# how to 'easy-on'engage the pto on a L3560 Kubota hydro



## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

Push the pto button and it hits and breaks the shear bolt on by bush hog. There doesn't seem to be any way to ease it on???


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## Vanman08 (Aug 1, 2020)

Throttle down before engaging the PTO.


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## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

Vanman08 said:


> Throttle down before engaging the PTO.


that's not the fix, at the lowest idle the pto is fully engaged and turning 117 rpm. The standard 'gearshift' model will 'easy-on' using the clutch but apparently the hydro version doesn't have anything like that.At least I can't find it in the book.


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## SidecarFlip (Mar 25, 2021)

+1. Engage the pto only at a speed that won't stall the engine, as low as possible. Low speed engagement prolongs the pto clutch pack as well. Your hydrostat will have a wet clutch pack that drives the PTO. There is a pressure engagement adjustment but it's in the WSM and not in any owners manual and requires a liquid filled 3000 psi gauge and adapter to fit the port in the proportioning valve and to where the valve is located on yours, again you'll have to consult the WSM for location. All wet pack pto's are progressive engagement.


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## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

I called the dealer Fri. pm and they were either ignorant of the pto. system or had never been 'faced' by a customer. The guy I talked to that "would get right back to me" called 10:30 today with excuses why he didn't. Now he is going to call me Monday........ Hopefully he will have had a look at the WorkShop Manual 
Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge of the 'Kubota (hydro) pto problem'!


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## SidecarFlip (Mar 25, 2021)

Told you how to address it. Don't see any issue.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

I have a hydro and I slow the rpm's down to avoid busting the shear pin. Works for me.


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## DK35vince (Jan 22, 2006)

I have independent PTO. (turns on/off with a switch, no easy engagement, its either on or off)
I turn my PTO on at idle speed then throttle up.


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## SidecarFlip (Mar 25, 2021)

DK35vince said:


> I have independent PTO. (turns on/off with a switch, no easy engagement, its either on or off)
> I turn my PTO on at idle speed then throttle up.


Stated that way back in this thread but the OP 'thinks' there is an issue with the PTO engagement. Got news for him (or her), the only adjustment for pto engagement is the wet pack actuation pressure and really has nothing to do with final power transmission, only pertains to clamping pressure and if in specification, nothing is wrong.

Rule of thumb is to ALWAYS engage the pto at the LOWEST practical engine speed and not stalling the engine. Both my M's are the same setup except they are lever engagement and it specifically states in the owners manuals on both tractors NOT TO ENGAGE THE PTO LEVER GRADUALLY, BUT TO ENGAGE IT 'SMARTLY'.

Maybe the OP should take time to read his owners manual...... I'm sure the dealers won't find any issue with it other than maybe an out of specification (unlikely) clamping pressure.

The other issue is, when you engage the PTO at an elevated engine speed, besides putting a helluva shock load on a driven implement, you accelerate the wear of the wet pack plates, not something I want to do as replacement of the wet pack PTO clutch assembly usually entails splitting the unit.


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## DK35vince (Jan 22, 2006)

SidecarFlip said:


> The other issue is, when you engage the PTO at an elevated engine speed, besides putting a helluva shock load on a driven implement, you accelerate the wear of the wet pack plates, not something I want to do as replacement of the wet pack PTO clutch assembly usually entails splitting the unit.


+1


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## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

DK35vince said:


> +1


As I answered Vanman08; I idled the engine as low as it would go and the pto speed was 117rpm. To turn a 6ft. bush hog from 0 rpm to 117 rpm instantly without breaking something is impossible! Like Sidecar Flip said; there has to be a reduction in hyd. pressure....using the attachment and oil 'routing'(?). The tractor, as equipped, is not suited to run that mower.


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## SidecarFlip (Mar 25, 2021)

As a 'last ditch' fix, put a slip cutch between the pto shaft and the stub shaft on the tractor and set the slip clutch so it slips a bit on engagement. TSC has Weasler slip clutches in their store and online. Not that much either.


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## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

SidecarFlip said:


> As a 'last ditch' fix, put a slip cutch between the pto shaft and the stub shaft on the tractor and set the slip clutch so it slips a bit on engagement. TSC has Weasler slip clutches in their store and online. Not that much either.


How would I tighten up the slip clutch after it was running?


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## SidecarFlip (Mar 25, 2021)

You don't. You set the clutch to slip on engagement slightly and that's it. The point of a slip clutch is to protect the driveline of the implement and the shear bolt from shearing and I'm beginning to wonder if the shear bolt in the implement is the correct one. You MUST replace a sheared shear bolt with the correct one, not just one from the hardware store. Shear bolts on any implement are specifically spec'd for that particular machine. I know I carry spares on my machines and I get them from the implement dealer for that particular implement.


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## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

SidecarFlip said:


> You don't. You set the clutch to slip on engagement slightly and that's it. The point of a slip clutch is to protect the driveline of the implement and the shear bolt from shearing and I'm beginning to wonder if the shear bolt in the implement is the correct one. You MUST replace a sheared shear bolt with the correct one, not just one from the hardware store. Shear bolts on any implement are specifically spec'd for that particular machine. I know I carry spares on my machines and I get them from the implement dealer for that particular implement.


You are joking right? If a slipclutch is set to "engage slightly" the bushhog won't be cutting anything but air.......
What you said before will work; install a 3000psi gage and some sort of a pressure regulator, I assume to get the pto hydraulic pressure down to 0 or very near then gradually open up to full psi and max hp to the bushog.


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## SidecarFlip (Mar 25, 2021)

Not at all and you cannot control the lock up pressure on the wet pack, the proportioning valve does that and it's not externally adjustable. Only adjustable for full lock up pressure.

Interesting that one person has a big issue and thousands of other owners have none. me included.


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## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

SidecarFlip said:


> Not at all and you cannot control the lock up pressure on the wet pack, the proportioning valve does that and it's not externally adjustable. Only adjustable for full lock up pressure.
> 
> Interesting that one person has a big issue and thousands of other owners have none. me included.


 The service guy in Kubota (Toronto ?) hasn't come up with a way to get the pto shaft to start at a low rpm and low torque........


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## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

deerhide said:


> The service guy in Kubota (Toronto ?) hasn't come up with a way to get the pto shaft to start at a low rpm and low torque........


and maybe this is the only L3560 Kubota that acts this way??????


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## SidecarFlip (Mar 25, 2021)

PTO engagement is entirely a function of the operator (engine revolutions) and the proportioning valve that actuates the wet pack. Like I said before, the lock up pressure is adjustable but that is all that is.

The technician cannot alter how you engage it nor can they set the lockup pressure to anything other than the factory specification.

Gave you other avenues of modifying how you engage the pto and mitigating the effects of how you operate it.

I'm done explaining it.


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