TG1860

[Rickyj66]

I have a TG1860 diesel garden tractor mower. It has an electric switch to engage the mower deck. Yesterday I pulled the switch to engage the cutter and it took a while, maybe 10 secs. An hour later the mower blades just stopped turning. This morning I tried it and it engaged just fine. I guess something is starting to fail and I'd like to nip it in the bud.
Any suggestions

Thanks Ricky

 

[jinman]

Ricky, it sounds like dirty switch contacts or corroded contacts in a connector. That electric clutch requires a significant amount of current to engage and hold (it just a big electro-magnet). Since it is sluggish, I'd look for dirty/burned/corroded contacts and maybe consider a new switch. Monitoring the voltage from the switch should tell you what you need to know. If the switch has contact resistance, you may only read a few volts when the clutch is energized. It's absolutely necessary that you have a good current path on the supply and ground sides of the clutch. Since the clutch is attached to the tractor, ground is not normally a problem, but the supply side could easily be dirty much like dirty battery terminals causing starter problems.

 

[Rickyj66]

Thanks Jim, I'll check that

Ricky