TC29D rear PTO lever moves

[Anonymous Poster]

I just noticed something odd about the rear PTO lever. The lever works its way back a little, about 3/8ths of an inch, after about a half hour of use. When I first start it, I always push the clutch in, put it into gear, and then let the clutch out to start the implement and throttle up to PTO speed. When I notice the lever has moved back, I stop and idle down, push the clutch in, push the lever back up all the way, and then let the clutch back out again. I can’t help but wonder if it’s starting to work its way out of gear and is running with the force pushing on just the ends of the teeth on the gears instead of being fully engaged. Is this normal? When I was mowing yesterday it did this twice. I have not yet contacted the dealer about this because I just noticed it, but I will call them soon.

 

[MODiesel]

Hi Danny:

My 29D rear PTO lever stays firmly in the "engaged" position, even over some pretty bumpy ground. It could be that your's just needs to be adjusted.

???

Best Regards,
Jay

 

[ERNIEB]

I haven't noticed mine doing that. Let us know if you find out anything from the dealer.

Ernie

 

[Anonymous Poster]

The dealer came out yesterday and checked this. He said it was OK. He said the PTO is staying engaged and explained how I should be able to "feel" it go past the indent, which I could. It's just vibration causing the lever to take up the slack in the linkage, etc. He said as long as it stays past the indent it will be OK.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Well, I tested it again a few weeks ago and it does not feel to me like it's staying past the indent. I ran the mower for about a half an hour, then stopped and idled down. The lever had moved back about a half an inch. I pushed the clutch in and pushed the PTO lever forward and it felt to me like it was starting to go past the indent because I could feel a kind of "pop" when I pushed it forward. Now I don't know what to do. The tractor is still within the 2 year warranty (which will run out in April 2002), but I'm told I will have to pay a trip charge for them to come and get it and take it back to their shop and look at the problem. The cost of this trip charge will be over $50 each way. Having just had to take a 10% cut in pay (like everyone here at Cummins Engine), I just can't afford to pay $100 right now, especially if all they do is tell me there's nothing wrong and it's just slack in the linkage or something again. It might be time to face the idea the my warranty is effectively over and try to solve this problem myself, but without a shop manual (and who knows what that would cost), I don’t even know where to start.

 

[ERNIEB]

Danny Y, I just have to feel like something is wrong. I've been doing quite a bit of shredding with mine lately, and this much I can tell you. When the PTO is engaged, the lever has no play in it at all. when I go to disengage, the travel is very little. In the disengaged position, the lever has about an inch or so of play, and it's a farther throw to engage it.
When the lever moves back does the PTO light stay on? The reason I ask is because I think the safety switch is right at the indent. When it does this have you stopped the tractor and looked at the linkage? Maybe have somebody engage and disengage while you watch the linkage. If there is nothing amiss with the linkage, then I guess there is only one place left to look, in the housing/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif If thats the case, then I would think you would want to get that done while it's still under warranty.

Ernie

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Just and update for those who are interested. My brother (who was a mechanic for years and is now an equipment supervisor and very experienced and mechanically inclined) came to visit over the holidays and I showed him what it’s doing. He agreed that it should not be moving back and is coming out of the indent. We are both mystified as to why it’s happening. I need to have the dealer test it themselves and take it apart and find out what’s going on, but I need still haven’t figured out a good way to get it there.

 

[MDNY]

Danny Y, is your TC29D still under warranty? Contact your selling dealer and see if they can send someone out to you or pick it up eithe for free or a reasonable fee.

 

[Mosey]

I finally worked out a reasonable deal on getting my Boomer to the shop. The dealer had an open house on Saturday and all parts were 10% off. So, I decided that would be a good time to buy the rear remote hydraulics. I told them I was willing to pay them the labor (about 2 hours, $90) to install it as long as they didn't charge me for transporting it to the shop and back. So, while they have it at the shop they're going to take the top cover off (under the seat) and check the PTO. They said it might be that the detent is out of adjustment. So, as soon as the rear remote hydraulics kits come in, I’ll finally get my Boomer to the shop and find out what the problem is. I’ll keep you all posted.

 

[Mosey]

My Boomer is now in the shop. They installed the rear remote hydraulics and installed a new coolant fitting to fix the leak. But, when I went in there yesterday to check up on how they were coming along, they hadn't done anything with the PTO. I talked to the shop foreman, Bill, and he said he called somebody at New Holland and they told him that as long as it wasn't popping out of gear there's nothing wrong. They were getting ready to bring it back tomorrow. I told him that when I was there during their open house I had talked to a technician and he told me that he would have someone check it out and pull the top cover off if necessary to find out what the problem was. Bill said that he never got that message (he wasn’t happy with that technician when I told him this). So, I talked to the salesman who sold me the tractor and the mechanic who tested it last summer and got them to agree to look into the PTO problem some more. They said they would hook the PTO up to a dynamometer and load it down and see how it acts. So, they're going to keep it for a few more days. As we were leaving, the salesman gave each of my kids a little toy tractor (value $5 each) for free! So, I think he felt a little guilty about how it’s been handled and now maybe they’ll actually track down the problem.

 

[Mosey]

They put my tractor’s PTO on a dynamometer and were able to duplicate the problem. They said the PTO lever moved back like I said it would do, but that it never slipped out. They said they loaded it down and about stalled the tractor without anything slipping or breaking. They said they let it run for about a half hour under load and the lever moved back to the point where I had it marked, but it didn’t go any farther. They still haven’t been able to explain why it moves past the detent, though. They said the PTO hp was 24.5, a little above the spec which is 23.6 for a hydrostat.

 

[Mosey]

Well, they finally did something about the PTO. They adjusted the spring tension on the detent. It was adjustable from the outside of the gearbox, so they didn’t have to pull the cover off. They said the lever will move harder now when I put it in gear, but it should stay there now. They’re going to bring the tractor back later this week, so I haven’t tried it yet. Even when they do bring it back, it will be a while before I can actually try it under load since it’s been raining almost steady for days now. Once it dries off, I’ll hook up the mower and see how it acts. I asked them to copy the pages of the manual that shows what they adjusted and they said they would.

At least now I have them convinced that there really was something wrong and they said if it doesn’t act right to call them again and they will take care of it. This all started on 8/22/01, so it’s taken a long time to get resolved. I did verify with them that the “Extended Power Train Warranty” does cover the PTO, so when my regular 2 year warranty runs out at the end of April, I’ll have it covered for 1 more year.

 

[Mosey]

I just got some more details on how they adjusted the spring tension on the detent. There is a nut on the housing right behind the lever that has a spring behind it. They said they put some shims in there to increase the tension of the spring. They said the lever will move harder now when I put it in gear, but it should stay in place now. They said they also put a spring on the lever linkage to take up the slack and reduce the vibration. I’m anxious to try it out, but I’ll have to wait for it to dry off around here.

 

[Mosey]

Well, it hasn't exactly dried off around here, but the grass needed mowing anyway so I got it done yesterday. I ran the mower for about an hour and the PTO lever stayed put! So, this story finally has come to and end and it has a good ending!