Mowing Mmm quick disconnect not so quick

[SrChf]

I have no issues putting mine on. The shaft will start with the collar in the locked position, then pull it back and slide it home. this is a one hand operation.

It also helps to attach the shaft while the mower is slid off to the right side.

Its statements like yours that make me think that maybe there is somethign amiss with either my collar or the PTO shaft itself, but like I said before, I disassembled the collar, cleaned it up, oiled it, reassembled it but no change. It slides in no problem up to the area just before the ball bearing indent but it goes no further, regardless of how much you coax it, wiggle it, tap it, ect gentle or rough.

Just to see if the thing would even go on at all I slid the collar off the MMM shaft, removed the mower altogether and tried to insert the collar onto the PTO. Having all that room I still couldnt do it. It wasnt until I tapped it with a hammer several times did it finally click into place. Of course, that did me no good since its even harder to get the collar onto the MMM shaft, what with that bead weld that forces you to put it on only one way. So off it came. Hoping maybe getting it on 'loosened' something, nope. Still couldn't get it on once I had put the mower back under it. The amount of effort spent doing this, I could have mowed my yard with a rotary push mower and still had time for my favorite show.

 

[beppington]

Getting PTO shafts on (or off!) can be a royal P.I.T.A. one time ... & then a dream the next. And you never know which ya gonna get.

 

[SrChf]

Getting PTO shafts on (or off!) can be a royal P.I.T.A. one time ... & then a dream the next. And you never know which ya gonna get.

Like a box-a-chocolates!

 

[beppington]

Like a box-a-chocolates!

:thumbsup:

 

[dodge man]

My experience is prettty much like Beppingtons. I've hooked up PTO shafts in 10 seconds, and I've had it take 5 minutes. It just seems to be a matter of getting everything lined up.

 

[SrChf]

My experience is prettty much like Beppingtons. I've hooked up PTO shafts in 10 seconds, and I've had it take 5 minutes. It just seems to be a matter of getting everything lined up.

But ever an hour? I know what ur thinking...Maybe I'm a motor skills challenged individual, but I'm really not.

 

[kevinj]

Its statements like yours that make me think that maybe there is somethign amiss with either my collar or the PTO shaft itself, but like I said before, I disassembled the collar, cleaned it up, oiled it, reassembled it but no change. It slides in no problem up to the area just before the ball bearing indent but it goes no further, regardless of how much you coax it, wiggle it, tap it, ect gentle or rough.

Just to see if the thing would even go on at all I slid the collar off the MMM shaft, removed the mower altogether and tried to insert the collar onto the PTO. Having all that room I still couldnt do it. It wasnt until I tapped it with a hammer several times did it finally click into place. Of course, that did me no good since its even harder to get the collar onto the MMM shaft, what with that bead weld that forces you to put it on only one way. So off it came. Hoping maybe getting it on 'loosened' something, nope. Still couldn't get it on once I had put the mower back under it. The amount of effort spent doing this, I could have mowed my yard with a rotary push mower and still had time for my favorite show.

I always clean and deburr new stuff.

It must slide on freely(no hammer needed!)

The edges of the splines and such are often burred.

A good deburr and lube will make it much easier or just use it for a couple years and it will wear itself in!!!:laughing:

 

[beppington]

But ever an hour? I know what ur thinking...Maybe I'm a motor skills challenged individual, but I'm really not.

Maybe not an hour, but I have had it take a good, long, frustrating amount of time, where I tried every angle, heavy force/ light force, etc., everything I could think. Walked away dirty, greasy, sweating profusely & seriously P.O.'d.

Came back a few minutes later to try again & the d@mn thing slipped right on like butter :confused3:

Could be precision metal-to-metal surfaces that only take a speck of dirt to cause problems. Could be imprecise tolerances, like the sloppiness of some Chinese Harbor Freight stuff. Not sure, but I'd guess 1) the parts will improve / break in, & 2) you'll get better at it / get the feel for it.

 

[kevinj]

Came back a few minutes later to try again & the d@mn thing slipped right on like butter :confused3:

Could be precision metal-to-metal surfaces that only take a speck of dirt to cause problems. Could be imprecise tolerances, like the sloppiness of some Chinese Harbor Freight stuff. Not sure, but I'd guess 1) the parts will improve / break in, & 2) you'll get better at it / get the feel for it.

I think you right about tolerance. that mid shaft rolls about 2500 and needs to fit a bit better than the 540 rear shafts do.

 

[dodge man]

Maybe not an hour, but I have had it take a good, long, frustrating amount of time, where I tried every angle, heavy force/ light force, etc., everything I could think. Walked away dirty, greasy, sweating profusely & seriously P.O.'d.

Came back a few minutes later to try again & the d@mn thing slipped right on like butter :confused3:

Could be precision metal-to-metal surfaces that only take a speck of dirt to cause problems. Could be imprecise tolerances, like the sloppiness of some Chinese Harbor Freight stuff. Not sure, but I'd guess 1) the parts will improve / break in, & 2) you'll get better at it / get the feel for it.

I hooked up a brush hog to my BX the other day. Its the rear PTO, and it was almost exactly like Beppington says. I couldn't get it hooked up, walked away for a second, came back then it just slid on very easily.

The hard part about the mid mount mower is reaching in there. I would say on average it takes me a total of about 15 minutes to hook up my mower. I've struggled with the mid pto a couple of times, but I'd say it rarely takes more than 5 minutes to hook it up, more like 2 minutes on average. Like someone else said, I hook up the PTO shaft first, then hook up everything else. The PTO shaft is in 2 pieces that slide apart, make sure where they slide is smooth and greased so that doesn't hang you up.