Mind I removed the double drive belt to disable the blades and began prepping the shaft/clutch with penetrating oil. Going to let the baste, a spell.
I have a 2010 z920a. Unknown hours. It’s recently started to make a loud rattling noise when the PTO is off, RPMs up. When the PTO is engaged, the rattling is gone. I’m guessing it’s the PTO, but it doesn’t feel loose at all.
my pto engages when i turn the ignition switch and disengages when key is turned to off.... ignition switch is checked and good as well as pto switch..... can't find any exposed wires... any ideas ?
I've got an x500 that i thought the engine was seized and it's starting to seem like the PTO clutch is the issue. Worked in some wd40 to the PTO after watching this and finally got the engine to turn over. Now when i engage the PTO the engine is killed? I guess that kind of sounds like the crankshaft bolt is seizing to the pto?
