L2501 HST- PTO will not disengage w/lever

[Fish farm]

Hi all,
This is my first post. Today while I was mowing I tried to disengage the PTO with the lever and it did not disengage. Any help would be greatly appreciated. God bless and thanks!

 

[Fish farm]

When I press the clutch it will stop..but the lever seems to not do anything.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I would say if your moving the lever and nothing happens, then either the cable is out of adjustment or something else is wrong.

New?
Call the dealer!

 

[Fish farm]

It's my bosses. I'm not sure if it is under warranty. I will check the cable. Thank you so much

 

[DamCraig]

Had a similar issue. In my case the problem was fixed by lubing the cable and ends so that everything could move freely. Have not had a problem since and it's now part of my regular maintenance.

 

[Jumpsuit Jamey]

How do you lube the cable? Mine has rubber boots on both ends, I can't see how to get to it.

 

[i7win7]

Will it disengage if you slowly move tractor? It's part of the transmission assembly.

 

[BigG]

How do you lube the cable? Mine has rubber boots on both ends, I can't see how to get to it.

It is a soft rubber boot just push it up out of the way and spray with a penetrating oil. Also do the shaft at the case to the tractor. This needs to be lubed regularly. Also oil from the top down and the pivot point on the engagement lever.

 

[69 SS]

Hey,don't do anything until you make sure the PTO is fully disengaged. 1 week ago the same thing happened to my L 3901. It is now in the shop for major repairs. Look back in the posts 4 pages fo r" Help PTO Disaster" under my user name 69 SS. These tractors are notorious for cable/ lever/ engagement problems. If it's not your tractor,I wouldn't touch it untill you read all that are in the thread. . Then if you want Google. Kubota PTO problems and see what you get. I didn't have a clue about this until it happened to me. Don't want it to happen to anyone else.

 

[Dunbar]

My L2501 at about 38 hours did the same thing. I adjusted the cable and lubed the end at the shaft under the seat. That is the critical end, keep the shaft cleaned off and spray lube on it periodically. The cable adjustment instructions in the WSM are a bit vague but you'll figure it out. If that doesn't fix it beware of the previous posters problem.

 

[Roadworthy]

Related suggestion - my Kubota mechanic said I should always depress the clutch when disengaging the PTO. Apparently failure to do so can lead to rounding the edges of the square cut gears causing it to eventually start disengaging on its own.

 

[whitetiger]

Related suggestion - my Kubota mechanic said I should always depress the clutch when disengaging the PTO. Apparently failure to do so can lead to rounding the edges of the square cut gears causing it to eventually start disengaging on its own.

Yes, on L2501, L3301, L3901, you always depress the clutch to engage or disengage the PTO.

 

[Gillie Dog]

My L2501 at about 38 hours did the same thing. I adjusted the cable and lubed the end at the shaft under the seat. That is the critical end, keep the shaft cleaned off and spray lube on it periodically. The cable adjustment instructions in the WSM are a bit vague but you'll figure it out. If that doesn't fix it beware of the previous posters problem.

This is the most common problem I believe.

Shaft/shaft area does require regular maintenance as crud gets jammed in there between case and lever on shaft and seems to prevent the light duty spring from returning it.

GD

 

[wegodeeper]

I am a newcomer as of today. I was searching for exactly the question being dealt with here. I have a L3400. I had been driving it a few days managing the brush hog by gently using the clutch to engage the PTO and disengage. This was not very safe or practical long term so I got online and searched a few sites to be sure, then went out to investigate my PTO engage/disengage levers and cables. MAKE SURE YOUR ENGINE IS OFF. After removing a cover plate partially so I could access the lower PTO lever (I coulda been a contortionist in another life!), I was able to determine that if I moved the upper lever (right side near the seat), it just slightly moved the lower lever by means of the cable. NOTE: THIS IS HOW I LEARNED WHICH DIRECTION THE LOWER LEVER SHOULD MOVE WHEN OPERATING THE UPPER LEVER. Turns out the lower lever was seized just enough to only slightly shift and not travel through its full rotation. So I took the advise given on this conversation and lubed the upper lever area, the cable, the springs, and the lower lever area. I then cycled the levers back and forth in sync with one another a few times. From there, I only moved the upper lever, watching the lower one follow the upper one. PROBLEM SOLVED. Tested it by firing up the tractor and worked like a champ. Hope this helps some of you solve your problem. My guess is if you have a cable lever system like mine, this is by far the most common problem where the lower lever gets a bit sticky due to dust build up over time. I attached an image showing what I did.

