Strange PTO lever action...

I've always had a bit of a problem getting the PTO lever to smoothly engage, as if the clutch wasn't completely disconnecting.

I checked the clutch adjustment and it's in spec. Could it be dragging?

But now if the touch control position lever is "up" the PTO lever just grinds when you try to engage it, whereas if you drop the implement, and then engage, it "clunks" right in.

Is this getting worse, or is it expected to do that??? If I add Zane's live thang, will it cure this, or is this a clutch-is-about to go thing?

What I was saying about the 3rd / 4th is that if you're cruising along and wanna stop, sometimes when I push the clutch in, it won't disengage, and you keep rolling right along (as if with a bush hog without an ORC). However if I lightly tap a brake while holding the clutch pedal in, it will pop out of gear.

So it seems like the consensus is to break it apart now and change the clutch, before I have to tow it!.

Also be sure that you do not have a leaking seal in the input shaft of the transmission or a leaking rear crankshaft seal. Either one will get oil on the clutch and that is not good.

It has always had the "inertial spin" symptom, which I thought was harmless... In that case, you could feel the innards "spin down" till within a coupla seconds the lever would engage with a nice solid thunk.

So either this is new, or it's a combination of the two, and the "sticky clutch" syndrome is starting to dominate the equation.

Yes. 1st gear sometimes grinds a bit, and sometimes it helps when in a high gear to touch the brake a bit to get it to let go of 3rd or 4th and go into neutral.

What can I do short of new clutch parts??? Is this about to explode and throw chunks all over the place???

I guess I'll not attempt entering any tractor pulls this year.