Instant stop

37chief · May 6, 2012

I was mowing last week, with my MF 203. I caught a walnut tree stump, and before I could hit the clutch the motor stopped. It started right up and runs fine. I got to thinking does it hurt a motor to come to a instant stop? . Bad part is I have been mowing this field for about 6 years, and knew the stump was close by. Any thoughts? Stan

donjr · May 6, 2012

Don't run over the stump again!

ShadetreeRet · May 6, 2012

I'm not going to say it couldn't happen, but I've never heard of any serious damage to the engine under those conditions. I would be more concerned of damage to the drive train or mower. If it still runs and performs OK I wouldn't be too concerned. Just my thoughts.

Russ from MN · May 6, 2012

There should be a slip clutch or shear pin that should prevent any damage. I have killed the engine on our tractor by getting on a big clump of tag alder and it slips the slip clutch but will kill the engine if I don't get it out of gear quick enough. If your mower has a slip clutch and sits out in the rain it may be rusted solid!

armand tatro · May 6, 2012

The manual for my Woods rotary cutter says to loosen the slip clutch at the end of the mowing season and leave loose all winter. Come the spring mow with the clutch loose until it starts to slip than tighten according to the manual. This way you know the clutch is not stuck and will/should slip when needed. Armand

Anonymous-0 · May 7, 2012

(quoted from post at 20:36:50 05/06/12) Any thoughts? Stan

It's not the fall that hurts you... It's the sudden stop at the bottom.....
Windshield wipers on a horse's butt prolly won't work.....

Anonymous-0 · May 7, 2012

Closer than you thought apparently. Why don't you mark it with a star picket.or the like.?

northvale · May 7, 2012

I managed to break my wrist some years back hitting a stump that 'I' left too high. Cut all stumps flat. A serious safety policy of mine now.

Chris(IA) · May 7, 2012

Since no one has actually answered your question, I will. Restart your engine as soon as possible; heat soak would cause the most damage to your engine. The fact that the whole shebang stopped indicates (to me) that nothing of importance was damaged.

mkirsch · May 7, 2012

If it doesn't appear to be broke, you didn't hurt it.

Well, maybe you did, but what can you do at this point? If it SEEMS to run fine and operate fine and mow fine, it makes absolutely no sense to tear it all apart looking for the boogeyman. You could waste hundreds or thousands of dollars looking for damage that might not exist.

The mower dealer will just laugh at you if you bring it in, or he will quietly snicker to himself while he helps himself to the contents of your wallet.

All you can do is run it and wait until something breaks.

Just keep an eye on it, but don't become hyper-sensitive to every little vibration and clunk, either.

Tony in Mass. · May 7, 2012

Just click on the Massey forum above, within a day those guys will have it all sorted out, and all your other MF questions. But I believe the whole idea of a clutch is to prevent damage at either end, and a stalled engine isn't anything new either... I'm an expert at doing that.

Anonymous-0 · May 7, 2012

If the mower hit the stump and caused the tractor to stall, be glad you didn't break the PTO shaft on the tractor. I've heard of this happening using a rototiller by starting the rototiller in the ground.

Instant stop

37chief

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donjr

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ShadetreeRet

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Russ from MN

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armand tatro

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Anonymous-0

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Anonymous-0

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northvale

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Chris(IA)

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mkirsch

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Tony in Mass.

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Anonymous-0

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