Broke my PTO shaft

[ddb123]

Well, I've had better days. I borrowed my dad's tiller to till my garden, and it has a teensy tiny short little pto shaft. I hooked it up to my tractor and it would barely stay on. I lengthened the top link and it tucked it in a little. It worked for one row, then right when I got comfortable, the shaft came apart, spun around, stuck on my side link and stalled my tractor. I decided not to push it any farther (too late!) and took the tiller off. That's when I noticed oil coming from beneath my pto shaft on my tractor.

I engaged the pto and it spun, but it sounded like it was wobbling around, and sure enough, it was.

It's a little hard to see, but the shaft is bent and there is/was oil coming out.

So, how screwed am I? Would I have just been ahead to buy myself a freakin' tiller? Should I just give up and trade it in on that shiny new GL HST I've been drooling over?? Should I admit to my girlfriend that I'm not a real man and she should look elsewhere for support and protection???

:ashamed:

 

[gengine]

Man, what a pain. But don't worry, real men break things all the time. It's just natural. You can keep borrowing the tiller, just buy a longer pto shaft to use with your tractor. It's cheaper than a tiller by far. The pto shafts that I have had apart for new seals were pretty simple. Some one will chime in on your tractor soon, sorry I can't help you here, but I don't think you have to worry.

 

[rambler]

You're just a 'farmer' trying to save a buck. Happens.

Most of your troubles should come out with the shaft by unbolting the 4 bolts around the pto. Hope it didn't hurt any internal gears, and shouldn't be too bad on parts and labor.

--->Paul

 

[Deano]

I've broke stuff....it only happens to real men!

And, some women too!! (that is my official disclaimer!!)

 

[Freakingstang]

you are supposed to be proud of carnage!!!!

lol:thumbsup:

Anyways, good luck!

 

[ddb123]

Worst day ever? LOL

I was just on my way to work and starting to feel a little better about my pto incident. I haven't really looked at it again or found out any info on it, but I just figured hey, that's life, s*** happens. So I was on my way to work and all of a sudden my car dies! It started right up again but was sputtering and acting like it was out of gas, then died again. I did that about three more times and was able to get it a little farther each time until it was off the highway. My girlfriend came and brought me home. Now I'm afraid to get in my truck and go pick up my car!

This is actually getting kind of humorous! I'm not all that upset about it anymore, but I thought you guys might get a kick out of this.

 

[Dutch61]

You should go buy a lottery ticket and ask the guy behind you to share his winnings.

 

[Dgoatrider]

Ok I'll add my week for ya. Sat I was just finishing up clearing cedar trees and a small cedar took out my valve stem on a rear wheel I don't have the know how to fix it so tractor sits the rest of weekend till service truck comes Monday a fixes for $165. On Monday at 5am I try to go to work and my pickup won't start. Oh well wife's gets to drive me to work. On Tuesday I'm 650 miles from home having a good day and the turbo starts to scream and I have to get towed off I-70 to the shop cause they don't want to risk extra damage. Company got a $750.tow bill and I get a night in the motel turned out a $30 clamp broke at least I got back on the road by 6am. At least all my animals got there hay out before I played in the woods. Oh yea 23 of our goats started to kid on weds so when I get home sat I have plenty to do and no tractor time. Got 10 kids on the ground so far and 18 does to go. things break and theres never enough time so go with it.

 

[ddb123]

Ok I'll add my week for ya. Sat I was just finishing up clearing cedar trees and a small cedar took out my valve stem on a rear wheel I don't have the know how to fix it so tractor sits the rest of weekend till service truck comes Monday a fixes for $165. On Monday at 5am I try to go to work and my pickup won't start. Oh well wife's gets to drive me to work. On Tuesday I'm 650 miles from home having a good day and the turbo starts to scream and I have to get towed off I-70 to the shop cause they don't want to risk extra damage. Company got a $750.tow bill and I get a night in the motel turned out a $30 clamp broke at least I got back on the road by 6am. At least all my animals got there hay out before I played in the woods. Oh yea 23 of our goats started to kid on weds so when I get home sat I have plenty to do and no tractor time. Got 10 kids on the ground so far and 18 does to go. things break and theres never enough time so go with it.

