PTO SHAFT TIGHT

[flINTLOCK]

When I hooked up rotary cutter last week for the first time, the PTO shaft did not easily slip onto tractor shaft despite proper alignment. I probably should have greased up the shaft first. It may slide right off, but I'm expecting that it will come off as "easily" as it went on. Any tricks for separating them??

 

[RoyJackson]

When I hooked up rotary cutter last week for the first time, the PTO shaft did not easily slip onto tractor shaft despite proper alignment. I probably should have greased up the shaft first. It may slide right off, but I'm expecting that it will come off as "easily" as it went on. Any tricks for separating them??

I just lube the tractor PTO shaft...haven't had one "freeze" yet...

 

[Soundguy]

Ditto waht row said.. i lube the pto spline. After i remove the unit I put my pto cap on to keep it all clean. Also.. If i can i put a plastic bag over the end of my implement pto shaft and rubber band it on to keep it clean.

Perhaps you had a bur on the ID splines on the implement..

Soundguy

 

[Nightrain1]

I took a little steel wool after mine and rubbed some grease on it afterwards. I could come up with a X rated comment on how well it appeared to work, but we will just leave it at, it worked better then the day I brought it home new.

 

[texasjohn]

I had a situation where several of my shafted implements worked OK.. but the post hole digger didn't... so, I took a file to the inside of the post hole splined shaft and made sure that it was as rust free and dirt free as possible. Unlike others, I hadn't taken the step of greasing/bagging the shaft end and it was kinda gunked up. Kinda would slide on, but not really... so I took some emery cloth... dunno exct grit.... 220 or finer.... to the PTO shaft splines themselves... got them bright... then it all slipped together with WD40 just fine. Still does. Seems it was a 1 time fix.

 

[flINTLOCK]

Now that the shaft is on and none of the recommended precautions taken, any suggestions on removing the shaft if it's as difficult as I expect this one to be. I was thinking I could chain wrap it to a tree to pull it off, so long as the pull is straight line. Otherwise, if pulled at an angle, I guess you could bend/break something. Is heating the shaft likely to be of help??

 

[Soundguy]

I'm sure that would work.. but might 'gut' your tractor to the tune of a few thousand dollars if it ripped the pto section out... I've had to rebuild a JD pto section 2x after employees pushed the shaft back into the tractor.. wasn't a fun split, and the parts alone ran nearly a thousand a pop..

If it were me.. I'd get a can of pb oil with a long red flexible tube nozzle, and spray from the back of the yoke if possible. And from the front.

Worst case scenerio I'd cut the coupler off with a 4" grinder wheel and then split it without harming the pto stub on the tractor.. then get a new yoke end for the pto shaft and get it attached and THEN GREASE IT..

Soundguy

Now that the shaft is on and none of the recommended precautions taken, any suggestions on removing the shaft if it's as difficult as I expect this one to be. I was thinking I could chain wrap it to a tree to pull it off, so long as the pull is straight line. Otherwise, if pulled at an angle, I guess you could bend/break something. Is heating the shaft likely to be of help??

 

[mlauk]

I would make sure the locking collar is pulled back all the way. If not pull back the collar as far as it will go and lubricate it along with the shaft.

 

[texasjohn]

I've found that along with all the other oiling suggestions that it works best if you and a buddy can work on this together. One can hold the collar positioned properly with locking mechanism released, ready to slide back. The other can find long handle pry bar of some sort, an appropriate fulcrum and apply taps/pressure with a hammer to "help" to separate the two parts. Generally the impulse blows will give results where I couldn't get it to budge just with human muscle.

I agree... don't tie it to something and drive away with tractor... the wrong thing might give!

 

[LoneCowboy]

It will come off, they always do
if it's being a pain, just pull forward and let the shaft split, then everything will be out of the way and it will be a lot easier to get access to everything.

