L235 Live Clutch?

Coach, the way to tell is to put the stethoscope you use for checking vibrations and noises down on the transmission and determine if there is a thumping noise.

OK, OK just making sure you're paying attention. I copy and pasted this from another site.

There is a lot of confusion about what a Live PTO is and isn't. A live PTO, normally, has a 2 stage clutch. You can depress the clutch 1/2 way in and the transmission will stop but the PTO will continue to spin. If you depress the clutch all the way the PTO will stop also. This is very useful when mowing because you can stop, change gears, back up, etc while the mower continues to receive power.

If the PTO is not "live" it will stop receiving power every time the clutch pedal is depressed. Because the PTO is always directly connected to the transmission you will need an over run clutch if you use a high momentum implement like a mower.

On the L185 I have the clutch stops both the PTO and the transmission at the same time. Inversely the PTO does not "start" until you release the clutch, if you are in gear the tractor takes off and the PTO starts at the same time.

You may be more interested in if you have an over running clutch which allows the implement to be driven by the tractor but does not allow the implement to keep driving the tractor when the clutch is pushed in.

There are ways to test for this. The most straight forward (to me) is to use a PTO driven mower (since it can store energy in the rotational inertia of the blade system) so you know it will continue to turn when the clutch is pushed in. Have plenty of clear distance in front in case the tractor does not stop.
Get the tractor and mower both going and push in the clutch. The tractor should coast to a stop or be stopped with the brakes IF you have the over run clutch. IF you don't have the over run clutch the tractor will continue to get power from the mower and will not stop until the mower is also at rest.

D2Cat said:

This is very useful when mowing because you can stop, change gears, back up, etc while the mower continues to receive power.

If the PTO is not "live" it will stop receiving power every time the clutch pedal is depressed. Because the PTO is always directly connected to the transmission you will need an over run clutch if you use a high momentum implement like a mower.

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I'm curious to know about the advantages, other than the implement losing power when maneuvering the tractor. I've seen external over-run clutches for sale and was wondering about them. I'm guessing that any implement with inertia - mower, bush hog, tiller - would be affected.

An overrunning clutch also allows the engine to quickly drop to idle while the mower or chipper, etc. spins down slowly. This allows for much easier shifting and less wear/tear when changing gear and/or direction.

Tomcat said:

I'm curious to know about the advantages, other than the implement losing power when maneuvering the tractor. I've seen external over-run clutches for sale and was wondering about them. I'm guessing that any implement with inertia - mower, bush hog, tiller - would be affected.

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I put an over running clutch on the end of my pto shaft on the tractor. Worth every penny. If you have a bush hog, it will push you until it loses momentum. I wiped out a fence post the first time out with the bush hog

I wouldn't be to concerned if all your gonna do is run your tiller. They don't have a lot of stored energy like the bush hogs do

North Idaho Wolfman said:

The advantage of a 2 stage clutch setup or live PTO is that you can maneuver the tractor with the implement running all the time .

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Not sure I understand that. On mine, the travel clutch releases first. With continued travel, the travel pressure plate tabs eventually push up the pressure plate on the PTO clutch. It seems that the usage would be to release the travel clutch to leave implement running in place. Perhaps a bush-hog or tiller left working an area, or maybe shifting? Or is that exactly what you are describing?

Ah, I get it. I thought it unlikely, but that perhaps some worked in the reverse so you could stop the implement while you repositioned the tractor. Thanks.