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While I was cutting the grass my PTO dropped off the mower. I didn't realize what had happened till I saw it on the ground. A quick search of the lawn turned up the bolt and the fitting that holds the PTO to the drive pulley. I think I must still be missing a piece as there is no obvious way to connect the PTO do the drive pulley. The possible choice is just the friction pressure from the bolt, but that feels inadequate. How does the PTO connect to the drive pulley? The center hole of the PTO has a key in it, but there's no obvious shaft with a slot to take that key. I'm confused.


The Drive pulley, looking up, attachment point for PTO

Top view PTO, note key

PTO Bolt

neophyte_lawn_guy said:

While I was cutting the grass my PTO dropped off the mower. I didn't realize what had happened till I saw it on the ground. A quick search of the lawn turned up the bolt and the fitting that holds the PTO to the drive shaft. I think I must still be missing a piece as there is no obvious way to connect the PTO do the drive pulley. How does the PTO connect to the drive pulley? The center hole of the PTO has a key in it, but there's no obvious shaft with a slot to take that key. I'm confused. I'll post pictures shortly

Click to expand...

When you post the pictures, can you also list what model you have and size of mower deck?
thanks,
Will

It looks like the engine drive pulley has slide down on the engine crankshaft. That pulley need to slide up about 2 inches and then the pto clutch will slide onto the end of the crankshaft and the bolt then holds everything in place.

ILENGINE said:

It looks like the engine drive pulley has slide down on the engine crankshaft. That pulley need to slide up about 2 inches and then the pto clutch will slide onto the end of the crankshaft and the bolt then holds everything in place.

Click to expand...

This looks like an L series, possibly an L120 model. Take a close look at the flat black metal piece that is bolted to the side of the frame and sticks into a slot on the clutch, and make sure it isn't wearing thin where it goes through the clutch. I've seen many clutches fail due to this inexpensive part failing. Yours looks intact in the picture, but I cant tell if its worn thin or not. If it breaks, the clutch will spin around and pull the wiring right out of the harness. I'm not saying this is the cause of your issue, but this is something I always check as a preventative measure. Hopefully it didnt tear the wiring when the clutch fell off.

There's no way the main drive pulley has slid down. It's completely in alignment with the backend.

The drive pulley has a threaded receiver that takes the bolt I found. The ends threads of that bolt have been bunged up so it only goes in a few turns before it binds up. I have to think there's a piece that slips into that key on the PTO that's been lost, but I am totally clueless about how these things work and if it's missing who would I order it from my local John Deere dealer doesn't seem to think anything is missing.

Could it really just be the friction/force of that bolt torqued up into the belt pulley that's the causes the clutch to spin?

neophyte_lawn_guy said:

There's no way the main drive pulley has slid down. It's completely in alignment with the backend.

The drive pulley has a threaded receiver that takes the bolt I found. The ends threads of that bolt have been bunged up so it only goes in a few turns before it binds up. I have to think there's a piece that slips into that key on the PTO that's been lost, but I am totally clueless about how these things work and if it's missing who would I order it from my local John Deere dealer doesn't seem to think anything is missing.

Could it really just be the friction/force of that bolt torqued up into the belt pulley that's the causes the clutch to spin?

Click to expand...

The pulley has definitely slid down. If you can see or feel the crankshaft above the pulley, then it slid down. The pulley is supposed to be all the way up against the bottom of the engine. In the pic, it looks as though the pulley is slid down and that is why your pto clutch won't go onto the crankshaft. If you would post your model number and size of deck as I asked earlier, I can help you further, and send some pics as to what it should look like. Thanks.

Will1988 said:

The pulley has definitely slid down. If you can see or feel the crankshaft above the pulley, then it slid down. The pulley is supposed to be all the way up against the bottom of the engine. In the pic, it looks as though the pulley is slid down and that is why your pto clutch won't go onto the crankshaft. If you would post your model number and size of deck as I asked earlier, I can help you further, and send some pics as to what it should look like. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Bingo!!!!...this is the correct info!

neophyte_lawn_guy said:

There's no way the main drive pulley has slid down. It's completely in alignment with the backend.

The drive pulley has a threaded receiver that takes the bolt I found. The ends threads of that bolt have been bunged up so it only goes in a few turns before it binds up. I have to think there's a piece that slips into that key on the PTO that's been lost, but I am totally clueless about how these things work and if it's missing who would I order it from my local John Deere dealer doesn't seem to think anything is missing.

Could it really just be the friction/force of that bolt torqued up into the belt pulley that's the causes the clutch to spin?

Click to expand...

The drive pulley has slide down. that thing you are calling a threaded receiver is the end of the crankshaft, which should be sticking out of the end of the round part of the bottom of that pulley extension sleeve about an inch or so. If you look at your first and second picture there is a flat piece of metal sticking out from the frame toward the pulley that has a about 1/2 inch piece hanging straight down. The hanging down part is what keeps the electric clutch from rotating and breaking the wiring, and the bottom of the engine drive pulley extension should be about even with the part that is sticking straight out from the frame.