John Deere X300 with Kawasaki engine.

[Greystone123]

Old pto clutch had vibration due to pressure disk not on correctly. Customer brought mower with this issue. Replaced the clutch and new anti rotation stud, and the still had the vibration and broke the stud. Any ideas what could be wrong? I’m stumped. The shaft doesn’t lol bent, but hard to tell. Any thoughts. Thanks in advance. I stumped.

 

[raisin1]

1. Without the pto clutch installed you could mount piece of coat hanger and point it to almost touch crankshaft and see if distance between two varies. You could remove spark plugs to ease turning. You could use vise grip to hold wire.
2. Use dial indicator.
3. With plugs removed have someone use starter to turn motor while holding piece of yardstick flat against shaft with no key in keyway. You should feel a wobble thru stick.
If shaft is bent you should be able to see using starter no plugs (no start).
Someone gave my grandson tractor with bolt with nut holding pto. You could easily see pto. wobble while running.
Is it vibration free without pto. Is center part of pto able to turn free as it will be solid to crankshaft when installed.

 

[Greystone123]

Yes, it’s vibration free without pto, and yes it turns freely, but has some resistance due to pressure disc on clutch. I’ll try your methods and see if I can tell/see any difference. Thanks for the feedback. I’m at a complete loss on how to diagnose.

 

[tom3]

Engine mount bolts tight? No cracks in motor base or frame?

 

[Hammermechanicman]

If you put the clutch on the engine with no deck or belt and clutch disengaged do you get the vibration? If you engage the clutch do you get the vibration?
You can check for bent crankshaft by removing spark plugs and have someone turn engine by hand slowly while looking at the anti rotation stud. If the crank is bent you will see the clutch moving in and out slightly as the engine is turned.