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So I took off the mower deck to refinish it and that included stripping it down to just the bare deck but after putting it back together, I'm finding that the PTO cable is WAY too tight. So tight that it keeps snapping the metal L connector to the lever. (I've gone through three of them at this point). What do I need to adjust to loosen the tension? I tried searching around, but I'm not having any luck.

First are using the MTD 94604173E cable (Stens 290-807) or is it some other aftermarket cable? Never had a problem except the the deck components were binding.

And i your picture is that with the deck disengaged? If so the cable is too short as it should loose when disengaged.

Note your attachment is none adjustable but can be replaced with a Husqvarna 532197250 bracket. But you may already at its limit too. And you need to drill a hole for the spring. I do see that may not possible as it is offset in the PTO cable mounting area.

Yeah it's disengaged, but I also have the deck pulled out at the same time idk if that makes a difference is what you're seeing or not, but I hear what you're saying. This is what I bought. Thank you for your insight on this. If it's too short then I know what to do.

Okay here is measurement you can check on the cable but first you must disconnect it from the deck and mower.

Internal cable measurement 9-3/4 exposed length
Cable housing 39-1/2. Can vary a little depending how you measure it. What is important is the exposed inner cable length.

Now of course I only measured the exposed inner cable length as shown below.

I see so the long and......short...of it is that the culprit to my issue is most likely the cable length and there really isn't anything on the mower itself to "adjust." Well thank you for going through the trouble to help me out on this. It was driving me nuts.

StarTech said:

Okay here is measurement you can check on the cable but first you must disconnect it from the deck and mower.

Internal cable measurement 9-3/4 exposed length
Cable housing 39-1/2. Can vary a little depending how you measure it. What is important is the exposed inner cable length.

Now of course I only measured the exposed inner cable length as shown below.

View attachment 66719 View attachment 66720

Click to expand...

Yeah just an update here. I remembered that I actually bought two cables. The other one I bought was and actual MTD brand cable. It looks exactly like this one and yeah....go figure, it worked. That other Amazon one I posted was indeed the culprit. Which I actually kinda find weird because I've used them before and they've never been this bad. But anyways, now I know for the future. Thank you again!