Snowblower Missing driveshaft in snowblower

[Jim_W]

I'm looking at an old snowblower that is missing its pto driveshaft. It would need to have the female part to fit onto the pto, a U-joint, a sliding inner shaft inside an outer shaft, another U-joint, and I guess something with a shear pin.
My question is - are these things standardized, or will I have to make something up? (hope not).
Thanks,
Jim

 

[Darren]

Any farm supply store or farm equipment dealer should have everything you need. The connection at the snowblower is the one you'll have to identify. With that and the length between tractor and blower, you should be set. Most places have complete pto shafts including the guards.

 

[Jim_W]

Thanks; that's reassuring.
Another question - I have come back to having a tractor and implements after many years away from them. Now I see there are plastic guards on the driveshafts but are they there in case the U-joint comes apart, or what? I can't quite see their advantage - unless it's just that they're smooth so things don't get snagged on them as easily.
Jim

 

[Rubintropfen]

The plastic guard is supposed to be chained so that it does not rotate. That way if something brushes up against the guard there is much less risk of wrapping around the shaft.

 

[Bird]

Plastic guards? Just a safety device (and a good one) to keep you from accidentally getting clothing caught on the PTO shaft when it's turning and getting yourself, or parts of yourself, wrapped around it.

 

[pennwalk]

Jim,
It has been my experiance that it can be more expensive to repair an existing PTO shaft than to replace it. Agri supply <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.agri-supply.com/>http://www.agri-supply.com/</A> sells Eurocardian Italian shafts pretty reasonably. The Surplus Center has some PTO shafts too (1-800-488-3407). They also have a nice catalog.

Chris