Need some advise: We have two John Deere F510 front mowers at our Bible Camp; one with about 350 hours and the other with about 700 hours. They both start, run. and move like they should, but they both suddenly developed PTO problems. The older one was mowing one day, but the blades suddenly stopped spinning and billows of smoke started coming from under the engine. Did some checking, and found the PTO fuse blown, no continuity across the PTO switch terminals that engage the PTO clutch, and no continuity across the PTO clutch wires. So I assume the PTO clutch cooked and wiped out the switch and fuse. But a couple of days later, the newer F510's blades suddenly stopped spinning. Found and replaced a blown fuse, and the thing started mowing again - for about 10 minutes. Again found the PTO fuse blown, but also found no continuity across the PTO switch terminals that engage the PTO clutch. The clutch wires have continuity, but not much. From looking at the JD wiring diagram, I assume these PTO clutches are 12 volt DC and they should clunk when hooked across the battery. Does anyone know what the correct resistance reading and operating amperage should be for a good clutch? And can anybody suggest why both these mowers should suddenly have PTO issues? (I really don't want to spend $180 for a new clutch, then cook it because I couldn't figure out what the real problem is.)
Resistance was .9 ohms. Darryl replied to my question with a link to the Wagner clutch website, so I downloaded their manual, which said that any resistance under 2.4 indicated a bad clutch. Guess I'll get a new clutch.
Resistance was .9 ohms. Darryl replied to my question with a link to the Wagner clutch website, so I downloaded their manual, which said that any resistance under 2.4 indicated a bad clutch. Guess I'll get a new clutch.
