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Sorry for the long story:
The story: I have a 2004 L3400 manual transmission machine with a 2 stage clutch that I bought brand new, it now has 531 hours on it. I mow my field, tickle the driveway, till my garden, dig trenches with the backhoe, etc., nothing extreme. Whenever I ran the 2 PTO implements that were ever hooked up, I always slipped the implement shaft clutch before going to work. Afterwards, my engagement process would be to disengage the transmission and PTO clutches with the implement up with the engine at idle, slowly engage PTO clutch and then slowly increase engine to PTO speed, lower the implement to desired height and then release the transmission clutch to move the tractor forward. I would sometimes get a little bit of a grind when engaging the PTO and the implement would ever so slowly start turning with the clutch fully depressed. I brought this up with the dealer early on, and they said this is not uncommon.
When I bought the tractor, I told myself that I would never lend the machine out (implements are OK) and I held my word for 20 years…until a few weeks ago. A friend asked if he could borrow the rototiller and use it on his tractor, he said it was a pretty clean area, so I said yes. He drove his tractor a couple miles to my place, and we went over the owner’s manual and the process of slipping the tiller shaft slip clutch. When we attempted to hook the tiller up we realized that his tractor was too small, he suggested putting it on my tractor and letting him us my tractor and tiller, run it to his place do his tilling and then return it that evening. I paused and I didn’t love the idea but I also didn’t have time to go rototill his plot, so off he went with my tractor and tiller. I got a call shortly after saying that he couldn’t get the shaft clutch to slip, so I went up and saw that he was tightening the clutch and not loosing to slip…now worries, I drove over and went through the process and tested it several times on his lawn. All went well and I left. I never looked at the area he was tilling, my fault.
The tractor didn’t return that day as expected, but I did get a text the next day saying that he was having problems. The message went on with details on how the tiller was bouncing up and down, the PTO kept popping out, he was smelling burning clutch which he assumed was the PTO shaft clutch slipping. He also mentioned that he was “going shallow through dense root mat” and “digging up some good rocks and roots”, not the clean area that I thought. Now I typically try to avoid personal calls and texts while at work, so I didn’t read it until after he sent another message saying that he had a mechanic friend stop by to check it out and was informed that the PTO clutch didn’t look good, and it was likely that way when he picked the tractor up from me. At this point, I called him to get the full story. He was now no longer able to engage the PTO because it was grinding so bad. He had a story from the mechanic stating it was clear from the wear on the clutch pedal rubber pad that the clutch had been “ridden” and it was going to cost in the range of $2000 to replace the PTO clutch. This set me off on an internal rage of anger. First, how is he thinking I am riding the PTO clutch when I only have the PTO clutch disengaged to engage the PTO? If I was riding the clutch, wouldn’t it be the transmission clutch that would be worn if I “always had my foot on the pedal”? The tractor would never move if I was riding the PTO clutch because the transmission clutch would be disengaged too. I don’t think I want this mechanic working on my tractor with his reasoning, sounds like he is taking our mutual friend’s side. NOT HAPPY!!!
I went up later that day to assess the situation; nobody was home, but I tried my tractor out, and sure enough, things felt different. I was able to engage the PTO but with more grind than ever before. I then went to the dealer to describe the situation, sharing the details that were given to me of what happened. They were clear that it didn’t sound good and would be more than the $2000 the other mechanic estimated. The first thing they said was that the rototiller was not designed to rip roots and dig up rocks. They told me the bouncing of the implement was not good for the tractor and likely crushed a coupler or coupling (or something like that) inside the tractor, and that would cause the PTO to pop out. They also said that he was likely smelling the PTO clutch burning, not the implement shaft clutch; this made me wonder if he adjusted things again on the shaft clutch after I left.
When the tractor returned home a couple of days later, I tried tilling a patch of my property. Sure enough, the PTO lever popped and disengaged the PTO. It was a little shocking, so I am not sure I remember this correctly, but after raising the tiller and engaging the PTO again, the implement did not spin right away. It took a couple of attempts to get the tiller spinning, but I never put it back to the ground.
What is likely wrong in there? Is this something that I damaged somehow before lending the tractor? My friend offered me $1000 towards the repair but I didn’t want to take money until I figured out what happened. He did say that he would cover the cost if it came back as something he did but he would want his mechanic friend to work on it. Based on his reasoning, I don’t trust his mechanic friend, but I also don’t want to pay the dealer twice as much. Should I seek therapy somewhere else besides here?
