Massey Ferguson 231 PTO and Lift problems

[PeteG76]

Hello, I have a Massey Ferguson 231 that after a day of bush hogging the PTO and rear lift quit working. The tractor drives normal but the PTO wont engage in either setting and the lift wont move up or down. The fluid is full and clean. Any ideas before I start tearing into the gearbox to look for obvious issues? Thanks in advance.

 

[paulsharvey]

Hello, I have a Massey Ferguson 231 that after a day of bush hogging the PTO and rear lift quit working. The tractor drives normal but the PTO wont engage in either setting and the lift wont move up or down. The fluid is full and clean. Any ideas before I start tearing into the gearbox to look for obvious issues? Thanks in advance.

Did they both stop at same time? On the 3 point, check draft control or lift speed adjustment. Lot of times (not sure on that model) you can accidently hit it with a foot, and there is nothing wrong, you just need to turn the know back to original position. If both went out together, you need smarter help than me...

 

[Harry in Ky]

On Massey tractors with live PTO (ASSUMING yours is live, not independent) the PTO and hydraulic lift pumps are driven through the PTO section of a two stage clutch. When/if that portion of the clutch fails, then both of those functions can stop at once.

Pull the cover plate from the bottom of the clutch housing and see if you find fragments of something that looks like it might be clutch disc lining or any debris that could be clutch related. If the clutch has recently been slipping to that degree, you will probably smell it once the cover comes off.

 

[PeteG76]

Thank you for your responses. Both the PTO and the lift did stop at the same time. I know that this tractor has a two stage clutch and it was replaced about 10 years ago. The guy driving the tractor at the time said that he was parking the tractor and as he was disengaging the PTO, his foot slipped off of the clutch pedal and from that point the PTO and lift quit working. Harry, the clutch going out makes more sense than something in the gearbox. I will check that first. Thank you.

 

[PeteG76]

I removed the inspection cover and found 3 rivets that looked to be sheared off and laying in the bottom of the housing. Seeing as I do not have the resources to split the tractor and change the clutch, I guess I will be sending it to a repair shop.