MF 245 diesel PTO won't raise after 45 minutes of use

Denna

Member
1976 MF 245 diesel with draft control disabled.

After about 45 minutes of pulling a bush hog, the PTO slowly lowers the deck until it is scraping the ground.

At this point, the PTO will not raise the deck.

The only temporary solution is to turn the tractor off for a few minutes. Sometimes the PTO would raise the deck on startup. Other times, on the drive back to returning the tractor to storage, the PTO will suddenly raise the deck.

How do you troubleshoot this ?
 
You have a hydraulic problem, NOT a PTO problem. The hydraulic pump is what drives the PTO, not the other way around. Why and how is the Draft control disabled? For position control to work right the draft lever should be in the full up location. A worn hydraulic pump or leaking internal system will not lift when oil is warm, but will try to lift with cold oil.
 
Dieseltech,

The draft control lever is pulled to the highest and farthest back position closest to the rear of the tractor.

Do you have to be a skilled tractor mechanic to replace a hydraulic pump or install a hydraulic pump rebuild kit ?
 
There are other simple things to check first, could be the standpipe O rings are leaking. Later MF tractors need both the lift cover removed and a split at the trans-diff connection to remove the pump out the front of the diff case.
 
Dieseltech,

How do you check if the standpipe O rings are leaking ?

How do you replace the O rings ?
 

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