oldcarkook
New member
Equipment
1998 L3600 GST w/LA680; 72" grooming mower; 72" landscape blade; Auger; Harrow
PTO Power loss - I'm an idiot
Strange problem. Have L3600GST with 1400 hrs and have owned since new. Faithful to all service intervals.
Was in the saddle all day yesterday mowing. No problem. Works like a charm. Today, I start the tractor and pull it out to finish mowing and when I engage the rear PTO, it will not spin at 540 RPM, barely spinning at all. The PTO engage gear will "grind" as it normally would if the countershaft were spinning and you tried to engage the PTO too quickly, so it's not a "gear" problem as far as engaging.
The PTO spins, but it is like it's spinning on a loose clutch and it will not spin up to 540 when the engine rpms are increased. Hydraulic Oil is normal level, clean. I use only factory Kubota Super UDT in it as specified.
This is really a strange problem as the PTO has been fine and worked all day yesterday without any problem. Didn't hit anything, didn't do anything. The problem seems to be internal as the shear pins on the mower are still in place and again, it mowed fine all day yesterday and now it won't engage with any power. Spins like it's at idle or lower no matter what engine RPM.
What gives?
....1 hour later....
So I'm adjusting the PTO engagement cable and looking at everything trying to understand what happened. I looked at everything except the most obvious thing and of course, that was the last thing I noticed! DYOH!!!
The mower spit the belt and it was in a position that was not easily noticed and under the guards, so when I looked at it initially, it appeared to be in place. It wasn't until I engaged the pto and then went around and looked at the blades (which were not turning) that I went back and saw the belt on the main drive pulley was slipped.
What an idiot. I am laughing because I chased this ghost all morning reading over my service manual and PTO assembly to see if there was an internal shear pin, then the mower shear pin, then adjusted cables, up & down and under and over. The whole time it had only spit the drive belt.
Alls well that ends well but I have a very red face now for the first part of this post.
Homer Simpson lives in me.
Strange problem. Have L3600GST with 1400 hrs and have owned since new. Faithful to all service intervals.
Was in the saddle all day yesterday mowing. No problem. Works like a charm. Today, I start the tractor and pull it out to finish mowing and when I engage the rear PTO, it will not spin at 540 RPM, barely spinning at all. The PTO engage gear will "grind" as it normally would if the countershaft were spinning and you tried to engage the PTO too quickly, so it's not a "gear" problem as far as engaging.
The PTO spins, but it is like it's spinning on a loose clutch and it will not spin up to 540 when the engine rpms are increased. Hydraulic Oil is normal level, clean. I use only factory Kubota Super UDT in it as specified.
This is really a strange problem as the PTO has been fine and worked all day yesterday without any problem. Didn't hit anything, didn't do anything. The problem seems to be internal as the shear pins on the mower are still in place and again, it mowed fine all day yesterday and now it won't engage with any power. Spins like it's at idle or lower no matter what engine RPM.
What gives?
....1 hour later....
So I'm adjusting the PTO engagement cable and looking at everything trying to understand what happened. I looked at everything except the most obvious thing and of course, that was the last thing I noticed! DYOH!!!
The mower spit the belt and it was in a position that was not easily noticed and under the guards, so when I looked at it initially, it appeared to be in place. It wasn't until I engaged the pto and then went around and looked at the blades (which were not turning) that I went back and saw the belt on the main drive pulley was slipped.
What an idiot. I am laughing because I chased this ghost all morning reading over my service manual and PTO assembly to see if there was an internal shear pin, then the mower shear pin, then adjusted cables, up & down and under and over. The whole time it had only spit the drive belt.
Alls well that ends well but I have a very red face now for the first part of this post.
Homer Simpson lives in me.
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