pto clutch bolt loose...blowing fuses

[mark12]

Was mowing today and noticed that the mower had a weird vibration. Weird as I know I'm sitting on a mower right in front of the motor, but I could tell it just wasn't the same. I continued to mow and noticed a weird smell...got off the mower and walked around it. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. Anyway, long story short after 4th yard we were mowing the blades just quit. Wouldn't engage after shutting off the mower and then back on. Checked the fuses, and the blue 15 amp fuse was blown. I replaced it, pulled pto to engage the blades, the mower shut down instantly. Checked the same fuse, it was good. Now the 20 amp fuse was blown. Replaced it, tried again and it blew again. So I replaced it again and loaded it on the trailer and headed back to the house. I got under the mower and noticed the bolt that holds the pto on the underside of the mower was loose. I could see a gap between the bolt and the pto cover/housing. The pto housing was still pretty hot, even after sitting for almost an hour. So i tightened the bolt, started the mower and the strange vibration that I had felt most of the day was gone. When I pulled the knob to turn on the blades I blew the same 20 amp fuse. My dealer is closed, anyone got any suggestions I can try until the dealer opens. It's a Mini z, 19/44 bought on 2007 brand new with 165 hours on it.

[mowerconsultant]

If its still blowing fuses you likely have some wires down by the clutch at were shredded or broken when the clutch was loose.
You need to inspect them, there is a clutch wiring pigtail assembly that likely needs to be replaced, it either broke a wire in it or shorted out the diode thats in the pigtail.

Pj

[mark12]

Well turns out the clutch was toast.......I guess it got so hot it melted some plastic and the clutch plates were pretty much wasted too. I took some pics of the damage. Took me a good part of the day, after returning from the dealer with my clutch I noticed the drive belt was missing a big chunk in it, so it was back to the dealer to get a belt. Never replaced a clutch before, but if i needed too I think it would go much faster. Had a heck of a time pulling the belt over the idler tensioner or whatever it was that had the spring on it to put tension on the belts that went to the hydros. I ended up putting a nylon rope around the pully and running it through an empty bolt hole and pulling it back far enough to get the belt to go on, my buddy pulled the rope as I mover the belt. That worked out pretty good. Anyway, she is up and running good as new.

[mowerconsultant]

Thank you for the update, glad your all set now.

Pj