It's a tough call to make without being present for the show. I'm not saying any of the following are THE answer, nor that ALL possible answers are included, just that some of the following may apply.
*If you are situated in tall grass when the PTO is engaged, expect some resistance and rough spin-up to speed as the blades fight their way through.
*If this machine has been mostly "sitting in repose" for a while before you bought it, there is the likely chance of rust having formed on the metal output flange (rotor) of the PTO clutch itself. This rust can likely be "burnished away" by executing about a dozen or so engagements of the clutch with the engine at mowing RPM.
*Possibly a belt tensioner spring is missing or installed in the wrong place resulting in a loose and floppy belt.
*Possibly the belts have taken a "set shape" from having rested in the same position for an extended time. This would be aggravated if the current ambient temperatures were "chilly". But this should be short lived and after the belt was exercised a bit, it should become supple enough to restart when warm without thrashing.

Study any manuals you got with the machine and look at the belt routing schematic for the presence and proper location of tensioners and springs.

Remember, you have a warranty. While warranty may not cover a simple complaint of "rough PTO engagement", it would certainly cover a broken part (if found).

So, considering the dealer released the machine for you to use, you need to use it.
Using the owner's manual as a guide, inspect the machine to the best of your ability and if you find nothing obviously defective, use the machine to see if any defects become obvious. The shaking and rough engagement are "symptoms", not the defect per se.

Try burnishing the clutch as described above and see if that smooths out the engagement.

Txs mownie.
Machine was started with deck raised and no grass to contact.
The machine AFAIK has been sitting in the yard exposed to the elements for some time so rust seems like the most obvious culprit.
Guess I'll run it this week end and try engaging a few times and see if the problem goes away.
Belts seem to be routed OK but may have "set shape" as you said. Running should be OK then.
Once it's going it cuts tall , heavy quack grass just fine!
Guess if anything breaks or the problem doesn't clear up , I'll contact the dealer on Monday.

OK, when you try to burnish the clutch, engage the PTO with the blades at a standstill each time you engage the PTO switch. After the blades spool up, turn off the PTO switch and let the engine run for a few seconds (10 seconds approx) with the PTO off so that any rust knocked loose or rubbed off has ample opportunity to be slung off or vibrate out of the clutch before you engage it again.

OK mownie..will do.

I'll report back later and give you the results.

Tried your suggestion and didn't seem to make any difference.

From what I understand the electric PTO is supposed to engage the deck smoothly with maybe a slight decrease in engine RPM , not virtually stall the engine and rattle the tractor.
Hmmmm.....

Electric PTOs engage pretty rapidly. Any "cushioning of application" occurs with the unavoidable, slight slippage of the friction material against the rotor disc face, and slippage of the belt itself in the pulley groove before the belt gets "a full bite" on the pulley.
I wonder if this clutch incorporates the blade brake function and the brake is not releasing fast enough when the PTO switch is closed.
As I said, it's a tough call from afar.
Have you tried actually cutting some grass with it? Does the engine seem to be making good power when cutting? Do you have any hills to climb? If so, does the engine seem to be making adequate power to climb?
Post the full model number and serial number so we can view the online manual.

Model # : 13AK92AK010
SN : 1K199H36105

Yes I've tried cutting a wee bit of grass. Was curious so ran it through some heavy quack grass growing up by the barn..about 6"+ high. Was amazed that it plowed through the stuff and the engine didn't bog down at all.Our old MTD would choke up and I'd have to stop until the mower deck cleared itself before I could go any further.

Have some more heavy quack grass I could try mowing but it involves some backing out of tight spots which I was dubious about tackling because of the engagement problem.

I'll give that a go tomorrow and advise , unless you think I shouldn't.

Txs

If it plowed through the 6" stuff without the engine acting underpowered, the governor and fuel system are probably functioning OK.

I looked at the IPL and the PTO clutch certainly appears to be the type that has the integral blade brake.

I think you should discuss the issue with the dealer and let the staff there see what happens when the PTO is engaged. At least you will have established a "time and date stamp" of when the problem was first noticed.

As to cutting the quack grass, unless that was something on your agenda already, I don't want to advise you to do that. I noted in reading through the Owner's Manual that MTD declares the tractor is meant for cutting LAWNS, so if you do cut anything that might not be considered "lawn", keep that information to yourself! No point in your divulging something which might constitute owner abuse of product should a warrant dispute ever arise.

My suggestion to cut some "heavy grass" or climb a significant grade was just to see if the engine reacted poorly when influenced by some other kind of loading too.
It appears that the engine handles the other load well.
So, there might in fact be a problem with this PTO, or it may be that the inertial loading of the engine when summoned to get the deck going from a dead standstill exceeds any other loading that can occur during normal use.

I know there are some forum members who own similar tractors............maybe it would help if some of you guys toss in your observations/opinions of how your PTO engages.

I have a different tractor but I have experienced the shake rattle and roll when engaging the pto. Mine was due to a build up or dirt and grass underneath the deck. You might check that and the blade balance out also. Like Mownie says it could be a number of different things.

Txs
Guess I'll just let it sit until tomorrow and call the service dept then.
I only bought the thing now because it was such a good deal and I was going to need something next year , otherwise would have waited until spring when I actually needed it.
Maybe wasn't such a smart move after all.

Now dooley....it will most likely be some little sumtin that will be an easy fix and you'll still be glad you bought it. Just think of all the things you're learning about it now before your mowing season. I have discovered that there is always something to fix on these mowers. That's half the fun!

The quack grass IS our lawn. :D

Keep it mowed and it comes up nice and soft , lush and green , doesn't require all that "weed n feed" stuff , never needs watering and lots of weeds simply can't compete with it.

Since the definition of a "lawn" is an area of maintained grass , and Quack grass is a grass , should still fall in the category of "lawn" for warranty purposes..eh?? lol

A man's home is his castle. He is King of his castle. Whatever the King decides constitutes his lawn, so be it! (as long as the Queen OKs it) :^)

Honestly, it sounds totally normal to me. You've got a strong engine coupled to a large mower deck - there is going to be some jerking when you couple those together. An electric PTO clutch has ZERO dampening when it engages. The only ones that are smooth are hydraulically actuated like on the $10,000 tractors. What you have is the equivelant of dumping the clutch petal on a manual car. The deck engages "RIGHT NOW" so to speak.

As the belts run and glazed over, as the sheaves and pulleys wear off their plating or paint, and as the friction surfaces in the clutch wear in it will get smoother. Basically everything will give or slip a bit eventually. Right now, everything is rough and "grabby".

This goes for Cub, JD, whatever. I've seen it many times. The 1054 is on the lawn tractor frame, so it's a little flexy, thus the more "jerk/twist" you feel or see.

Hope this helps.

In the meantime, run it like you stole it. It will be fine and will get better the more you run it.

Oh, and I should say engage the deck at wide open throttle. At lower speeds, it's worse. It's OK, the system is made to handle it for years and years.