L1501 PTO not engaging? Broken PTO shaft?

[Greggelzzz]

Hi All,

Total newbie here. Just bought a L1501 with a loader on the front and its in great shape but i cant get the PTO working? I put the PTO in gear but the shaft doesn't start turning. I note that the PTO shaft turns in either direction by hand (engine off) whether the PTO is in gear or not with no resistance. No other faults with it (drives and operates well , no noises from the gear boxes at all).
Do you think I might have a broken PTO shaft and have to split the tractor to repar/replace it?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

There could be just about anything wrong in the system.
When you put it in gear does it make any noise?
Are you engaging the PTO with the lever on the side?

 

[Boatman]

I have no specific knowledge of that particular tractor but is there a mid PTO? And if so do you have the selector set to the rear PTO?

 

[Greggelzzz]

There could be just about anything wrong in the system.
When you put it in gear does it make any noise?
Are you engaging the PTO with the lever on the side?

When I put it in gear (using the lever marked PTO on top of the gear box next to the main transmission gears) there's no noise in the system.
Am just hoping I'm missing something simple (like a lever I'm meant to pull etc) and it's not a major tear down and fix job! and hunting down the parts too.
Thanks for the help too! Really appreciate it.

 

[Greggelzzz]

I have no specific knowledge of that particular tractor but is there a mid PTO? And if so do you have the selector set to the rear PTO?

Mid PTO? i can only see the one output shaft at the rear with the normal 3 point linkage. The selector lever doesnt seem to say anything front or rear. just shows the 4 gears for the PTO

 

[Boatman]

Mid PTO? i can only see the one output shaft at the rear with the normal 3 point linkage. The selector lever doesnt seem to say anything front or rear. just shows the 4 gears for the PTO

I looked and couldn't find anything specific for your tractor. Quite a number of these little machines have a mid PTO underneath to run a mower. In those cases there is a lever to select either rear, mid or both PTO's.

 

[Russell King]

These did not have any mid pto shaft only the rear one.

Do you feel like it is actually shifting gears on the pto shifter?

You may want to remove the top cover and see what is going on. It sounds like you will probably have to split the tractor to do the repair

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Yes if the top PTO selector feels "too easy" to move, you should do as Russell suggests and remove the top cover and see what's going on right there.

Put the main shifter in neutral before pulling the cover, makes it much easier to put the main shifter back into the forks on reassembly.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I looked and couldn't find anything specific for your tractor. Quite a number of these little machines have a mid PTO underneath to run a mower. In those cases there is a lever to select either rear, mid or both PTO's.

This is a Grey market model, there is very little documentation on this particular model, it doesn't even have a WSM (aka service manual) available for it.

And most of these older models do not have a Mid PTO, most don't even have a free running internal clutch, better known as a one way clutch.

 

[Greggelzzz]

Hi Guys,
Thanks for your help on this - it is very much appreciated. It does feel like the gears are engaging when i move the pto lever but I will take your advice and remove the top cover and have a look at whats going on inside. Will let you know how i get on.

Cheers

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

When you have the cover off you can also spin the PTO on the back to maybe get an Idea if something isn't engaging, might have to drain the hydraulic fluid down to see it all.

 

[Greggelzzz]

When you have the cover off you can also spin the PTO on the back to maybe get an Idea if something isn't engaging, might have to drain the hydraulic fluid down to see it all.

well i took the gear shift cover off and spun the PTO shaft - Nothing.....
also made sure that the gear levers were engaging as well. Seems ok there. I also put the PTO into gear with the cover off using the forks... still nothing.
The problem must be inside somewhere. Oh boy - looks like its going to be a big job! Going to have to put a few weekends aside to split the tractor and see whats going on.

 

[Greggelzzz]

This is a Grey market model, there is very little documentation on this particular model, it doesn't even have a WSM (aka service manual) available for it.

And most of these older models do not have a Mid PTO, most don't even have a free running internal clutch, better known as a one way clutch.

i managed to find a workshop manual online for it - apparently the L1501 is also known as a L175 , but the workshop manual is pretty basic

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

The L1500 and the L1501 are close to the L175 and the L185, But they vary drastically in the PTO gears and shaft setups as the L175 and L185 are only a single speed PTO.
Yours also doesn't have the one way clutch that the L175, L185 have, on your model you should only have a strait shaft for the PTO after the gears.

 

[Greggelzzz]

Update! success! Pulled the PTO shaft out the rear and drained to oil in the case. Looked inside the case to see the PTO connector socket/spline thing lying in the bottom of the sump! Put it on the shaft and reassembled. It works a treat!
Going by the gasket goo used on the rear pto seal i think that someone pulled the shaft previously to fix the seal and it's fallen off and been lying in the bottom of the case ever since!
Thank you all for your help!
Much appreciated!