L5450 pto clutch

[BurningtreeFarm]

I have a L5450 bought used it has 1714 hrs 120 hrs which I have run the tractor, after rereading the operators manual again I came across a little paragraph telling to not ever run the tractor with the pto clutch control lever in the disengaged position as premature wear will result on the clutch plate and thrust bearing. You have to have this disengaged to start the tractor and I never thought to engage it after the tractor started so needless to say for the last 120 or so hrs its been running with this in the disengaged position, any thoughts on the amount if any premature wear ive created?
Also the front and rear arms that the linkage runs between are bent this must have happened before I got it the rear arm is removable and so no problems there there straightening the other lever goes directly to the main clutch housing any thoughts on how to straighten this, they are bent enough to cause this linkage to run into other parts . Any thoughts and ideas are greatly appreciated, Tim

 

[rbargeron]

Hi Tim - I have an L5450 and your observation is a new one to me too. It makes sense when I think about it - the PTO engagement lever is really just like a regular clutch pedal - it pushes the throw-out bearing against the pressure plate fingers and releases the clamping force on the pto clutch disk.

Running with the lever up (pto clutch disengaged) does work the throw-out bearing - but these are pretty long-life bearings and the load isn't very high - probably last several thousand hours without a problem. But as has been pointed out in other areas, Kubota tends toward the conservative side - so they would suggest letting the PTO clutch be engaged most of the time (with pto selector lever in neutral) - that way nothing is getting any wear that doesn't need to.

To respond to your original question, my guess is you haven't hurt it at all in 120 hours. But now that I know about the bit in the manual, I'll probably pay more attention to running with the lever down - it's more out-of-the-way too.

Take care, Dick Bargeron


P.S. Mark Raterman has an L4850 with the same setup - Hey Rat, how do you guys run the PTO clutch lever on that L4850? Up? Down? Has it mattered?

 

[rbargeron]

About the linkage, there's nothing too fancy about it - can be bent straight again with big vise-grips or simlar item of persuasion. There's a turnbuckle under the left running board for adjustment. Good luck - Dick

 

[JATO_RaT]

We never run the PTO clutch engagement lever (looks like a parking brake) in the engaged position unless we are using it. The L4850 is virtualy identical to the L5450 and know that they both run the same setup. The gear engagement (lower left by your heel by the 4wd lever) is almost always in the "unegaged" position as well. One of the problems with leaving the PTO engagement lever engaged is that when someone else goes to use the tractor, it will not start. They never figure that it is the PTO lever causing the starter lockout. I suppose that if you let the tractor sit for many months, you could let it down but then you really should do exactly the opposite and "disengage the clutch" as the manual also shows. Kinda a contradiction in principles. My L48 even has a built in hook to disengage the clutch for long periods of sitting. Rat...

P.S. Our L4850 is a 1993 model with many hours and no PTO throwout bearing issues so far.

 

[BurningtreeFarm]

Dick:
Thanks for both of your responces and for aking rat to respond with how they use their 4850, the bent pieces I was refering to wer'nt so much the adjustable linkage parts but rather the arms that they attach too.
The arm at the lever comes off the shaft and will be no big deal to straighthen , the other that is inserted at the main clutch housing is the one that Im mostly concerned with as this is bent so far as to come in contact with the clutch pedal linkage. Tim

 

[BurningtreeFarm]

Your statements are exactly as I was thinking main lever is always disengaged tractor does not start if pto clutch lever is not disengaged then on page 21 of the operators manual section 5.3 pto operation, is where my confusion stems, Tim

 

[rbargeron]

I find that my actual technique is to leave the pto clutch lever down a lot of the time. To start the tractor I just lift the lever a little and let it back down (if nothing on the pto) . So I guess I've been following the manual without realizing it.

Running with the lever up will definitely shorten the life of the throw-out bearing - but by how much is tough to tell. If it's a good bearing to start with, it'll probably go many years without a problem.

 

[BurningtreeFarm]

Dick; one more question, got the courage up and bent the arms for my pto hand clutch back to straight went really well, with taking everything apart and everything not adjusted properly to begin with how is this adjusted? the throw on this lever is very short and does not push the bearing all the way out and bring it to fully engaged both.Which way is your's?or maybe a measurement on the adjustable linkage end to end if thats not to out of line to ask. Thanks for any help Tim

 

[rbargeron]

Hi Tim - What the linkage adjustment is trying to accomplish is to not have any force on the throw-out bearing when the lever is DOWN (clutch engaged) There should actually be a tiny bit of looseness in the linkage when the lever is down.

On moving the lever up, it should take up the play immediately so you get max throw-out.

To check whether the PTO clutch is fully disengaged with the lever up, see if you can turn the pto shaft by hand (engine off and pto gearbox lever down) If you can, the clutch is disengaged. It may turn a little hard by hand - but if you can do it at all the pto clutch is disengaged enough. Hope this helps - let us know how it turns out. Dick B

 

[BurningtreeFarm]

Dick:
Im coming more to understand that I'm not dealing with large amounts of travel to obtain the clearance with the throw out bearing, if I have it correct the throw out bearing is fully engaged and than the forks are backed off a 1/4" or so? This makes sure when the clutch is rotating that it is engaged but yet not being held in place by the forks, is this correct? What I dont understand is what is actually holding the clutch engaged?
Your suggestion of rotating the pto shaft did not work at all with the lever by the left foot down which is engaged the pto would not rotate at all no matter what the position the hand control was in, the pto lever up disengaged and the hand control lever in either position the pto shaft rotated freely so I'm back to being confused and hoping that I havent created any undue wear having run the tractor with the lever in the disengaged position, any more suggestions are eagerly being awaited, Thanks again Tim