saugerstock 2 #1 Posted 3 hours ago Hi Folks, A couple of weeks ago I bought a 314-8 in great shape. That being said, there is always initial maintenance to take care of, but I did that and it was mowing fine. Until... I was going to mow today and when I tried to engage the PTO it squealed and bogged the engine down. Had I engaged it fully, I think the engine would have stalled. This came out of nowhere. Four days ago everything was fine. In the interim, I changed the rear tires and tranny oil, but I don't think that has any bearing on the problem. I removed the mower belt from the PTO pulleys to take the deck out of the equation. Same issue. Thinking it could be a seized bearing I pulled apart the PTO clutch mechanism. All the bearings were fine. Looking online, I read that insufficient clutch facing could cause the issue. The facing looks OK to me, and measures ± 1/8 inch, but perhaps that is not sufficient. When the engine is running and I look at the clutch movement, it doesn't appear to be rubbing on anything. I'll bet the solution is something simple! Thanks for any ideas... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squonk 46,574 #2 Posted 2 hours ago A worn clutch face won't bog the engine down. Just for the heck of it, check your seat switch. It's designed to shut the engine down if you try to engage the PTO while not in the seat. Sounds like the switch thinks you're not in the seat. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 16,613 #3 Posted 2 hours ago 2 minutes ago, squonk said: Sounds like the switch thinks you're not in the seat. In your other post, you mentioned moving the seat, so this seems likely to me, too. PLEASE don’t fix this by trying to circumvent the seat switch. You seem like you have the skills to come up with a clever and safe solution! On two of our tractors I added seat slides to accommodate the more than 16” height difference between the tallest and shortest operators. The latter are also noticeably less weighty than the former, and when they leaned forward to crank the steering had the engine stop! I switched the switch actuator to a longer plunger with a longer, soft spring and a plunger guide so it works well. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
