G2160 mower deck PTO disengagement

[Mike B]

Hi all,

It looks straight forward... but for the life of me I can't get the PTO coupler to disengage. There is an outside housing that is spring loaded, pulling that back seems like it should do the trick, but the housing won't budge from the PTO. I don't think the telescoping shaft is siezed as I can see about 1/16" play back and forth in it. There doesn't seem to be a pin to depress. The service manual is of no help... it describes deck installation and just says to do everything in reverse for removal... PTO coupler installation is simply described as "push until it clicks".

Any thoughts from folks that have done this? Do I just need to put more force on this thing? Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Michael

 

[ShaunRH]

Most PTO assemblies have a push button on them. You push it in and pull on the PTO connector. It comes apart.

Having said that, my brand new L3200 would not let go even with the button pushed. I got it off with a couple of hammer whacks. It had dirt in it, so clean the PTO assembly (both socket and output shaft) before putting the PTO back on!

 

[Daren Todd]

Try and hold the spring loaded coupler back, and then do a push pull motion on the shaft. Sometimes the little balls get hung in the groove and won't realease till the pressure is removed from them. From what I've read, it can be a royal pita to get them off.

 

[Mike B]

Thanks for the responses. I have done push/pull on the shaft and it's not budging. I don't think it is rusted or siezed though as I can see about 1/16" back and forth play in it. The root of the problem seems to be that the coupler just won't disengage... I was hoping someone would say I'm missing something obvious... like a hard to find pin. Guess it's time to get bit more "physical" with it.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Guess it's time to get bit more "physical" with it.

Pull the collar back and give it a thump or 2 with a small ball peen hammer, the collar probably just isn't sliding back far enough to release the balls.
Also a shot of something like PB Blaster helps get them off.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Yup, soak it with your favorite flavour spray lube,let it soak. Pull or push collar as required and thump with a soft type hammer.a good chance you arent moving collar far enough.

 

[Mike B]

A big thanks to those who took time to give me some tips. Just a quick follow up for others who might stumble across this thread. Yep, there is no release button on the PTO coupler - you just pull the outside collar ring back and then hopefully pull on the shaft and the thing should release. After getting out the rubber mallot and tapping along the shaft and coupler it decided to release. It was bone dry and I don't think it had ever been removed. Needless to say, it's been cleaned and well lubed now.