JDeere GT245 troubleshooting?

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bluedogz

Minister of Fire
Oct 9, 2011
1,245
NE Maryland
So, I've got this Deere GT245 I bought new in 2005, 54" deck, 125 hours on it.

Tried to cut the lawn today, and right from the get-go the blades were hesitant to engage, and it APPEARED that the left blade was spinning slower than the right. Both would only spin for maybe 10 seconds before disengaging as if I had gotten out of the seat. They would reengage normally, but only run another 10 seconds or so before disengaging again.

I've never seen this before... can anyone give me a clue where to start troubleshooting?
 
If you have an electric PTO clutch:
Make sure the battery voltage is up when the engine is running. An electric PTO will drop out if the voltage gets low. You could have a bad/misadjusted seat switch or a bad PTO switch. The clutch may need the air gap adjusted.
The wiring or the connector to the clutch could be bad.
If you can, put a 12v bulb across the clutch connector with wires long enough for you to see the bulb. That way you can tell if the clutch gets voltage while running.

You could also turn the key on, don't start the engine, have enough weight in the seat, engage the clutch and wiggle wires, etc. You will hear the clutch engage, and if there's a bad wire or connection, it will disengage audibly as you move the bad connection.

My money's on low battery voltage. Either a bad battery or charging system.

If you have a manual engagement, check belt condition and tightness. That applies to the electric PTO, too.
 
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Aha! Low batt voltage makes sense... batt was dead for no obvious reason, so jumped it off the car and moved on. But yeah, it's hardly fully charged, and it's the original battery from 2005 as well.
 
If you have an electric PTO clutch:
Make sure the battery voltage is up when the engine is running. An electric PTO will drop out if the voltage gets low. You could have a bad/misadjusted seat switch or a bad PTO switch. The clutch may need the air gap adjusted.
The wiring or the connector to the clutch could be bad.
If you can, put a 12v bulb across the clutch connector with wires long enough for you to see the bulb. That way you can tell if the clutch gets voltage while running.

You could also turn the key on, don't start the engine, have enough weight in the seat, engage the clutch and wiggle wires, etc. You will hear the clutch engage, and if there's a bad wire or connection, it will disengage audibly as you move the bad connection.

My money's on low battery voltage. Either a bad battery or charging system.

If you have a manual engagement, check belt condition and tightness. That applies to the electric PTO, too.
Bingo. My guess is it isn't charging correctly. Throw a meter across the battery terminals (with the engine off) and take a voltage reading. Then do the same with the engine running at at least 1/2 throttle. If you don't have a significantly higher (1V +) reading then you have a charging system issue. I would think you would notice the starter getting weaker tho.

GT245 is a nice machine.
 
Seven (or eight) years is a long lifetime for a tractor battery, in my experience. You've gotten your money's worth from that battery!
 
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