5000 PTO education

My new-to-me 1973 5000 has come along pretty well so far, so I spent 45 minutes or so this afternoon brush hogging to just test everything out.

When I got the tractor, the PTO had the usual problem of running all of the time. I was able to adjust the brake band using the set screw near the PTO shaft. The PTO will now stop (after a little while) when disengaged.

My modern Kubota PTO will stop when the clutch is pressed, which makes it really handy to shut it down for example if a big stick or rock gets trapped in the mower, or if I just want to go over something without the blades running under power.

I know the 5000 has independent PTO, so I'm not used to that system. Can someone advise as to the best way to start/stop the PTO quickly? The clutch has no effect of course, and it feels weird to have to completely disengage the PTO on the fly, especially when the engine is running at PTO speed.

My biggest concern is damaging the PTO brake bands. I remember someone on another post stating not to disengage the PTO lever with the engine throttled up, since it would break the bands. If this is true, then to temporarily stop the PTO I would have to go back to idle before disengaging the PTO.

The old operator's manual I have doesn't say anything about this. I also assume it would be a bad idea to engage the PTO at above idle speed. With the Kubota, I just ease out the clutch to gently start the PTO spinning, and again any time I need to stop the PTO, I can just hit the clutch.

Hopefully this makes sense, and I'm probably just not used to this type of operation, but I'm really looking for advise on how to engage/disengage without breaking anything.

Given the fact that you said you got the PTO to stop by performing an external adjustment tells me that
you have the older style brake arm, not the brake band. According to the parts book, the brake band came
out in the latter half of 1973, so you likely just missed the band.

Which is a good thing if your concern is with regards to damaging the PTO brake on sudden stops, because
it's pretty much impossible to hurt the brake arm style. Numerous sudden stops will eventually break the
band-style brake.

It's a good idea to bring the engine back down to idle before you turn the PTO back on, especially if the
equipment you're turning has a lot of mass to it. Frequent high-speed engagements will eventually tear out
the drive splines in the flywheel hub/shaft area, requiring a double split to repair.

I believe February 1973 was the actual production date, so you may be right. I have the slotted set screw with a lock nut just ahead of the engagement lever. Was there some benefit to the band?

One thing I'll suggest is an over running clutch, especially when running something like a bush hog that can take a long time to run down.
It'll save a lot of wear on your pto brake.
The one linked below is rated 100 hp...I know that's overkill for your tractor, but I tend to buy heavy duty.
Over Running clutch

Thanks, I'll consider that. One weird thing about this tractor is that apparently the PTO shaft was once broken and welded back together. As a result, I have a little wobble on the shaft, but so far at least it doesn't seem to be causing any trouble. I'll likely replace it at some point though.

Can't imagine how someone managed that, but the housing, etc. all seem fine.

According to the parts book I looked at, transition to the band style brake occurred in June 1973.

Both styles of brake used the slotted adjustment screw. The fact that you got your PTO to stop by
adjusting said screw tells me you have the earlier brake arm style.

Benefit to the band was superior braking. The older style brake was barely able to stop the shaft, even on
a good day, as you have already found out. Another benefit to the band was the ability to turn the PTO
shaft by hand with the engine off. In fact, this is the one way to tell what type of brake you have.

Disadvantage to the band was that it worked too well - for some implements the stopping action was far too
aggressive. The engineers should have spent more time on the braking modulation.

The overrunning clutch will allow the implement to continue running... JUST the same as NOW.... Absolutely no change, when he turns off the pto.

PTO should always be engaged at low rpms.... or you can damage and twist a pto drive shaft, and other problems down the road. For safety reasons... a pto can be turned off at ANY rpm..... but its better if its turned off at lower rpm, as Bern said to save the brake band... AND a slipping brake band, or brake paw,,, is pretty much common unless the tractor has low hours on it. I have had some of the aftermarket brake paws not work do to being out of spec on the brake pad in the wrong place.

Just suggesting a way to prevent excessive wear on his pto brake.
I know it won't help if he needs a rapid stop.
When he stops the pto with the bush hog attached now, the mower inertia just keeps turning the pto against the brake wearing it out.
An over running clutch will stop that.
I know when I stop the pto on my 5000 using an over running clutch (even after slowing down to idle), the tractor pto shaft stops, and the OR clutch is clicking away as the rotary mower eventually spins down.

(quoted from post at 01:54:42 12/30/22)
Thanks, I'll consider that. One weird thing about this tractor is that apparently the PTO shaft was once broken and welded back together. As a result, I have a little wobble on the shaft, but so far at least it doesn't seem to be causing any trouble. I'll likely replace it at some point though..

Click to expand...

Yeah, if your tractor PTO shaft has been welded and has some wobble, I don't think I'd put the OR clutch on there.
The extra length will just make the wobble worse.

Once you get used to it, I think you'll like that 5000. Still very functional tractors. Just have to remember it is a 50 year old machine.....