Lawn mower PTO won’t engage. When you’re limited with time for your lawn, it can be frustrating when you turn on your mower’s blades and they don’t engage. This turns a routine day’s work into an unexpected repair session.
However, many issues can keep your mower’s blades from turning, but oftentimes they come down to the type of brand being used as well as other factors including whether or not blades have been sharpened in a while.
The best way to manage this is by checking your mower’s owner manual under “Troubleshooting” for further suggestions. With all brands, it’s important to only work on the mower when the engine just happens to be off, and the ignition key is removed from its source.
Lawn mower PTO won’t engage
If the lawn mower’s clutch isn’t operating, one or more of these problems might be the cause. If power isn’t reaching the clutch or if a solenoid is defective, or if the clutch itself is worn out, nothing will happen.
If the problem is with its solenoid, you need to replace it, but if your problem has something to do with a faulty pull starter switch, you need to replace it instead.
Faulty PTO Switch
The power take-off switch controls the hand lever. If this switch is defective, it will not supply power to the hand lever assembly, and your blades will not rotate.
To determine if this switch is defective, you’ll first need to do a continuity test on the switch. In order to do so, insert one probe of a multimeter into the vertical orientation terminal slot and another probe into the horizontal orientation terminal slot.
The multimeter should display no continuity or ‘0 ohms’ since this shows that there is no completed circuit where there should be one.
If your multimeter does indicate continuity in any way, then your PTO Switch may be faulty and therefore need replacement with a new one from the manufacturer before the problem manifests itself again.
Defective PTO Clutch
The power-take-off clutch is what connects the engine to the blades. The PTO is responsible for spinning the blades of your lawnmower.
When the clutch is defective, you risk having a lawnmower that isn’t able to cut grass. If you have a faulty solenoid or if your clutch has worn out, then your mower will not have working blades.
This part cannot be fixed and must be replaced when it fails to perform its main function, which is engaging with the rotation of your rotor blades.
PTO Pulley Failure
When the PTO gear gets stuck or wedged from overuse, that means the blades may not respond when you turn the PTO switch on.
They will fail to engage or won’t come loose, posing a safety concern because you must be able to control those blades effectively.
If your grass mower’s PTO gear becomes worn or heavily damaged with frequent use and fails to work once again, please contact us immediately so that we can assess the damage and help you repair it before continuing to operate the equipment.
Proper PTO Function
A lawn mower’s PTO system is designed to disengage the blades within approximately five seconds of activation. If this is not happening at all or is taking longer than five seconds, there may be a problem with the PTO system.
Test to see whether the PTO system works by attempting to engage it while on the move.
Once your tractor has come to a complete stop, engage the PTO attachment lever and attempt to start the engine again. The mower should not start when engaged.
Lawn mower PTO won’t engage
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