# Troy Bilt PTO not working



## T355

Hi, 

I have a troy bilt 17.5hp 42'' deck riding lawnmower. 
Today when I was cutting the grass I disengaged the PTO lever to back up and when I went to engage it again nothing happened. There is no tension in the lever at all. All the belt are on but not tightening. Is there a electronic cut off or something that is keeping the belts from tensioning? Any help would be appreciated, there are only 3 days left on the 1 year warranty.


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## Hoodoo Valley

Welcome to the forum T355! Don't know for sure, but it sounds like a safety switch for the reverse or something, triggering an unsafe mode and shutting you down, but who knows. Could be a really simple matter, and someone with way more knowledge about it, will sound off I'm sure. Have you looked in your manual for troubleshooting advice? Should have something in it that covers your situation. I would certainly contact the dealer, to set a precident for getting it fixed either way. It at least establishes a date of problem before the expiration of the warranty, and helps protect you. Hope you can get it resolved, because I bet it's a simple solution.


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## T355

After looking online for a while it seems these mowers have a problem with the pto cable snapping. So I will take that off tomorrow and see if it is working properly. It would make sense that if the cable is broke then that would be the cause of no tension.


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## Hoodoo Valley

T355 said:


> After looking online for a while it seems these mowers have a problem with the pto cable snapping. So I will take that off tomorrow and see if it is working properly. It would make sense that if the cable is broke then that would be the cause of no tension.


I was going to suggest it actually, but these days with technology such as it is, I thought for sure that it might be "Throttle by wire" like everything else these days! Hope you get it resolved!


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## T355

It was the PTO cable. It was snapped in half where it was held on by a metal bracket. I'm guessing that as it was engaged and disengaged over the past year of use it cut into the cable and finally just snapped. Going to replace it with a rubber surround over that bracket.


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## Hoodoo Valley

Will that fix it so that it won't do it again?


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## T355

tractor beam said:


> Will that fix it so that it won't do it again?


Im hoping so. That bracket has real sharp edges so I think it just ate through the rubber surround on the cable as it moved.


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## Hoodoo Valley

Hit it with a chainsaw file, like a 3/32nds should do the trick!


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