Mower blades not turning

kjonxx

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Sheared key on clutch?? Set parking brake and run mower and pull pto switch and see if cluth pully is turning, if not key problem. As always be careful and not look from discharge side. left side is best.
 

Gord Baker

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Start with the easy stuff. If all the belts appear tight with PTO ON Engine off, then try each spindle by hand to see if it turns easily with PTO OFF, Belt tensioner off. There is a fuse near the soleniod, be sure it is not blown and tabs are clean. Belt tensioner must move easily. Check Belt for burns or missing pieces. There is a rectangular 10 wire connector or 2 up near the Ignition switch. Disconnect and check for Corrosion of any terminals. A noisy spindle should be replaced, but get it running first.
 

Moparjoe499

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I'm almost at my wits end..I have a used 2010 LA140. I have replaced the PTO clutch, all 4 rims/tires, PTO switch, and neutral switch.
Got it running smooth, started cutting my lawn, had to disengage the PTO to back up..started forward again and pulled the PTO to start cutting...nothing tried turning the PTO on and off a couple times..I can hear the clutch engaging but no mower..any ideas?
There is a switch that stops the power that goes to the pto clutch when you put it in reverse. The switch is broken or stuck. I heard the reason that switch is there is someone was cutting grass and they didn't see a small child while they were backing up and the child went under the deck.
 

rintntn

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I have a cub cadet that the pto engages to begin with but now for a while , go to back up it disengages and will not reengage when I’m ready to go forward. I have to let it sit and cool before mowing more. It’s still doing It. The thing is if I start to mow and have to back up after a very short time the pto will engage. The longer I mow the longer it takes to engage. To me it indicates the belt is warming up and stretching ( maybe, maybe not ). One thing I will say is there is a connection on my cub cadet that I can disengage so the blades don’t stop when I back up. I’ll try that if I have more problems simply because using the pto puts wear on it and it’s expensive to replace and I’ve no safety concerns about the blades turning as I’m backing.
 

LMPPLUS

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I'm almost at my wits end..I have a used 2010 LA140. I have replaced the PTO clutch, all 4 rims/tires, PTO switch, and neutral switch.
Got it running smooth, started cutting my lawn, had to disengage the PTO to back up..started forward again and pulled the PTO to start cutting...nothing tried turning the PTO on and off a couple times..I can hear the clutch engaging but no mower..any ideas?
POPS52, Can you tell by looking at the PTO clutch if it is adjustable, it will have a triangle shaped flange with a bolt in each corner, if so you might tweek each bolt slightly to close the tolerance on the clutch magnet, check for extremly worn belts. Good luck.
 

Cajun power

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ENGINE OFF: check the PTO clutch connector...small electrical connector. CAREFULLY remove it (there is usually a plastic locking safety tab)...clean it with wd-40 and blast that sucker with compressed air. check the pins and made sure there is no corrosion or damage...both sides of the connector and the PTO side. Reconnect them...inspect all the wires that route below for any damage...missing insulation...broken wires...etc. Follow those wires all the way from the PTO inch by inch and check for damage. Sometimes these wires connect to a another common connector. Take that one apart too, and clean it up the same way...then continue on...inch by inch looking for any wire damage.. these wires will route like a daisy chain circuit through all the safety interlock switches...check them all out. the wires eventually arrive at the ignition key switch...you might have to open a panel to see underneath and the backside of the ignition key switch....clean that all up with WD-40...make sure nothing is loose and no corrosion and no insulation damage or a bad connector.
put all of that back together...now we are going to test the operation of the PTO clutch.

please be careful...keep your fingers in your pockets and wear safety glasses..things happen:
have a second person sit on the seat and while they turn the engine on and engage the Blade PTO Switch you should see the PTO Clutch engage and spin. If it does not engage and spin, AND you have checked all the connectors and the wiring to is as listed above, then you probably have either a failed safety interlock switch somewhere or the PTO clutch is borked. I would look at each safety interlock switch first before popping for a new PTO Clutch. 2021 is not enough time for failure to occur unless there was a huge impact that happened or some manufacturing defect or some garbage got wrapped around the PTO clutch assembly and destroyed the clutch.
 

Freddie21

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Every pulley should turn very easily without and noise. They will heat up due to friction and tighten up. All arms and brackets should rotate freely. Use penitrating oil and force to free them, then lube with a good oil. If the PTO clutch clicks, then I would think it's working, but there is a locating slot in the PTO base that must get positioned properly so the PTO itself does spin. There may be brake pads on the blade pulleys (probably not on electric PTO models). Make sure they are not worn out and are releasing.
 

CWatters

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When you fitted a new clutch a year ago was the bolt tightened up to the correct torque? Did you follow the instructions on conditioning the clutch before use (typically engaging the clutch 5 times at low/mid engine rpm). The makers say they can wear out prematurely if you don't get this right.

Blade shear pins broken? Clutch will engage, belt moves but blades don't turn.
 
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