Attaching and unattaching mower from tractor -- is there an easier PTO connector?

[ToTheNines]

I have an old John Deere tractor that runs like a champ, and stays connected to a grooming mower attachment. The grooming mower is PTO driven.

I would like to get an arena groomer and be able to easily change to and from the mower.

I got a quick connector for the three point arms from TSC, but the real pain is the PTO. I have a PTO arm with a sleeve, and my neighbor told me there were different types of PTO arms that were easier to manage than the one with the sleeve.

Before I go out on Google, I thought I would ask here because there are some really smart people and I know the language here! Are there different types of PTO arms? Are some easier than the sleeve type ones? Can you interchange them between tractor brands?

Thank you!

[Bluey]

I use a baling twine to hang the PTO arm up, lined with the PTO shaft in the tractor and so it makes it much easier to handle the end that slips in the shaft.

I am very short, with short arms and barely reach under there by a couple inches, so that is a struggle for me.

I don’t think there is any other way than sliding the PTO onto the shaft by hand.
The difference is in how the collar fits, some just slip over and snap on, others you have to move or hold parts out of the way and then back.

[Guilherme]

I don’t know of any alternative PTO connecting system than the “sliding collar” on all our gear. I would definitely like to have one, though!

The best way to deal with the issue to use a hanging system as Bluey described. Also, keep your shaft and spline well lubricated. Grease, here, is your friend; so is Break Free. And if you grease from time to time you’ll have to clean to remove caked grease.

This is just a job that requires two kinds of grease (synthetic and elbow).

G.

[Jim_in_PA]

Unfortunately, attaching and disconnecting the 3-PT PTO often feels like a “three arm required” operation! Some good advice already given, especially Guilherme’s mention of proper lubrication with grease and cleaning. It’s often overlooked, even when it’s the obvious solution!

[hastyreply]

I thought “the wife” was the solution to this problem. Of course lots of cussing also seems to help.

[Bluey]

I have W-40 in the tractor, pickup, garage, shop and barn and it is the go to lubricant for things like bolts and nuts and PTO shafts.

Now, there are grease points you have to keep serviced, but the PTO connection and collar itself do fine with something like W-40 for lubricant, because they don’t have to move once they click in the right place on the tractor shaft.

[DHCarrotfeeder]

I’ve heard really good things about this system:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200280774_200280774

It is for the 3 pt itself, not the PTO but I’m sure with a PTO shaft in the mix anything will help.

I would also clean the splines on the PTO shaft with a wire brush (by hand!) before regreasing. A bit of dirt can make things difficult and grease attracts dirt like. …

[Jim_in_PA]

DHCF’ I’ve used the Pat’s quick connect system for years…great system for a very reasonable price. But yes, it doesn’t help with the PTO. That goes back to lubrication and cleaning.

[LookmaNohands]

You can tell that it was designed by a man. I have always thought that if a woman designed the PTO connection, it would be like starting a dish washer–you would just push a button!!

LOL! I would LOVE an easier one!

[gumtree]

LOL, yup every time I have to connect my 16’ JD Flex wing I think about this. The PTO shaft on it makes others feel like a bag of feathers. Sometimes I get the spindle alignment just right and slips on pretty as you please other times a whole lot of 4 letter words are needed. The “push button” locking shaft end (female end) is easier to work with than the slip collar locking ones. At least on big shafts. They don’t require 2 hands to hold it back, freeing one to spin the shaft and or the tractor output shaft.

I “drew up” an adjustable PTO shaft holder/cradle. Just need to find the time to fabricate it. Adjust to the height that matches the tractor output shaft (male end), slide the PTO to meet the tractor and have 2 hands free to spin either one to match the spines and slip it on. And then it will fold out of way.

Seems to me manufactures could update the thing. The easiest would be to “stamp” easily visible “guide” marks on both ends. So we know both male and female ends are lined up for the splines before lifting and sliding into place. The other thing they could add is a tapered, smooth guide extension/shaft on the end of the tractor output shaft. A slight modification would need to be made to the implement side by adding a hole in the coupling that the “guide shaft” can slip into and hold the PTO shaft in place while getting the coupling to line up and slip on.

My tractor has both 540 and 1000 (RPM) PTO outputs. The 1000 couplings have lots of “little splines” and is MUCH easier to adjust and slip on. The majority of implements use 540 shafts these days, they should just switch configurations.
As other have said, keeping the PTO sliding shaft well lubricated makes the job a bit easier. But it is important to use the right kind of grease/lubricant. Just about any will work, but some types tend to get “hard” with age and or cold temps. Given time the shaft will get “sticky” hard to slide. At least once a year it is worth the time and effort to take the 2 apart and clean with a degreaser real good. Most PTO shafts have a detachable coupler on the implement side also so you can work with it on the ground. Spray a lot of degreaser into the female side and try to get it all the way into the shaft. Spay the male and slide in and out wiping off the gunk that comes out until it is pretty clean. Then use fresh lube that is recommended by the manufacture. It doesn’t have to be made by them, just the same type.

