# John Deere STX38 Yellow Deck PTO issue



## snolte (Jul 3, 2013)

I have a John Deere STX38 Yellow deck and while mowing tonight the blades stopped and I smelled something burning. I disengaged the pto which of course did nothing, shut off the mower and felt the belts going to the blades. All moved freely. I started the mower again and looked at the clutch attached to the bottom of the mower. Smoke could be seen coming out of it. I again shut it off and removed the clutch. It was spinning freely, both inside and out. I read in another forum that using a .015" feeler gauge the electric clutch can be adjusted. I checked it with a gauge, closed it up a little and put it back on. Now the mower wouldn't start at all. It clicked like it wanted to turn over but the blades and everything seemed to be fully engaged as the belts were now very tight. I've since removed the clutch again, loosened the adjustments a bit and am going to put it back on tomorrow and try to start it again. In the meantime I'm leaning towards purchasing a new clutch assembly but am worried i may be wasting $150 if it's not the issue. Had the clutch been seized, or wobbly i would not hesitate. It did not exactly turn smoothly but then again the mower is 20+ years old so I'm not sure that's an issue. I was wondering if anyone has ran into this before and what the solution was?


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