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Yes, something like a rotary mower (bush hog) that has a large moving mass (a lot of inertia) can "push" the tractor even though you have disengaged the clutch and are applying the brakes - N brakes are manual and not known as being especially good. The reason comes from the tractor design - the PTO is connected to the counter shaft of the transmission. The counter shaft is below the main shaft and is how the different speeds (gears) are achived. Thus there is a SOLID connection from the PTO shaft to the rear wheels when the tractor is in ANY gear. The clutch is between the engine and transmission so only the engine is disconnected by disengaging the clutch. For safety, you MUST have a (functioning) over running clutch on the PTO shaft. It allows power to go from the PTO into the implement (mower) BUT NOT from the implement back into the tractor PTO. An over running clutch is about three inches in diameter and about as long with a splined interior and a spline sticking out the rear (so overall length is about 6") as the output. A good one will turn freely in one direction but lock the interior and exterior splines in the other direction - easy test on the tractor with it in gear (AND NOT running, of course!) you can turn the output shaft one way but not the other. As for electrically operated, most anything is possible but in this case it is not practical nor would you want to pay for what it would take to do it. There is a manual disconnect on the tractor that disconnects the PTO when you want to. BUT when the PTO shaft is not turning, you CANNOT use the lift since the hydraulic pump for the lift is driven directly from the PTO shaft. For some people, this is a major draw back of the N series tractors. Ford "corrected" this in later tractors. You should also look "down" the board (go to other pages) to see the recent posts on bush hogging, re: second gear being weak. If not on following board pages, then go to archives and look for "second gear bush hogging". If you do get a N, this is the place for all sorts of help. Regards,
Larry
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