DAMHIK

 

[Pooh_Bear]

I had this problem today. Trying to unhook my finish mower.
To hook it up I had to use a hammer to tap it into place.
So I expected I mite have to use a hammer again to nudge it back off.
Nothing doing. Unhooked everything else and beat on it with a 2lb sledge.
But it just wouldn't budge. Finally I decided to just drive forward and
seperate the shaft halves so I could work on it with the mower out of the way.
I started pulling forward and right before the shaft halves seperated I had
a wonderfully bright idea. I got off the tractor and unhooked it no problem.

The problem had been the mower was too close to the tractor.
The telescoping shafts had no where to slide too.
When I moved the tractor forward I had room to slide the shaft back.
Yep, ole Fluff For Brains strikes again.

Usually the problem I get most is burrs on the shaft.
I use a small file to clean the up from time to time.

Pooh Bear

 

[flINTLOCK]

Thanks for the good ideas. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because I've only got about 4 hours to disconnect cutter shaft, hook up sprayer, calibrate sprayer and spray 4 acres of food plots before I head back for son's baseball game.

 

[RoyJackson]

Thanks for the good ideas. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because I've only got about 4 hours to disconnect cutter shaft, hook up sprayer, calibrate sprayer and spray 4 acres of food plots before I head back for son's baseball game.

Why haven't you already tried to remove the PTO shaft and lube it?

 

[LoneCowboy]

I started pulling forward and right before the shaft halves seperated I had
a wonderfully bright idea. I got off the tractor and unhooked it no problem.

The problem had been the mower was too close to the tractor.
The telescoping shafts had no where to slide too.
When I moved the tractor forward I had room to slide the shaft back.
Yep, ole Fluff For Brains strikes again.

Pooh Bear

You need to cut down your drive shaft, it's too long, in some positions it's jamming up and the weakest thing will bend or break. (probably the upper supports on your mower). A cut off saw will take them down nicely.

 

[flINTLOCK]

Tractor is at hunting camp and I'm not. Didn't think about potential problem til the other day when I started making plans for spraying trip to camp.

 

[MikeD74T]

flINTLOCK, Sitting may have worsened the problem. If it doesn't come right off, spray it with some solvent/lube (WD40, diesel fuel, my favorite -Kroil) & mow for a while. Working the coupling against a load may loosen it up. MikeD74T

 

[Soundguy]

He's be VERY lucky if it was only his mower supports that broke.. VS his pto bearing carrier being pushed into the back of his tractor.. BTDT.. got the greasy hands fixing it after the employees where I work did that very thing 2x to one of our JD tractors when they had a tiller with too long of a drive shaft..

I -wish- the tiller 3pt frame would have failed.. would have been nothing to bend and buzz it back together vs splitting that big deere..

Soundguy

You need to cut down your drive shaft, it's too long, in some positions it's jamming up and the weakest thing will bend or break. (probably the upper supports on your mower). A cut off saw will take them down nicely.

 

[JoeL4330]

I believe it will slip off just fine. I have always found putting it on is the hard part. In addition to all the good lube advice, the problem I have always found when putting it on is that the vertical alignment is not perfect. It is easy to note the horizontal alignment, but the vertical is much harder to notice.

My only other problem (don't try this at home) is putting it on when the tractor is running (yes, yes ...never do this) because the pto shaft won't turn to help with the spline alignment ...so, besides the safety no-no, there is the practical argument. With lube, clean splines, and proper vertical alignment, it works like stuff through a goose.

I will wait to hear the good news about how it slipped right off.

 

[montejw]

flINTLOCK, Sitting may have worsened the problem. If it doesn't come right off, spray it with some solvent/lube (WD40, diesel fuel, my favorite -Kroil) & mow for a while. Working the coupling against a load may loosen it up. MikeD74T

Ditto Soundguy and MikeD74T. I had a sticky yoke and pto shaft, sprayed it with Kroil from the front and back, and went mowing. The yoke slipped right off when I was done. Now it'll get greased.

Monte

 

[flINTLOCK]

Whew!! No problem gettin' cutter drive shaft off the tractor. Grease on inside of PTO adapter was sufficient to lube it up. Thanks to all for helpful hints. Going forward, would white lithium grease be appropriate for that purpose??