Wow that really puts things in perspective. My truck took my car to the dealership, my guess is it's a fuel pump. Real good local tractor mechanic came to look at my tractor, he's going to start working on it soon. I don't really care how much it costs, I just feel a lot better knowing the stuff is going to get fixed and the process is started.

Okay, I DO care how much it costs! Lol

 

[ddb123]

Always make sure your PTO drive shaft is the right length. Unless you want to learn the $1200 hard way! (I chose the hard way)

The good news is I'm also getting my 400 hour service done included with that price, so when I get my tractor back in a week I'll be good to for a long time, provided I don't break anything else!

 

[easygo]

Thanks for posting your story. The $1200 is a pretty deep cut I feel your pain.

 

[dfkrug]

Would I have just been ahead to buy myself a freakin' tiller? Should I just give up and trade it in on that shiny new GL HST I've been drooling over??(

In short, yes. To the first question.

But, few things are going to look more "manly" than driving that new
L5740 HST+, just about the finest CUT out there.

 

[MHarryE]

Last summer by B-I-L and I were chopping hay on his farm. I noticed he was stopped and his tractor was further in front of his chopper than normal. When I got up to him I found out his drawbar had come off, and when the chopper moved apart from the tractor there was enough whip in the shaft before it completely came apart to snap the PTO shaft off on the tractor. That is enough to really screw up your day - hurrying to get hay chopped at the right moisture content and have a breakdown like that. Fortunately his chopper was 540 rpm and his tractor had both 540 & 1000 rpm shafts. My chopper was 1000 rpm and my tractor also had both shafts. We switched choppers although we did need to steal the PTO shaft off an old chopper because that brief instant of shap whip before it came apart seriously twisted the shaft. They definitely need a good amount of overlap.

 

[BeezFun]

You should have borrowed his tractor with the tiller, that way he'd have the broken PTO.

 

[ddb123]

Well, I came home from work today and found my tractor sitting under its shelter. I hadn't expected it until tomorrow -- haven't even paid the repair bill yet. I was so excited that I started it up and drove it around the yard! Boy did I miss this thing!

If you guys want to know how to appreciate your tractors more, break them and then lose 'em for a week! :thumbsup:

 

[Baby Grand]

Sounds like you did okay.
Glad to hear it worked out well.
... and you found a good mechanic!

 

[chucko]

"Should I admit to my girlfriend that I'm not a real man and she should look elsewhere for support and protection??"

We would need a picture of her to tell you for sure LOL

But for real like to others said it does not look to bad but then I have found that kubota parts can be a lot higher cost than one would expect

 

[ddb123]

"Should I admit to my girlfriend that I'm not a real man and she should look elsewhere for support and protection??"

We would need a picture of her to tell you for sure LOL

But for real like to others said it does not look to bad but then I have found that kubota parts can be a lot higher cost than one would expect

And yes, I do think I found a good mechanic. He came and picked it up, dropped it off early when he knew I wouldn't even be around to pay him, did all the running around for parts and called me with every step of the process. His price is exactly what he quoted from the moment he had it open to see what was really broken, and he gave me receipts for all the parts and fluids (a big chunk of the cost was freakin' hydraulic fluid!) Yeah, I'm really happy with the mechanic and mostly just happy to have my tractor back and in working order. He even cleaned the tractor and straightened my step where the previous owner apparently ran it into something and bent it!

 

[rambler]

Most any comment I'd make here would be inappropriate, but you are a lucky guy.

Glad you got the tractor fixed, too.

--->Paul

 

[ddb123]

Most any comment I'd make here would be inappropriate, but you are a lucky guy.

Glad you got the tractor fixed, too.

--->Paul

LOL thanks. You can see how photogenic I am, but I rarely claim to be the pretty one.