How to Clean inside PTO Shaft

[ShaneG]

I have an old pro shaft on my old BushHog brand 6' rotary cutter. The shaft has become ever increasingly harder to slide in and out due to a build up of grease and dirt. I have the two pieces separated. It is no problem to clean the male portion. What would be a good way to clean inside the female portion of the shaft?

 

[diesel85]

I would get a bucket and soak it in parts cleaner for a couple hours.

I'd advise not to soak the cardan joints/u-joints. Just the female portion of the shaft that you wish to clean. It should break the sludge down.

To clean it out further, use a small piece of rag and a piece of wire and attach it like you were going to clean a gun barrel and slide it in and out.

 

[Roadworthy]

I used a piece of half inch PVC pipe to push a rag through. I had the roll pin removed at the time which made it really easy to push the rag clear through. I then used diesel as a solvent to finish cleaning it. It was much easier to clean the inner section. I finished cleaning it with acetone then rubbed in some molybdenum disulfide powder instead of greasing it. I followed that with a bit of WD-40 hoping for some corrosion protection.

 

[jaxs]

Shine a light into female part to see how far the close fit extends. Normally about 4" which is easy to reach with PB Blaster and rag. If it runs deeper just pour a few oz of transmission fluid inside,reassemble and use it until parts slide easily,dump fluid out,reassemble and grease it.

 

[Spike56]

I would try to spray if possible. Once clean and lubricated, I keep the shaft in my barn ! Had one fuse so tight...no heat / nothing could separate it. Even had it tied to a tree and pulled with tractor. Kind of like trying to get two plastic 5 gallon pails apart, at some point I give up.
You are probably keeping the PTO shaft under cover, I left mine exposed to the weather too long !

 

[ArlyA]

Like roadworthy says, push a rag through it. Or at least to the end and pulll it out agian with a bent wire retiver. I use paint thinner mixed with some acetone to cut tough old grease.

 

[JJT]

I use brake clean or engine degreaser, then hit it with some spray lube. This seems to be an every 5 year event for the brush hog and tiller.

 

[jaxs]

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. When not on tractor,most pto shafts lay tilted in a position that alows rain to run down male section and enter female section. I recommend attaching a piece of wire or small chain high up on frame to support shaft tilted up so rain runs in opposite direction and can't enter female end. That also keeps coupler out of dirt.

 

[jaxs]

I would try to spray if possible. Once clean and lubricated, I keep the shaft in my barn ! Had one fuse so tight...no heat / nothing could separate it. Even had it tied to a tree and pulled with tractor. Kind of like trying to get two plastic 5 gallon pails apart, at some point I give up.
You are probably keeping the PTO shaft under cover, I left mine exposed to the weather too long !

I think I bought that mower and bad pto shaft from a shady tractor dealer. Dealer advertised a used mower with brand new pto shaft. When I got it home I put mower on tractor and made a couple of rounds cutting grass. When I raised lift the shaft was frozen as you described and damaged bearings,gears and seals inside tractor. The mower had been used on a tractor with far more horsepower than mower was designed for. The female part was worn so bad the male part wedged and froze in place. The scum had installed a new safty shield and painted ends making it look new. $800 in repair and a week down time made me want to go beat the scum to death with the shaft.

 

[Oaktree]

What do you guys use for grease on PTO shafts? I've been just using whatever's in my grease gun, squeezing some out on a popsicle stick or something and smearing it over the shaft. Seems to work, but I'm wondering if it might be a bit too heavy, sometimes the shafts don't slide as easily as I'd like.

Don't want to get too far into the weeds with a "what's the best grease" thread, just wondering if I could do better.

 

[JJT]

I simply give it a good spray with white lithium.

 

[stuckmotor]

The grooves got messed up in mine once. I tried lubricant and cleaning without success. Finally I took a file and tried to make everything in there smooth. Never saw any particularly high spots, but it did the trick. I was careful not to over do the filing.

 

[Raul-02]

build up of grease and dirt

Kerosene and a rag.

 

[HighTwelve]

What do you guys use for grease on PTO shafts? I've been just using whatever's in my grease gun, squeezing some out on a popsicle stick or something and smearing it over the shaft. Seems to work, but I'm wondering if it might be a bit too heavy, sometimes the shafts don't slide as easily as I'd like.

Don't want to get too far into the weeds with a "what's the best grease" thread, just wondering if I could do better.

Just go with white lithium in a spray can. The lubrication is only needed for sliding friction. This isn’t a wear part. Using lots of conventional chassis lube may sort of give a good feeling that everything is fully lubed but it’s unnecessary.

Lots of chassis grease on that shaft works great in the summer, becomes problematic in spring and fall, and a nightmare in winter. I have a snowblower for my Kubota L3010 and I’ve launched a lot of creative vocabulary at the PTO shaft while doing winter hookups.

 

[mcfarmall]

I use a boiler tube brush. Works like a champ. McMaster Carr I believe.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I spray the inside heavily with WD40 and slide the tubes back together and back and forth several times. Then pull them apart and wipe off the male side. Then spray again and put it back in and start sliding. Once they slide smoothly, I wipe them down one last time, spray again and leave them apart for storage.

NEVER store them together and spray every time before use, that's been working for many many years without any problems at all.

SR

 

[5030]

I use motorcycle spray chain lube on mine actually.

 

[oosik]

Clean it just like the bore on your 12 gauge shotgun. Cleaning rod - chunk of clean shop rag - whatever solvent you choose. If it's really gunky - get a bore brush. Soak it in gasoline overnight. DO NOT submerge the U-joint/double cardan joint.

 

[5030]

Never had one hang up, maybe because all mine are fully shielded but I di clean and lube them (with motorcycle chain lube yearly).

 

[Ddh1961]

I have an old pro shaft on my old BushHog brand 6' rotary cutter. The shaft has become ever increasingly harder to slide in and out due to a build up of grease and dirt. I have the two pieces separated. It is no problem to clean the male portion. What would be a good way to clean inside the female portion of the shaft?

Once a year I spray brake cleaner thru it, then run a rag thru it soaked in acetone. When dry I then spray WD-40 gel lube inside the female end and coat the male shaft with polyurea grease I use on the rest of the tractor. Brush hog is my only PTO driven implement and only sees about 30 hrs a year of service, but stays on the tractor year round for ballast. If I used it more I’d clean & grease it more often, but for now once annually works for me.