where is TC34DA main PTO safety switch?

[amarlow]

I love this forum.

Based on this thread:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/new-holland-owning-operating/174888-tc33d-wont-start.html
I'd like to locate the main PTO safety switch on my TC34DA.

Yes, I can crawl around under the blue beauty, but thought I'd ask, just to save a bit of time.

Meanwhile, the symptoms (in case this sounds to a wiser owner like something other than the PTO switch):

The tractor is four years old. I've owned her two months, purchased used w/ ~95 hrs. I've put ~45 hrs on her, some mowing, but mostly digging up those horribly invasive Russian olive and honeysuckle and buckthorn trees we have (man, I really need to get me a tooth bar for that bucket!).

Used her today for about two hours, turned off and restarted a couple times. As I was bringing her back to park her for the night, I noticed the PTO light was on (lever was off, and I had not used the PTO at all today).

Come to a stop, put brake on, gear select in neutral, turn off the key, lower the bucket. Try to start her, get the 13 or 14 beep-beep-beeps the indicates the PTO is on. Just in case it was the gear select NOT in neutral, I pull the lever back to the 3rd gear position, and lo, now it's stuck there (can't get it past neutral into 1st or 2nd).

No matter what I do, what lever I wiggle, I get no ignition. And the gear select is stuck in 3rd. The glow plugs come on and go off, on schedule. But not so much as a click from the starter.

Any ideas (other than the PTO safety switch)? All ideas will be warmly received.

~Allen

 

[Tractoringaround]

Hey Alen, I recently tested my safety switches including the PTO switch. I do not have a service repair manuel and just followed each lever down to each switch. I used an ohmmeter to test them. Even though I have not posted much, I agree with you that this is a great site.

Brian

 

[jinman]

Allen, your tractor's range lever (9), main PTO lever (17), mid PTO lever (21, if installed), and 4WD lever (29) all pivot on a single shaft (3) and in close proximity to each other. See the first attachment. The transmission range safety and main PTO safety switches are side-by-side on the left transmission housing in front of the left rear axle. In the 2nd illustration below, these are shown as items 1 and 2. Item 3 in the illustration above them is the mid-PTO safety switch. It shows the area of the lever pivots and how congested this area is. I think you may have a loose lever or something jammed in this area not allowing your levers to operate correctly. Hopefully, you can use these illustrations and investigate this area to see if the problem is easy to see.

 

[amarlow]

Jinman! You rock! (50 year old with teenage children, can you tell?)

What a great and useful response. I'll be out there (at the property) later today and will go looking for the switches. Any advice on how to test them?

I assume I'll have to remove a cover or shroud or some such in order to see the levers and pivot from your first attachment. Will that be straight forward? Second question is will the switches from your second attachment be visible from underneath in front of the rear tire/axle?

Thank you for all the help.

~Allen

 

[amarlow]

Jinman,

Are the diagrams you attached from a service manual? Is that something I should track down? Where might I find it?

I plan to have this tractor for the rest of my life, which I hope to be a good 30 or 40 years. I want to take care of her, well maintained, in good repair.

Again, thanks.

~Allen

 

[LarryD]

I assume I'll have to remove a cover or shroud or some such in order to see the levers and pivot from your first attachment. Will that be straight forward? Second question is will the switches from your second attachment be visible from underneath in front of the rear tire/axle?

None of the items Jim referred to are behind any covers or plates but you need to play a little Houdini to really lubricate the mechanisms on the pivot rod for all the functions.

You can find shop manuals for sale on the New Holland website but they can be expensive, or you can use the parts lookup diagrams (I think that's the first picture Jim posted) to see how things fit together. A poor mans shop manual.

 

[jinman]

Jinman,

Are the diagrams you attached from a service manual? Is that something I should track down? Where might I find it?

I plan to have this tractor for the rest of my life, which I hope to be a good 30 or 40 years. I want to take care of her, well maintained, in good repair.

Again, thanks.

