The very first time I put a rebuild PTO on my 147 I destroyed the fiber button that I had installed. I kept tightening and tightening the turnbuckle and the PTO kept spinning till the fiber button exploded, and would never disengage. Back to the drawing board....

I learned that I had to have resistance on it to adjust it. (In my case, a mower deck.) I install that, and with the engine running, I get the button close, check the disengage, and keep adjusting on the turnbuckle by 1/4 turn till I find the spot where it'll disengage but doesn't require a whole lot of pulling of the lever. Never did consult the manual on spacing when engaged. That did the trick.

Hmmmm

Funny thing i have adjusted tons of those simply by eye... and never had a problem. And i think this is the 2nd one that i heard was hitting the crank when pulled in. And i always use the same tool to adjust them also. I guess maybe i will have to write up some adjusting instructions that counter-dick the manual.

I don't think it is how you adjusted the clutch Dave. My old pto was fine until I adjusted the wear button to the 1/64th spec in the manual. It rubbed immediately after that and destroyed my pto. The new one did the same thing but I was able to catch it in time.