How to Fix a PTO Clutch on a John Deere Lawn Tractor

Turn off the John Deere lawn tractor and remove the keys from the ignition. Allow the John Deere's engine a few minutes to cool.

Open the hood over the engine and find the flywheel. The flywheel will be slightly further back on the engine and will rest on top of the engine block. It bears an immediately recognizable circular shape, and is covered with an iron cover.

Remove the bolts on the John Deere lawn tractor's flywheel cover using a socket wrench, then pull the cover off.

Take out the bolt at the center of the exposed John Deere flywheel using the wrench.

Fix a flywheel pulley tool over the exposed flywheel. Tighten the pulley's center bolt with the wrench until the flywheel beneath pops free from the engine block. Set the pulley and flywheel aside. This will reveal the top of the tractor's PTO clutch.

File down any burrs that appear on the flywheel using a file.

Remove the oil pan. The pan is located beneath the area where you removed the flywheel. Remove its bolts using your wrench. This will reveal the bottom of the tractor's PTO clutch.

Ensure the PTO clutch is not loose. It should be held in place with multiple bolts along the vertical clutch shaft that leads down from the flywheel area to where the oil pan normally resides. Tighten all the bolts along this shaft using your wrench.

Reassemble the oil pan and flywheel by following your steps in reverse then attempt to run the John Deere tractor.

Remove the PTO clutch shaft for replacement if your adjustments do not fix your John tractor's problems. Remove the flywheel and oil pan once more, then remove all the bolts along the clutch's shaft using your wrench.

Hammer the top of the clutch shaft with a rubber mallet to dislodge it entirely once its bolts have been removed.

Slide a replacement clutch shaft into place.

Follow the disassembly steps in reverse once more to reattach the oil pan and flywheel.