HELP PTO disaster

[whitetiger]

Crank tractor ,let warm up, last place to bushog is where bushog sits outside garage on 3 cinder blocks to keep it off ground,move blocks ,back tractor out of garage,1500 rpm as is close to garage,push in clutch,engage PTO,bushog goes up to speed,cut grass spot , should have used lawnmower. Apparently PTO. Lever on case had only partially engaged gears inside housing,stuck in the middle,when I went to reverse tractor,BANG! PTO lever on case that was stuck disengaged while still turning bushhog shaft,since upper PTO cable end was engaged in slot ,it tried to force the lower lever to reengage the gears ,the difference between PTO / bushog rpm was different than the rpm of the PTO shaft from the engine. I hope this makes sense to others. The torision Spring shown in the pic should be strong enough to keep the PTO disengaged if upper lever is in disengaged slot,my upper lever was still in the engaged slot when this happened,there was enough play to let the lower shaft partially disengage,then try to reengage. If someone as a new style PTO lever please post a picture as I don't know how to do this and only have iPad and not able to do this. Only time this has ever happened to me. Look at WSM and you can see how this could happen. Hope this helps someone else to keep this from happening

Did the Service Manager, Tech or Salesman ever point out to you that the "New Style Lever" has always been used on Gear transmission tractors and the Cable acuate style has always been and is still used on Hydro tractors??

 

[69 SS]

Wow ,great point,can't say for sure,looked at my manual and it is true about what you say. I looked at new tractors today and wish I would have taken a picture . Did pick up new sales brochure for 3301-3901-4701 ,and looking at it,the 4701 has an electric over hydraulic PTO operation button,pics don't show anything about the others. Don't understand why service mgr would tell me this and continue to let me ask questions about this. He walked thru lot with me and looked at my tractor. I also looked the Grand L 3560-4060-5060 but these all have the electric over hydraulic PTO operation button,also got sales brochure on these. And to further clarify some of my posts about broken PTO,most of those involve problems with cable/lever/ spring adjustment problems that I Googled. There is a problem there and my only intention is to try to inform others so that they may avoid a costly and for me a heart breaking experience. For sure I will be looking at this when they call me to pick up my tractor. I may have to stand corrected about this. Maybe they just wanted to leave as they were already closed although other customers were still there. Good luck to all on your projects.

 

[69 SS]

Wow ,great point,can't say for sure,looked at my manual and it is true about what you say. I looked at new tractors today and wish I would have taken a picture . Did pick up new sales brochure for 3301-3901-4701 ,and looking at it,the 4701 has an electric over hydraulic PTO operation button,pics don't show anything about the others. Don't understand why service mgr would tell me this and continue to let me ask questions about this. He walked thru lot with me and looked at my tractor. I also looked the Grand L 3560-4060-5060 but these all have the electric over hydraulic PTO operation button,also got sales brochure on these. And to further clarify some of my posts about broken PTO,most of those involve problems with cable/lever/ spring adjustment problems that I Googled. There is a problem there and my only intention is to try to inform others so that they may avoid a costly and for me a heart breaking experience. For sure I will be looking at this when they call me to pick up my tractor. I may have to stand corrected about this. Maybe they just wanted to leave as they were already closed although other customers were still there. Good luck to all on your projects.

Update 6/10/20
Kubota Corp in Ga finally called back. Assigned a case # for out of warranty mediation. They listened and made no comment,but did give me an email address to send my log book to and "seemed interested" in why a tractor with 281.5 total hrs,with 54.5 hours bush hog time had aPTO failure. Next step is to contact Kubota dealer and file with Service Dept. and get Area Service Rep involved. Has anyone else ever filed an out of warranty claim with Kubota. If you have please post or pm me as I interested in how to proceed with this. Thanks to all who have replied back. Good luck on all your projects.

 

[cthomas]

yeesh, I really feel for you... sound slike Kubota KNOWS it was/is a problem as they made serious changes to how the PTO connects.... I don't like that big spring resting on the bolt side either, might slip off ?? Bet it's not easy to get to either. The 'upgrade' should be a 'kit' of parts,though be nice getting GREAT pictures of the 'new' style'... maybe a 'parts' website will have more details ??

Yes, ALL the parts coming off YOUR tractor are YOURS !! Unless of course Kubota wants to BUY them. The same as the cat converters on your car..when the exhaust is replaced those $$$$$ cats are YOURS.....
I'd definetly 'go up the ladder' ,BTDT, wrote letter to Mr. Gates, yes a real letter, 3 days latter 15 pounds of 'software documentation' arrived so I KNOW it pays to nicely complain.

Jay

As for the catalytic converters if buying a OEM one their is a core. GM 5.3 is like $500 and Duramax is like $1500 for the DPF converter. Aftermarket is hit or miss, but installed 2 in a row, would not pass emissions, factory catalytic it did pass.

 

[RRB]

My L2501 engine stopped when I got off. It then would not restart. I had disengaged the PTO before getting off but had on headphones and had not noticed the pto had not disengaged. I could tell the problem was a stuck cable and these posts gave confirmation and help. To be safe I disconnected PTO from my bushhog. After reading these posts and a fair amount of WD40 and lubrication, I was back in business. I am also surprised no one had warned me of needing to keep the cables well lubricated as well as the levers where they connect to the transmission area. It is less than 3 years old and has its routine maintenance but now only gets about 20 hours use a year.
Thank you all these for these posts. You saved me from possible disaster and certainly paying for a service call.