Well, after fixing the charging system situation on my riding mower I got halfway through cutting the grass when the PTO just started cutting in and out.  At first I thought it was the charging system again or perhaps the battery getting weak again so I stopped cutting grass and threw the battery on the charger.  The next afternoon I went out to cut the rest of the grass and noticed that the PTO was cutting in and out again after about 5 minutes.  I pulled the mower into the garage where I checked for voltage to the leads heading down to the PTO.  Battery voltage was present (13.6V) with the tractor running and the PTO switch turned on but the PTO was not engaging and spinning the blades.  🙁    If I let the tractor sit overnight the PTO would engage when turned on, which leads me to believe that it would operate just long enough until it got hot enough to quit.    Time for a new PTO clutch!

Replacement PTO Clutch

After searching the owners manual for the replacement part number and searching online with Amazon and eBay, I finally found a replacement electric PTO ranging anywhere from $200 to $350.  It was not exactly the kind of money I wanted to spend on this old tractor considering a new one with similar features would run around $1000 to $1200.  When searching for ways to rebuild or even adjust the PTO in some tractor forum, I came across a reference to Pete’s Small Engine which had a replacement PTO for $150 and with reasonable shipping.  I am happy to say that the tractor finally seems to be fixed and I was able to cut the entire lawn without one incidence of the PTO cutting out.  I hope that I am able to get at least one more season out of this old riding mower.