2004 tc30 pto clutch problem

[OTAC tc30]

I'm unable to engage rear PTO. It was giving me some problems at the end of the mowing season, where as I let off on the clutch pedal it make a grinding noice as if not fully engaged but if I rolled a little while putting pressure on the PTO engagment handle and then let off on clucth I could get it to fully engage. However disengaging would be the same set of issues. I've disconnected PTO engagement handle linkage down where the shaft comes out of the transaxle housing and everything moves freely, so its something internal.

Can anyone offer up any advice as to where to start looking as I do not know how the PTO clutch is engaged internally.

Thanks for any help

 

[emorris]

how much freeplay is in your clutch pedal? You may need to adjust the clutch linkage. Does it have a double clutch being if you push the pedal halfway it clutches the tractor motion and all way down clutches pto. Mine acted similar as what you described. the pto lever started off being hard to engage then i had to play with the clutch to get it to engage which caused a grinding sound with the gears. It got to the point that the pto would creep when the clutch was pushed in. this also made disengagement hard. check your freeplay in the pedal it should be around 3/4 of an inch. also how many hours are on the tractor and how has it been driven?

 

[OTAC tc30]

emorris thanks for your response. The problem is solved with a good dowsing of wd-40 right where the shaft passes through transaxle housing. Mine was so bad I had to disconnect the shifter linkage and put vise grips on shaft cap and hit vise grips with rubber hammer to get it moving once I could move by hand just keep working it back and forth. One note prior to disconnecting shifter linkage make sure of the direction it which you need to rotate shaft before hitting with hammer. Also I use a 2x4 to keep the clucth pedal depressed.