I don’t use WD-40 much. It’s not really a lubricant per-say and dries out quickly. There are much better products to be had.

Light weight PTO shafts can easily be bent. Even if it is bent just a little bit will make it a real SOB to slide easily. I put up with it for only so long because I am cheap. But finally break down and buy a new one which makes life on the farm that much easier.

Be glad that just about all PTO shafts have plastic sleeves now. My mid 90’s hay baler is metal sleeved. Which has gotten dented and unless the “sleeve dents” line up just right it is next to impossible to get it to slide easily. A big PITA and it’s a heavy one.

[SmartAlex]

3 pt hitches and PTO shafts are the devil.

[Blume_Farm]

That is why I bought a great used second Kubota tractor years ago off Craigslist:) I would curse, kick, scream and just hate farm life every time I had to switch implements. It would frustrate me days ahead of time just thinking about having to mow over the weekend and switch implements!

May not be a solution for you, but it was my solution!

[Bluey]

Using the heavier grease in places like the PTO shaft will cause it to become gunky and stick, not slide easier.

Grease is to be used where you have moving parts, like in axles and bearings, hinges, etc. not on parts that just slide together and stay like that, as PTO shafts.
That is where the lighter oils help.

Generally you can find grease zerts serving those places you have to grease, or are sealed bearing type places you open, clean out the old grease and refill with new grease, like on wheel axles.

[Jim_in_PA]

With the Pat’s quick hitch system, getting implements on and off is easy and routine, but those implements that have PTO connections still make things tricky because you invariably have to be attaching the PTO with one (strong) hand while your other two hands are tilting up the implement for the top link. LOL

[Tom_King]

Oll everything up, including the telescoping shaft, down to everything that moves on the attachment head. Don’t use a thin oil. Use a heavy motor oil (not grease), or chain saw bar oil. I know it’s not recommended by anyone, including me, but I cut the skirt of that safety cover back some.

[Bluey]

I think they should make the plastic shields so they can be pulled back to put the PTO in place, then moved back into place.

They probably are scared people won’t put them back into place.

A neighbor’s farm hand almost lost his foot a few years ago when his pant leg was caught on a PTO shaft that was not protected.
It mangled his foot badly and tried to pull his leg clear off, before the person with him could get the tractor shut off.
He was working on a feed wagon, same kind of PTO you see on a mower.

I hang the PTO from the quick hitch with baling twine just a hair below where it is level with the shaft, then have it right there, all I have to do is wiggle it forward as I push it in.

With short arms, it is very hard to line it well and push it in, standing on the mower, because I don’t reach that last inch and don’t fit between tractor and quick hitch to get any closer.

That is one of those jobs you have to hold your tongue right for all to click into place.

JD has a belly mower on a little bitty tractor you drive over it and the PTO engages itself.

I wonder if something like that would work, one that you can fit on a designated quick hitch that lines it up and connects it for you?

There ought to be a better way.

[Christa_P]

The old PTO connector we used had a pin to push down that allowed the collar to slide over the shaft. You could hold the pin with your thumb and slide the collar on. This was easier than the locking collar.

[gumtree]

[QUOTE=Tom King;8032266]
Oll everything up, including the telescoping shaft, down to everything that moves on the attachment head. Don’t use a thin oil. Use a heavy motor oil (not grease), or chain saw bar oil. I know it’s not recommended by anyone, including me, but I cut the skirt of that safety cover back some.[/QUOTE]

Using motor oil or bar oil may work in your neck of the woods. But it doesn’t work too well in mine with our climate. I suppose the freezing/thawing weather conditions for several months has an effect on the viscosity. It totally “gums up” come spring. Especially bar oil. There are some PTO driven equipment that I use in the winter and the shafts became pretty much glued together when I used either.

I cut the shields back also. But don’t tell the nanny police.

[gumtree]

[QUOTE=Bluey;8032282]
I think they should make the plastic shields so they can be pulled back to put the PTO in place, then moved back into place.

They probably are scared people won’t put them back into place.

A neighbor’s farm hand almost lost his foot a few years ago when his pant leg was caught on a PTO shaft that was not protected.
It mangled his foot badly and tried to pull his leg clear off, before the person with him could get the tractor shut off.
He was working on a feed wagon, same kind of PTO you see on a mower.

I hang the PTO from the quick hitch with baling twine just a hair below where it is level with the shaft, then have it right there, all I have to do is wiggle it forward as I push it in.

With short arms, it is very hard to line it well and push it in, standing on the mower, because I don’t reach that last inch and don’t fit between tractor and quick hitch to get any closer.

That is one of those jobs you have to hold your tongue right for all to click into place.

JD has a belly mower on a little bitty tractor you drive over it and the PTO engages itself.

I wonder if something like that would work, one that you can fit on a designated quick hitch that lines it up and connects it for you?

There ought to be a better way.[/QUOTE]

LOL, I agree there ought to be a better way. Especially consider what some of my equipment cost!

[SuzieQNutter]

There is a ‘clip’ that can go in the PTO which means that it automatically clicks on when you get it far enough on.