 

[Timmer92]

Another link on this issue regarding lubrication - L3901 PTO not Disengaging Correctly

 

[lugbolt]

I assume it's hst. u did not specify, or I didn't see it. That is a big deal because the hst 2501 has a completely different engagement than the 2501dt

on hst models the lever is on the fender, and the lever actuates a cable that runs down to the right side of the transmission, kinda under the seat, right side, behind the tin covers. If you follow the cable you will see the lever on the side and a big torsion spring that returns the lever back to "neutral" when the fender mounted lever is released.

My gut says that the lever on the transmission is sticking.

If my gut is right, what you will do is grab your favorite can of lubricant that has a straw on it. Aim the straw in between the right fender tin and the floor hump cover, so that it points right onto the big spring. Drench it. Work the fender lever back and forth a few times and normally they free right up.

 

[bzimm]

I have been dealing with a stuck PTO cable for over a year. I'd previously been able to reach under the seat and wiggle the cable within the boot and would eventually get it to disengage. Recently that trick stopped working. I've looked around for local folks to come out and help me fix it to no avail. This post was a god send. Thank you! No fancy language, simple pictures. I removed the panels as described (plus the one by the gear level so I could fully remove the panel under the seat). Then I was able to see what was actually happening and followed this advice to free up the level at the transmission (#2 in the pics). That was the trouble. The lever was fully seized up. We've lubed the snot out of it and now it will travel most of the way on its own. I can manually push it back the last 1/4-1/2". Any advice on how to get it to travel the whole way on its own?

I honestly cannot thank you enough for this simple, well-explained advice. This has been keeping me from projects since I haven't been able to disengage an my auger so trying to drill post holes on unlevel ground has been wildly frustrating with the auger constantly spinning. Plus, I wanted to understand what was happening rather than just use little tricks to temporarily solve the problem.

I am a newcomer as of today. I was searching for exactly the question being dealt with here. I have a L3400. I had been driving it a few days managing the brush hog by gently using the clutch to engage the PTO and disengage. This was not very safe or practical long term so I got online and searched a few sites to be sure, then went out to investigate my PTO engage/disengage levers and cables. MAKE SURE YOUR ENGINE IS OFF. After removing a cover plate partially so I could access the lower PTO lever (I coulda been a contortionist in another life!), I was able to determine that if I moved the upper lever (right side near the seat), it just slightly moved the lower lever by means of the cable. NOTE: THIS IS HOW I LEARNED WHICH DIRECTION THE LOWER LEVER SHOULD MOVE WHEN OPERATING THE UPPER LEVER. Turns out the lower lever was seized just enough to only slightly shift and not travel through its full rotation. So I took the advise given on this conversation and lubed the upper lever area, the cable, the springs, and the lower lever area. I then cycled the levers back and forth in sync with one another a few times. From there, I only moved the upper lever, watching the lower one follow the upper one. PROBLEM SOLVED. Tested it by firing up the tractor and worked like a champ. Hope this helps some of you solve your problem. My guess is if you have a cable lever system like mine, this is by far the most common problem where the lower lever gets a bit sticky due to dust build up over time. I attached an image showing what I did.

 

[john 31007]

I have been dealing with a stuck PTO cable for over a year. I'd previously been able to reach under the seat and wiggle the cable within the boot and would eventually get it to disengage. Recently that trick stopped working. I've looked around for local folks to come out and help me fix it to no avail. This post was a god send. Thank you! No fancy language, simple pictures. I removed the panels as described (plus the one by the gear level so I could fully remove the panel under the seat). Then I was able to see what was actually happening and followed this advice to free up the level at the transmission (#2 in the pics). That was the trouble. The lever was fully seized up. We've lubed the snot out of it and now it will travel most of the way on its own. I can manually push it back the last 1/4-1/2". Any advice on how to get it to travel the whole way on its own?

I honestly cannot thank you enough for this simple, well-explained advice. This has been keeping me from projects since I haven't been able to disengage an my auger so trying to drill post holes on unlevel ground has been wildly frustrating with the auger constantly spinning. Plus, I wanted to understand what was happening rather than just use little tricks to temporarily solve the problem.

Went to my Kubota dealer today and there is a fix for the pto problem, if you ask there is a bulletin and they have a fix. They have a new lever and spring to fix the problem. If you go to the Kubota parts online they show the new parts. Mar 13/23