Mowing Cutter death trap

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Good info never heaerd of phasing a pto shaft. Now I know... I will be watching for this on my equipment.

Good thing you brought it up Kodiak and zzvyb6 saw it and knew what it was.

 

[BackRoad]

Most of my PTO shafts are a triangle (3 sided) design.

Are they susceptible to needing the universals joints aligned also?

 

[Rustyiron]

In my experience, all square and triangular pto shafts only fit together 1 way. One face of either type has a dimension, divot or bump on it that the opposite part can receive.
This keeps the "phasing" correct ..... but I'm sure that I haven't seen them all especially maybe a lower grade/cost attachment.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Mine are triangular, or at least the one I have slid apart.

 

[RayIN]

Kodiak45, while you have it apart, straighten out the metal cover, your ears will appreciate the effort.

Mine are triangular, or at least the one I have slid apart.

Naw, surely not I'm the only one to forget to disconnect the pto shaft from the tractor when unhooking.
This is the first I've heard of pto shaft timing, but then all my stuff is 540RPM. My triangular shafts have 1 longer side.

 

[nyone]

Like so:View attachment 3712641View attachment 3712642

Good catch. I suprised the shaft even went together 90* off. Typicaly these are 3 spline with 1 being different.

 

[BnRidge]

ISO standards were developed around 1980 and later for PTO shafts. Going through the machine shed here a few years ago I found 4 tractor guards from the 40s-60s that had been removed because some older equipment pto's were so annoying to use. Square symetrical shafts were common. Shaft guards could be make shift draped over affairs that tended to become bent and otherwise miserable, then also removed. Also, not only do the shaft knuckles need to be in phase, but the input and output shafts need to be parallel. Most equipment has that designed in. An exception could be when making turns at the end of a field where the shafts start to chatter from the misalignment.

 

[jwmorris]

Good info never heaerd of phasing a pto shaft.

In the old days they were generally square shafts that could be put together wrong.

These days, most will only go together one way, being trilobal with one flat. Forcing one to put them together correctly.

FWIW the OP could swap his shaft and never have the problem again or just note that they are in phase with one another.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

In the old days they were generally square shafts that could be put together wrong.

These days, most will only go together one way, being trilobal with one flat. Forcing one to put them together correctly.

View attachment 3727724View attachment 3727725
FWIW the OP could swap his shaft and never have the problem again or just note that they are in phase with one another.

Yup that's what mine looked like. I didn't notice the flat though. I just twisted it until they worked right.

 

[Hay Dude]

If you need a new complete shaft, try Maugansville AG in Maryland. Great people and they ship all over the country very quickly.