PTO Connector Geometry??

[jleast]

I need some help/advice.

Im confused. I bought a new Bush Hog 3210 last month. Hooked it up to my tractor draw bar and PTO (no problem). Found that there was a leak from the bottom of one one the gearboxes before I spun it up for the first time. Unhooked from the PTO (no problem). John Deere Dealer who sold me the BH3210 came and picked the unit up, took it back to the shop, and repaired the leak. Unit was returned to the farm about 10 days later.

Tried to hook the unit up to the tractor today---and I can not get the PTO connector to fit to the PTO shaft on the same tractor.

The driveshaft on the BH 3210 is a Comer Industries Class 5, and there is a spring loaded collar on the connector that keeps it from sliding off the PTO shaft. To connect the unit the collar can be pushed forward to allow the three balls blocking three of the six groves to retract until they fall into the circumferential grove cut into the PTO shaft. When this spring loaded collar is released it keeps the three balls from retracting and the connector (U-joint) can not separate from the PTO.

But, it seems no matter how hard I hold the spring loaded collar forward, the three balls that block the splines will not retract when the splines hit them. This keeps the connector from sliding to the proper distance on the PTO shaft where the balls lock into place.

Confused, yet. Boy, I am. I dont know why there was no problem at first---then a trip to the dealer---and now I am having this problem. There would have been no reason for the dealer to hook up the PTO to one of their tractors during the leak repair.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of PTO/Connector interface?

Any ideas what might be happening here?

Thanks for your help.

Jesse East

 

[kennyd]

Sounds like the balls are RIP...Rusted-In-Place

Seriously though...the balls have a tendency to get sticky and will not retract easily without help, once you get them to move keep them well lubed.

 

[jleast]

Thanks kennyd for your input.

I just went out to the barn and shot the connector with PB Blaster Penetrating Oil. I will hit it again in the AM and see if that helps.

Jesse East

 

[bncsauve]

Every once in a while, I forget which way to slide the collar. It will move in both the forward and reverse direction, but only one way will allow the ball to move. Try opposite of whatever you were doing.

 

[jleast]

Well----The BH3210 is now hooked up (PTO and all), thanks to this forum.

I feel a little silly that I did not remember that the stupid collar (actually there are two of them, one moves forward and the other moves to the rear) mechanism moves both directions. So, the trick is to move the forward collar to the rear to hook up. I was moving the rear collar to the front---which was doing nothing but getting me very frustrated.

All my other equipment has older (and lighter duty) drivelines with a spring loaded pin vs a collar mechanism.

So---Thanks to everyone, especially Bob.

Jesse East

 

[Tractorman46]

And although it's now more than 5 years later, thanks to you chaps from me too. Just spent a while trying to get the collar to click into place on my Comer PTO for my Muratori MTL2 and wondering what was wrong. Not had this problem before. Came in for lunch did a quick search on tractorbynet and there's the problem solved. I was pushing forward instead of pulling the collar back. Went out and tried again and this time no problem though attaching PTO drives is something I hate. Wish someone would invent a better system.
This is such a helpful forum and discussions are conducted in a pleasant way too.

 

[GreenWannabe]

I did that too, this spring, the first time I attached my cutter to the tractor. Couldn't for the life of me figure out what was wrong, until I started trying to loosen the "stuck" balls and found out I was pushing instead of pulling....

 

[pmsmechanic]

I don't have a lot of strenght in my shoulders so I find hooking up my rototiller (JD 660) to be a real pain. Reaching through the arms and trying to pull the collar back and push the pto shaft forward at the same time was just about impossible. I took the coupler apart and changed the original spring for a lighter one. Now it goes on easy. Just threw this out for someone who might have the same problem.