tpuppo3 28 #1 Posted May 7, 2023 1979 C-161 Twin 8-speed. I'm currently experiencing a stall condition when I engage the PTO. Here's the sequence of events that lead me here... Started yesterday wanting to mow the grass. First cut of the year, I cleaned all the chunks out from under the deck, greased all the zerk fittings etc. Started off cutting fine, but eventually my engine stalled. Disengaged the PTO, started it up, engaged the PTO and it stalled. Upon removing the mower deck, I thought I'd discovered the source of the problem. The bearing inside the idler pulley had disintegrated (no idea when) and after who-knows how many rotations, began chewing away at the bearing sleeve. The next morning I ran to TSC, bought a new pulley/bearing assembly, belt (old one probably came with the tractor new), edged the blades (since I had it apart) and put it all back together. Immediately noticed an improvement cutting, better mulching, etc...until it stalled again. After shutting the engine and disengaging the PTO, I manually pulled on the belt and the mower deck moved freely, so in my mind, the mower deck is eliminated as a potential problem. Upon engaging the PTO (engine still off) I noticed it became very difficult, if not near impossible to rotate the mower deck in the same manner. So now my attention is turning to the PTO assembly. The engine's too hot to play with at the moment, so I'm on my computer hoping someone has experienced this before. I suspect when my engine cools I'll be able to fire it up and run the mower deck again (naturally I have about 90% of the yard done), and when this bug rears it's ugly head again, I'll try to upload a video. I'm open to suggestions, thank you in advance for any help... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KP Cool 3 #2 Posted August 12 08-12-25 Bump ...Well going to try to get a response to this, as I am having the same problem. I can mow for about 10-15 minutes if that, then shuts down does not matter if mowing grass or not. Let it cool down a good bit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gasaholic 316 #3 Posted August 12 3 hours ago, KP Cool said: 08-12-25 Bump ...Well going to try to get a response to this, as I am having the same problem. I can mow for about 10-15 minutes if that, then shuts down does not matter if mowing grass or not. Let it cool down a good bit Yours would be a bit different (assuming his "pto makes it hard to roll over" is not a red herring , as with PTO engaged and engine off, he'd naturally be trying to roll the engine over along with the deck, so of course it would be hard to do.) Yours sounds like a failing coil or condenser issue - COils (both battery ignition and magneto ignition) are notorious for "hot failures" as thermal expansion can "swell" an internally broken wire to separate far enough that electricity can no longer overcome the resistance gap, and thus no spark. What you gotta do is some diagnostic work - Run it til it stalls out, then immediately pop the plug wire and plug, ground the plug threads to a good ground and crank 'er over and see if you have a good spark jump the plug gap. If you don't , probably coil or condenser (either case I'd give 'er a tune up with points & condenser, new Champion H10C plug, and new coil of course) - That is assuming you have an older K series Kohler.. In the case of Command or Magnum, you're likely going to need a new magneto (bolts to the engine next to flywheel, and needs properly gapped) However if you still have good spark, I'd suspect vapor lock, or potentially a failing fuel pump (check valves falling out of place maybe) or fuel lines and fuel shutoff need replaced , clogged fuel filter, or a valve sticking open (in which case engine would spin suspiciously easily compared to cold crank, and you'd likely hear the Whoosh-Suck as engine cranks over and air move sin and out past a stuck open valve) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peter lena 9,359 #4 Posted August 13 @tpuppo3 very rarely see any deck , mule drive set up , that is not noisy , or groaning , with failed bearings . the collective parts , and functional detailing / verification movement , will always expose a cooked bearing or related hand off area . PTO clutch fried ? how about deck belt tension slide spring area ? wallowed out slide point ? think there is so much collective drag , its just moving , when it can to next back up failure zone . your choice , on maintenance , its everything , pete Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