Sorry for the long story:
The story: I have a 2004 L3400 manual transmission machine with a 2 stage clutch that I bought brand new, it now has 531 hours on it. I mow my field, tickle the driveway, till my garden, dig trenches with the backhoe, etc., nothing extreme. Whenever I ran the 2 PTO implements that were ever hooked up, I always slipped the implement shaft clutch before going to work. Afterwards, my engagement process would be to disengage the transmission and PTO clutches with the implement up with the engine at idle, slowly engage PTO clutch and then slowly increase engine to PTO speed, lower the implement to desired height and then release the transmission clutch to move the tractor forward. I would sometimes get a little bit of a grind when engaging the PTO and the implement would ever so slowly start turning with the clutch fully depressed. I brought this up with the dealer early on, and they said this is not uncommon.
When I bought the tractor, I told myself that I would never lend the machine out (implements are OK) and I held my word for 20 years…until a few weeks ago. A friend asked if he could borrow the rototiller and use it on his tractor, he said it was a pretty clean area, so I said yes. He drove his tractor a couple miles to my place, and we went over the owner’s manual and the process of slipping the tiller shaft slip clutch. When we attempted to hook the tiller up we realized that his tractor was too small, he suggested putting it on my tractor and letting him us my tractor and tiller, run it to his place do his tilling and then return it that evening. I paused and I didn’t love the idea but I also didn’t have time to go rototill his plot, so off he went with my tractor and tiller. I got a call shortly after saying that he couldn’t get the shaft clutch to slip, so I went up and saw that he was tightening the clutch and not loosing to slip…now worries, I drove over and went through the process and tested it several times on his lawn. All went well and I left. I never looked at the area he was tilling, my fault.
The tractor didn’t return that day as expected, but I did get a text the next day saying that he was having problems. The message went on with details on how the tiller was bouncing up and down, the PTO kept popping out, he was smelling burning clutch which he assumed was the PTO shaft clutch slipping. He also mentioned that he was “going shallow through dense root mat” and “digging up some good rocks and roots”, not the clean area that I thought. Now I typically try to avoid personal calls and texts while at work, so I didn’t read it until after he sent another message saying that he had a mechanic friend stop by to check it out and was informed that the PTO clutch didn’t look good, and it was likely that way when he picked the tractor up from me. At this point, I called him to get the full story. He was now no longer able to engage the PTO because it was grinding so bad. He had a story from the mechanic stating it was clear from the wear on the clutch pedal rubber pad that the clutch had been “ridden” and it was going to cost in the range of $2000 to replace the PTO clutch. This set me off on an internal rage of anger. First, how is he thinking I am riding the PTO clutch when I only have the PTO clutch disengaged to engage the PTO? If I was riding the clutch, wouldn’t it be the transmission clutch that would be worn if I “always had my foot on the pedal”? The tractor would never move if I was riding the PTO clutch because the transmission clutch would be disengaged too. I don’t think I want this mechanic working on my tractor with his reasoning, sounds like he is taking our mutual friend’s side. NOT HAPPY!!!
I went up later that day to assess the situation; nobody was home, but I tried my tractor out, and sure enough, things felt different. I was able to engage the PTO but with more grind than ever before. I then went to the dealer to describe the situation, sharing the details that were given to me of what happened. They were clear that it didn’t sound good and would be more than the $2000 the other mechanic estimated. The first thing they said was that the rototiller was not designed to rip roots and dig up rocks. They told me the bouncing of the implement was not good for the tractor and likely crushed a coupler or coupling (or something like that) inside the tractor, and that would cause the PTO to pop out. They also said that he was likely smelling the PTO clutch burning, not the implement shaft clutch; this made me wonder if he adjusted things again on the shaft clutch after I left.
When the tractor returned home a couple of days later, I tried tilling a patch of my property. Sure enough, the PTO lever popped and disengaged the PTO. It was a little shocking, so I am not sure I remember this correctly, but after raising the tiller and engaging the PTO again, the implement did not spin right away. It took a couple of attempts to get the tiller spinning, but I never put it back to the ground.
What is likely wrong in there? Is this something that I damaged somehow before lending the tractor? My friend offered me $1000 towards the repair but I didn’t want to take money until I figured out what happened. He did say that he would cover the cost if it came back as something he did but he would want his mechanic friend to work on it. Based on his reasoning, I don’t trust his mechanic friend, but I also don’t want to pay the dealer twice as much. Should I seek therapy somewhere else besides here?
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