~Allen

Allen, the diagrams are from the New Holland Illustrated Parts Catalog. That is available online from several sources, but the one I like most is Messicks. Go to the link and look for a New Holland Agriculture emblem in the banner that runs all the way across the page. New Holland is the far left one. That's a hot button. Click it and you will go to a page with a blank that asks, "Enter Your Model Number." Type in "tc34da" in lower case or upper case and then click the "Search" button. You'll have several choices presented, one of them is "TC34 DA 3CYL COMPACT TRACTOR (3/06-)." Click that choice and you will be presented with a screen where all the major systems are located on the left. Click on "Transmission" to be sent to another sub-menu. In this menu, look for 3.19 and click on it. Your levers diagram will appear and on the right side a list of parts and prices will appear along with info on Messicks stock level. You can click on buttons below the diagram to bring it up to full screen so you can see better.

When you finish looking at the transmission diagrams, scroll down in the menu on the left and look for "Electrical System." Click on that and then choose 06.06.01 to look at the switches diagram I posted.

You can look at any part of your tractor you want and use these diagrams and labels to help you locate a particular part. They are NOT maintenance diagrams and you have to be careful to make sure you are looking at the correct HST diagrams or modification level references in some instances. What is invaluable is the way you can find where things are located just as I did in my previous post since I know nothing about a TC34DA tractor.

BTW: You should be able to see all the switches by looking up under the left side platform and to the inside of the left-rear tire. If you jack up the left-rear axle and remove the tire, you'll have all these levers and switches right out in the open. You shouldn't need that to do an investigation however.

EDIT: I'm 63 and retired, so you're a youngster compared to me.

 

[amarlow]

Again, great help. Thanks. The "parts catalog" approach is beastly clever.

An FYI update: For reasons too matrimonial to explain, I didn't get to the property (where the tractor sits) until very late this evening. It was dark, and I had no real time to spend on the problem. I did, however, take a flashlight and look up under the left wheel fender, in front of the axle, and lo, there is the real life view of the switches shown in Jinman's 2nd attachment.

More importantly, the two wires going to switch #2 (bottom right illustration in that attachment) have BOTH been pulled out of their in line connectors. I think I have found the problem.

As I mentioned I have been digging up all these big invasive bushes, fifteen foot tall russian olive for example. In the course of this digging, I have driven over, not carelessly or frequently but once in a while, a pile of recently downed sapling sized branches/trunks of these plants. Me thinks I somehow snagged the two PTO switch wires and yanked them out of their in line connector connections. Not a great design, I must say.

I hope that's all this is. I'll find out tomorrow, for sure, and hopefully close this thread. Thanks folks.

~Allen

 

[amarlow]

Final post.

Indeed, the two in-line, single wire connectors were the only problem. Once reconnected, the PTO warning light went off and the tractor started. Spent a good two hours on her today. Actually, I was only in the seat for perhaps 10 mins. I taught my 13 yr old son and 15 yr old daughter how to use her, and together we ripped a couple dozen sumac out of the ground, fell and limbed a standing-dead ash (sad), and loaded lots more stuff on the burn pile. It was a good Labour Day.

The problem with the range select lever being stuck at the 3rd/N end was not so much solved as overcome. Once started, I moved forward slightly, just a couple feet, in 3rd, at which point I could move the gear lever through its full range. (Note: it's always been a difficult lever to move; that and the PTO lever, same side. But it's at least back to the way it was. I examined the linkages from beneath, and it's not obvious how I might go about adjusting them.)

Again, thank y'all for all the help. This is such a great forum!

~Allen

 

[6sunset6]

I have the same machine. Have not had a lot of problems. Actually one.
When I first got it , new, The 4 wheel drive lever was really hard to move. Someone here had a post about a spring change on the detent. Got the spring from the dealer , for free, put it in and the problem went away. Attached is the spring p/n if you ever have that problem.
One other thing. If you have a QA , quick attach, on the fel, make sure there is no debris between the plates when you change out the bucket. Also make sure the latches are fully engaged.
I did some serious bending to the QA not following those rules.