PTO shaft on B3030

mazurrj · Aug 28, 2010

I noticed today after cutting grass with rotary cutter and I was checking the blades that i could turn the PTO shaft when i pulled one of the blades towards me.
Tractor was off naturally and PTO control lever was set off for PTO.
Maybe I never noticed but I remember having to take the shaft off the PTO to turn the blades. The slip clutch was not turning it was the whole saft and PTO.
Is this normal to be able to turn the pto shaft with it hooked to the tractor? It runs normal when I'm operating the cutter.

Verticaltrx · Aug 28, 2010

mazurrj said:
I noticed today after cutting grass with rotary cutter and I was checking the blades that i could turn the PTO shaft when i pulled one of the blades towards me.
Tractor was off naturally and PTO control lever was set off for PTO.
Maybe I never noticed but I remember having to take the shaft off the PTO to turn the blades. The slip clutch was not turning it was the whole saft and PTO.
Is this normal to be able to turn the pto shaft with it hooked to the tractor? It runs normal when I'm operating the cutter.

I'm not sure if the B3030 has a PTO brake, but even if it does it will be disengaged when the tractor isn't running (it would be held by hydraulic pressure if it had one.) My B3200 does not have a PTO brake and you can turn the PTO's by hand wether the tractor is running or not (not that I would.)

DiezNutz · Aug 28, 2010

The B3030 does have a PTO brake, which is part of the hydraulic PTO clutch pack.

What I don't recall is how much drag, if any, there should be on the PTO with everything off. I haven't used my mower in a couple of years.
Hopefully someone else will post with some anectodotal evidence, before we consider the possibility that the OP's brake is shot.

Verticaltrx · Aug 28, 2010

My only experience is with larger farm tractors with independent PTO's, but the brake is meant to be off, by design, when the tractor is not running. This makes it possible to turn the PTO shaft by hand to align the splines when connecting an implement.

rglaser · Sep 1, 2010

My B2630 (same tractor with smaller engine) PTO turns easily while tractor is off. Never touched it while tractor was on.

-Rob

number two · Sep 1, 2010

We have the B3030HSDC-when I have the front snowblower attached,I put the PTO lever in the rear only position in order to rotate the blower driveshaft when greasing the u-joints and lubricating the blower drive chain.I rotate it by turning the blower fan-it does not want to rotate otherwise.If I place the PTO lever in the front(mid) only position,the rear PTO will rotate easily when greasing the rotary cutter driveshaft.All observations with engine off.Is this any help?Good Luck!

Toolguy · Sep 1, 2010

When the engine is off on my B3030 the mower blades turn freely. However, the rear PTO shaft does not. It acts like it is locked with a mechanical stop. It will move left and right just a little and clunks at the end. When using the PTO with the engine running I have never seen any indication of a PTO brake. When the PTO is disengaged both the MMM and the Bush Hog I occasionally use on the rear spin to a stop gradually. Yours sounds normal to me.

mazurrj · Sep 2, 2010

Thanks everyone for the info

Bob

DiezNutz · Sep 8, 2010

Toolguy said:
When using the PTO with the engine running I have never seen any indication of a PTO brake. When the PTO is disengaged both the MMM and the Bush Hog I occasionally use on the rear spin to a stop gradually. Yours sounds normal to me.

It's there.

There was a whole thread recently about this. If you have a WSM you can verify for yourself if you look at the details of the PTO clutch.

Your MMM and Bush Hog have enough inertia to overpower the brake to make it seem as though they "stop gradually" but it is still dragging on them... they don't freewheel to a stop.
If you want to avoid wearing out the brake prematurely, throttle down first before disengaging the PTO. :thumbsup:

Toolguy · Sep 8, 2010

When disengaged the rear PTO shaft turns slowly with the engine running even when the Bush Hog is attached. If there is a PTO brake then it does not work on my B3030. I have only used the Bush Hog for about 4 hours during the last year so I don't think it is possible that it is worn out with so few operating hours. Before that I never had a rear PTO implement. I have never noticed any type of braking action on the PTO when using the MMM either and that gets used a lot. And yes, I do throttle the engine down before engaging or disengaging the PTO. Brake or no brake it is of no concern to me. I always shut the engine off before attaching any PTO shaft anyway. Safety first.