The PTO on my Kubota lawn tractor is operated by moving a lever which pulls a cable which moves an idler pulley to put tension on the belt.

Very simple, very reliable and cheap to fix if something goes wrong.

I prefer the manual PTO's over the electric. Just my opinion, and others will most likely disagree.

They are reliable as stated. 2 out of 3 break due to sitting out in the elements and/or the idler assy on the deck works hard and was neglected. 1 just has to break to keep the parts lines going...

I like the cable setup,It's simple and it will keep working when heavy cutting has caused the electric pto to kick out.jmo.