Tiller PTO Shaft Cutting

[NoCowboyhat]

After a lot of searching for a used tiller, I ended up buying a new County Line 4ft tiller. I've watched many videos on setting it up and cutting the PTO shaft. My question is on the measurement. I have a BX2680. When I hooked the tiller up to it (what a pain in the rump that was) and raised it, the distance between the two notches is 21 3/4". I've attached the tiller, raised it and measured on multiple days to be sure and I get the same measurement each time. It's about 23 inches when it's on the ground and 21 3/4 raised. The PTO shaft is 28 3/4 from bolt to bolt. Most of the videos I've watched show cutting 3-4 inches off the shaft. Has anyone heard of a 7 inch cut (hey now, this is a G rated question!)? I haven't seen anyone in the videos trimming 7. My measurements follow the process in several different videos.

After severely straining my real delt picking up half the tiller during the attachment process, I'm excited to get this thing running. I just don't want another setback caused by cutting too much from the shaft.

 

[RjCorazza]

I'm not following your measurements, but what matters is that the shaft is not fully collapsed in the raised position, AND that there is 6" of overlap of the shaft when lowered.