Tag: PTO will to engage

Lawn Mower Repair Tips, Riding Lawn Mower Repair, Zero Turn Lawn Mower Repair

My Lawn Mower Deck Belt Won’t Engage

There are 2 types of engagement methods on a riding lawn mower. One is a manual lever and the other is a PTO or Power Take Off.

Depending on which one you have, they are completely different methods to engage your lawn mower blades.

The manual lever uses mechanical action to move a cable that is connected to a lever on the deck. This cable can break, bind or freeze up if it becomes rusted. The lever on the deck can also become stuck and not allow the deck belt to move to its taught position.

The PTO is an electrically activated device. You pull the knob and it provides power to the PTO assembly that is located at the bottom of the crankshaft. All of the safety devices must be in their proper positions for it to operate. For example, the operator must be seated, the mower must be in neutral or a forward gear. When the conditions are correct, the PTO engages a large magnet and then the belt will begin to spin the deck belt.

If either of these two systems are not working properly, contact a lawn mower repair technician in your area on our Locations page.

Lawn Mower Repair Tips

Electric PTO Will Not Engage Blades on Riding Lawn Mower

So you pull up on the PTO knob and nothing. Nada. Not even a sound. Here are some tips that may help you get that riding lawn mower PTO working once again.

With you in the seat, turn the key one click to the on position. Now pull the PTO knob up and you should here a fairly obvious clicking sound. This is the magnet engaging the clutch plates and pulling them together. If you don’t hear anything, check for 12 volts DC at the connector that is about a foot away from the clutch. It could be beneath the chassis or above it near the starter. If you have 12 volts DC there, check the connector at the clutch to be sure it hasn’t come loose. If it hasn’t, more than likely your PTO clutch is bad and needs replaced or adjusted. Most of the time the clutch is bad so it normally is replaced.

If you do not have 12 volts DC, check your fuses to see if they are good. You should have 12 volts DC going across them as well. If they are good, you could have a bad PTO or Seat switch.

Check those switches for power and continuity to rule out why you do not have power going to the PTO clutch on your riding lawn mower.