Electric PTO problems

15 years ago

I'm bringing this thread over from the Lawn Boy..OOPS!, I meant lawn mower forum XD, in hopes of increasing my chances of finding a solution.

Original post: I've got a Husqvarna LTH130 that I was given and have been working on. I recently rebuilt the trans and it was working pretty good. Now I've been having problems with the PTO. It's a Warner 5217-2. The question is will these electric PTOs let go if they encounter too much resistance or get hot? I have had it disengage on me when hitting some tall grass(3ft tall) and nearing the end of cutting the yard. The other day I hit some hidden sticks and it disengaged. Now it won't engage at all. I briefly looked under the deck and didn't see an obstruction but there could be something wedged a little further up there. Has anyone had a problem like this before? Are there any sensors I should be checking? Or is it just all used up? the median price I've seen on these is around $150 with $125 being the cheapest I've found. Any advice or leads are greatly appreciated.

Follow-up: I finally got around to messing with this over the weekend. I pulled the plug on the PTO and saw that it was patially melted...whoa. Made up some leads to run directly from the battery and tried it out...nothing. Swapped the leads on the terminals just in case...still nothing. Did the same thing with it running and yet again nothing. So I'm pretty convinced the PTO itself needs replacement. Also, I figure this rider is more than 10 years old and has seen fairly regular use. Is it common for the PTO to go out after that amount of time?

Present: I was recently told it could be the operator presence system that's not letting the PTO engage. HOWEVER, before I got the mower someone had already eliminated the seat switch and hard wired the leads. Is it possible for a relay to only partially fail? Also, the mower drives fine and I don't have anything happening like the engine cutting off when I release the clutch. And shouldn't it have worked regardless when applying power directly to the unit? What am I missing here? Or do I just need a new PTO?

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Comments (5)

walt2002
15 years ago
"Is it possible for a relay to only partially fail?"

Not your problem since you hooked direct and nothing.

"And shouldn't it have worked regardless when applying power directly to the unit?"

Yes."

I would look for a used clutch. We have a lawn mower "bone yard" in our area with about 500 units, electric clutches do not fail that often, it should be possible to find a good used one.

Option #2, remove the electric clutch, replace with a regular pulley and rig a manual idler to tighten a longer belt for you deck drive, since the mower was given to you and questionable that you want to spend $150 or so for a new electric clutch.

Walt Conner
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gator_rider2
15 years ago
Need new PTO and possible new harness or end at the PTO pigtail. Yes electric magnet do release when to hot had this happen to me many times. One other test I do cut the connection off the clutch and wire to wires straight from battery check by trying turning pulley by hand if turns engine its good when wired up remember the pulley is split pulley one half be hard to turn all engine is off one be easy. On these pulleys by close on side belt they ware thin so watch for this it is possible belt worn to thin.
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redsky42
Original Author
15 years ago
Walt, I had been thinking of doing that. I wish I still had my old Dynamark around to harvest it's manual tensioner off of. I really don't want the blades turning constantly. Finding a replacement pulley should be easy enough, though we really don't have a lawnmower boneyard in our area. Do you have any suggestions for being able to disengage the blades? How about a slightly larger pulley for a higher blade speed?

Gator, that is actually exactly what I did. I really don't think it's a worn belt; it's pretty taught and when the blades did engage they turned strong.
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walt2002
15 years ago
"remember the pulley is split pulley one half be hard to turn all engine is off one be easy. "

NO Electric clutches I know of work that way.

"How about a slightly larger pulley for a higher blade speed?"

Not knowing the size of engine nor the length of your blades, individual blades, so that I could calculate where you are in the maximum tip speed range and available hp. I could not answer that.

As for blade disengagement, I have welders, metal lathe and steel stock so that I would just fabricated a pivoting idler pulley so it is easy for me to say, I don't know your circumstances nor skills, what you have access to.

Walt Conner
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redsky42
Original Author
15 years ago
Atually I'm a machinst by trade, well at least I was in the Navy. I don't have access to any metal working machines any more, just basic power and hand tools. Though I am highly resourceful and think I can come up with something. I was really asking whether you had any hard designs or ideas of how to do this. I can't believe that no one out there has made a modification like this so I thought I'd ask. I do have a small wire-feed welder so that's a bonus. The engine is a 13hp Kohler command. The PTO pulley is 5 3/8"dia. The deck is a 42" model with two blades; each are a little over 21". I don't know the size of the deck spindle pulleys, I'll have to pull the deck and take off the plastic cover to measure them, but if I had to guess I'd say they were in the 4" range. I'm not at home now, though, to look and won't be for about a week.
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Electric PTO problems

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