Telescoping PTO Shaft: Which end to tractor?

   / Telescoping PTO Shaft: Which end to tractor? #11  
My Land Pride tiller has the small end on it, leaving the big end for the tractor.
 
   / Telescoping PTO Shaft: Which end to tractor? #12  
All good answers in theory. But....on PTO shafts where you don't have a choice (like with a slip clutch or bolt-on yolk to the implement) the smaller diameter tube is on the tractor's side IIRC. Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong - but it is a good gauge for the correct answer.

Rain or water on the PTO shaft is more likely to happen when the shaft is OFF the tractor and just sitting there dangling down. Thus, the narrow diameter should go on the tractor's side
Slip clutches go on the implement end, and all mine have the female segments of both shaft and cover on the tractor end. And one of the uses for the chains that come with the outer covers is to hang/suspend the shaft from the 3-point yoke when the implement is no longer attached to the tractor. When this practice is followed, the (disconnected) tractor end of the shaft remains higher than the implement end.

//greg//
 
   / Telescoping PTO Shaft: Which end to tractor? #13  
Never gave it much of a thought, till now,, so I checked all of my equipment (6)and low and behold the female end is attached to the tractor pto.. that the way they came from the factor.:thumbsup:. Lou
 
   / Telescoping PTO Shaft: Which end to tractor? #15  
Confused enough? I think if both ends have identical spline it doesn't matter how you connect it. It will work either way. More important is to keep the joint in "phase".
Attach and Remove a PTO Driven Implement. « Informed Farmers

Just curious, how many PTO shafts will let you do that? Mine look square but are actually rectangle so they can only slide together two ways so it would be impossible to get them out of phase. I just assumed that all were built this way but I've been wrong before.
 
   / Telescoping PTO Shaft: Which end to tractor? #16  
I'm having a hard time coming up with a reason that it shouldn't work either way.

If you hook the PTO shaft up backwards your blades will go the wrong way like in Australia. Yup, that is the reason.
 
   / Telescoping PTO Shaft: Which end to tractor? #17  
I bought a used tiller and its shaft was too short. It came apart when the tiller dug in deep and stalled (so the back half of the shaft wasn't turning).

By chance I had the female end on the tractor and I'm glad I did - it slammed around banging into things before I got the clutch in and the PTO out of gear. If the inner, male end of the shaft had banged around like that it would have been nicked up enough to no longer slide easily into the female spline. This convinced me that female end on the tractor is the correct way to hook up.

I added a PTO shaft extender from TSC and now everything works well.
 
   / Telescoping PTO Shaft: Which end to tractor?
  • Thread Starter
#18  
Thank you all for your replies. The consensus seems to be that the female (outer) tube attaches to the tractor in most cases, but not ALL cases. I'll call the manufacturer of the PTO shaft, and also the slasher manufacturer and ask their advice and then post back.

What a great forum this is. Such a wealth of knowledge available on tap.
 
   / Telescoping PTO Shaft: Which end to tractor? #19  
This is interesting. I always thought that there was some magic reason which way and that they were all the same. When I checked mine out of curiosity I saw, of the ones that are clearly marked, my chipper and my sickle bar mower has the female ( big diameter) at the tractor and my winch has the male end at the tractor.

Since they are marked logic says there is a reason. I wonder what it is.
 
   / Telescoping PTO Shaft: Which end to tractor? #20  
The King Kutter manual for their Standard Rotary Cutters in the section on cutting the PTO shafts.
Pull apart PTO shaft and attach outer section to tractor PTO output shaft. NOTE: Be sure to pull on PTO shaft section to ensure yoke has locked into place.
So here they say the outer half goes on the Tractor PTO.
I think it depends on how the equipment MFR says it goes on their equipment.
Tom
 
 
 
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