PTO Rattle Sound

[June2016]

Hi all,

When I engage the PTO "at idle" on my L2501 HST with no implement attached,
I can hear a noticeable rattle sound coming from the "center to rear" section of the tractor. Is this normal?

When I rev the engine up to over 1500 rpm I don't hear the rattle sound as I believe as the increased engine sound starts drowning it out.

Thanks!

 

[June2016]

Anyone? Thanks!

 

[NEPA Guy]

Try making a video and uploading it so guys can listen.

How old is the tractor? Still under warranty? Maybe bring your video phone to the dealer so one of the mechanics can have a listen.

It appears that some rattling of a PTO is normal just by googling the subject. Then again, other guys say it could be bad bearings...

 

[lugbolt]

It is normal. You are hearing the clearance between the gears. It's a little 3 cylinder engine, and the firing pulses are 240° apart (90° short of a full rotation). Each time a cylinder fires, the crankshaft and everything attached to it accelerates, then because of the 240° of rotation needed to fire the next cylinder, the crankshaft and everything attached to it decelerates (freewheels). The clearance between the gears causes the gears teeth to slap against each other at low speeds, and that's the noise you're hearing. Perfectly normal on this tractor, and the L3200, L3800, L2800, L3400, and a few others.

 

[June2016]

Lugbolt, I really do appreciate the response and that makes perfect sense.

Today I hooked up to my 5' tiller box and tilled about 1/2 acre. I always run my tiller at 540. When I'm tilling along with no roots or rocks, the tractor does great but if I get into anything remotely rough, the tractor raises hell. Loud metallic slaps/pops begin coming from the center to rear section of the tractor. This only happens if the tiller tines are hitting anything hard. The rocks I did encounter were about the size of a tennis ball and there were also some roots no bigger than 1/2 round. The field I was tilling has been farmed for years and was 95% clear of any rocks and roots.

Ive noticed if I'm running the bushog or the tiller box (off the ground/no load) and press in the clutch in, I hear the same slap/pop (one time about half as loud) that I hear when the tiller box is hitting something. This problem seems to be the gear backlash or gear clashing. It happens when the pto is loaded (applying force to the implement) and then suddenly that force is take away by either pressing in the clutch or the moment implement frees itself up from a heavier load.

The slap/pop sound is loud enough to make nervous and believe something may be wrong. I can see where this may be related to the last post from Lugbolt?
If anyone has noticed this with their L2501 or other L series tractor, please let me know. My brother took a video of the tactor which you can clearly hear the sound. I will post the video as soon as he sends it to me.

Thanks for the help!

 

[June2016]

https://youtu.be/8vdRLJakAvs

The video is not the best but is all I have for now. The slap/pop sound you hear is not coming from the tiller.

 

[June2016]

With the tractor off and pto engaged, I have a about 30-45 degrees of PTO rotation if I turn in by hand. Is this normal? Thanks again!

 

[June2016]

Is the rotation discussed above normal?

 

[Russell King]

I assume you mean you can turn it in one direction as much as you want but if you turn it back it takes 30-45 degrees before it stops. It does not sound normal but I will check mine this weekend and let you know.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[June2016]

https://youtu.be/whDc4tzCDG0

Thanks for the response! Please see video. This is with the L2501 HST PTO engaged and engine off.

 

[June2016]

Bump bump bump

 

[lugbolt]

I like to adjust the cable so that the lever engages about halfway between off and on. I do this without the implement's pto shaft attached to the tractor. Start engine and engage pto slowly without using the clutch, idle speed only. You should start to feel it engage, kind of a clacking noise. With no implement hooked up, there is no load, and it won't hurt anything as long as it's idling. At that point look where the lever is. Most of them are too far forward and I have to lengthen the cable sleeve a little with the adjusting nuts.

It's also a good idea to lube the linkage on the side of the transmission. Just use a can of WD40, PB blaster, Triflow, or my favorite PJ1 cable lube (best can lube I've used ever), with the straw. Stick the straw between the sheetmetal on the transmisison "tunnel" and spray the spring. Wait about an hour or so after soaking it and that solves any sticking. The cable lube also coats the spring and linkages so that they are less likely to rust. That's what cable lube is for. WD40 ain't what it used to be. I think Kubota paints the entire thing with all the links installed and they get a little sticky, normally on first servicing I'll shoot some lube in there and it's amazing how much better the PTO works, just from the lube.

good luck.

 

[Shrimpman]

Hey june2016 did you ever figure out your issue ???ive got a 3830 doing the same thing ..big slap /knock when using tiller .really worrisome !

 

[SidecarFlip]

With the tractor off and pto engaged, I have a about 30-45 degrees of PTO rotation if I turn in by hand. Is this normal? Thanks again!

Sure is. It's that way so you can align the spines on an implement and only get one greasy glove.

 

[whitetiger]

Hey june2016 did you ever figure out your issue ???ive got a 3830 doing the same thing ..big slap /knock when using tiller .really worrisome !

Your Grand L has a clutch pack to engage the PTO where an L2501 uses a Dog ear clutch. They are two completely different critters.