How to Remove the PTO Clutch on a John Deere 212

Park the John Deere 212 mower and turn it off. Remove the keys from the ignition and allow the Kohler engine a few minutes to cool.

Open the John Deere 212 mower's front engine hood to access the Kohler engine. Find the circular flywheel piece on the top of the rear of the engine, then remove the bolts on the iron cover extending over the flywheel. These bolts can be removed using a socket wrench.

Place a flywheel pulley tool over the Kohler engine's flywheel. Position the pulley so that its arms are positioned just against the outside of the flywheel. Use you socket wrench to apply pressure to the flywheel by tightening the center bolt on the pulley as much as possible. As you tighten, the resulting pressure from the pulley will cause the flywheel to come loose from the engine. Set the pulley and the flywheel aside. You now have access to the top of the PTO clutch shaft.

Remove the oil pan's bolts with a socket wrench. The oil pan is the rectangular pan piece on the very bottom of the John Deere 212 mower's Kohler engine. Once the oil pan's bolts are removed and the pan pulled away, you can access the bottom of the PTO shaft and see all the visible bolts secured along the shaft.

Remove each of the bolts along the John Deere 212 mower's clutch shaft using your socket wrench.

Hit the top center of the clutch shaft with a rubber mallet, directly under where the flywheel was removed. Do not use a regular hammer, otherwise you may damage the engine. The mallet will dislodge the PTO shaft from the Kohler engine.