How much HP? - Round 2... (New Mower Finally)

Yeah I don’t feel bad throwing biz to my local guys who I feel deserve it. They’ve been super good about getting me in and out asap. Most repairs are delayed by shipping more than anything. I figure that I’m only saving a few bucks by doing it myself instead of with them, and more than likely I will still have issues when it comes to that kind of stuff.

I am a huge fan of a good local mom and pop type store. Diners too!!!!!

Only engage the PTO at idle and it will last 5x as long.

And, I was told to throttle down before disengaging it, to save the brake.

What manufacturer recommends engaging pto at idle? Maybe i have wimpy motors but theyll die if i send it at idle

Derwood said:

And, I was told to throttle down before disengaging it, to save the brake.

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It helps.
I’ve never wore out either.

rippinryno said:

What manufacturer recommends engaging pto at idle? Maybe i have wimpy motors but theyll die if i send it at idle

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I will read my new manual in a couple weeks and report back what it says. The fella who sells me my machines always says to engage as slow as you can. Another fella on here says as slow as possible without getting a ton of belt slap, and I trust his judgement as he's never steered me wrong.

When I got my PTO fixed last fall on my 61 V-ride (FX801) the gentleman at the local shop said to engage no faster than half throttle, and disengage even slower. He sells Wrights, but used to work for Scag.

Again, I'll report back after I get my new one. I'll look at my 2019 brochure tonight after work, too.

All of my mowers have engaged at idle (61 Cheetahs w/ fx921's, 52 Vride fx730, and 61 vride w/ fx801).

Derwood said:

I will read my new manual in a couple weeks and report back what it says.

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It wouldn’t matter to me what that manual has to say. I’m smart enough to know better.

I’ve also never had to change a wore out PTO clutch on my equipment. Changed a bunch for other people though.

J. Baker said:

It wouldn’t matter to me what that manual has to say.

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Yeah I agree when it comes to the pto. I was going to check and tell Ripp what it said. I wasn't clear about that. Sometimes I talk like a baby; I know what I'm saying, but nobody else does

Like I said above, I was told how to do it the way I described, by people I trust. So that's what I'll continue to do. The PTO that wore out is on a machine that had 650 hours on it when I bought it, and it has 900 now. I'm guessing the guy before me didn't do it the way I do.

Derwood said:

The PTO that wore out is on a machine that had 650 hours on it when I bought it, and it has 900 now. I'm guessing the guy before me didn't do it the way I do.

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I’d say he didn’t.

I have a machine with over 2,000 hours with the original clutch.
I’ve got another with 4400 that doesn’t appear to have ever been changed, but I didn’t buy it new. Still has paint on it though. If it was replaced it was a very long time ago and someone repainted it.

If you like engine stalls engage it at idle. Ive never burned a pto clutch and i rip on them.

The answer is that no manufacturer is going to tell you to engage at idle on a gas mower. Theyll shake chug bog and possibly die. Much harder on everything doing that. I usually blast at 3/4 or full. They all vary, find the smoothest rpm to engage and keep it. Idle is never a good idea.

rippinryno said:

The answer is that no manufacturer is going to tell you to engage at idle on a gas mower. Theyll shake chug bog and possibly die. Much harder on everything doing that. I usually blast at 3/4 or full. They all vary, find the smoothest rpm to engage and keep it. Idle is never a good idea.

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You are incorrect, but you can treat your equipment however you like. My gas engines have zero issues engaging at idle and I know for fact most owners manuals say no more than half throttle. What they really mean is, the lowest possible setting that doesn’t stall the engine.

Yet another blanket statement you make that is categorically incorrect.

I think the person who instructed me used the word “lug” when talking about the engine when you engage the pto. I don’t believe that happens when I engage at idle, and I have yet to stall an engine. But maybe mine lugs and I don’t realize it.

I did just lose a PTO clutch this fall. It was a huge pain in the butt, and expensive for me. So if there’s something I can do to prolong the life of my clutch, I will do it.

My statement is based on experience and manufacturer recommendations. Any owners manual literature you can show us that says engage at idle? Walker recommends half. Some recommend half to 3/4. None recommend idle

rippinryno said:

My statement is based on experience and manufacturer recommendations. Any owners manual literature you can show us that says engage at idle? Walker recommends half. Some recommend half to 3/4. None recommend idle

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Cub Cadet used to recommend idle.
But again, I couldn’t care less what the owners manual says.

Experience of a teen/early 20’s guy isn’t worth much. You need more experience.

Right on my man, do your thing. Definitely not as young as you say I am but hell Ill take it!

rippinryno said:

Definitely not as young as you say I am but hell Ill take it!

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You aren’t 30 yet.

Ill take 30 all day!

There's no question mechanically speaking, that engaging the unit at the lowest setting without stalling the unit will be beneficial to longevity of the PTO clutch, nothing new here, just good common sense. Like Derwood and J. Baker, I also throttle down before disengaging as well. The old Bolens, Cub, Simplicity manuals all recommended low rpm engagement.

I was always taught to turn off the gas-powered mowers by reducing to low idle speed for about 30 seconds, then as you kill the engine go to full throttle. I've passed this along to friends and neighbors when I hear their units backfire on shutdown...and they've never had that issue again employing the method mentioned above. EDITED TO ADD: I was taught to do this in the late '60's...so it's been a few years ago...

My old Simplicity manuals also shows different rpm settings for different jobs such as plowing, tilling, snow removal, mowing etc...of course nobody was trying to mow at 20mph back then...LOL

Just tried to engage pto on a z trak at idle, it died haha!