PTO shaft stuck/jammed on tractor

   / PTO shaft stuck/jammed on tractor #11  
i have no experience w/ your particular problem, but if you do decide to use the pulling method, instead of connecting a strap to the pto and then moving either the tractor or a vehicle pulling against the pto, i'd connect the strap and then connect a come-a-long to the back of a truck. seems it would give you a little more control in your pulling.
 
   / PTO shaft stuck/jammed on tractor #12  
Cacinok:

Great suggestion :D! You could put a small amount of "pull" with the come-a-long and try depressing the release collar band (Step 1) before you really start to engage the come-a-long (Step 2). I wish I had thought of that technique last year. Jay

PS: I like your signature :).
 
   / PTO shaft stuck/jammed on tractor #13  
Like Art said, there is a lot of shaft past the yoke.
After seeing that, If it was mine I would take the cross out of the yoke. Then use a pry bar putting it through one of the cross holes. If you do it that way, you won't risk damaging anything except maybe the yoke.
 
   / PTO shaft stuck/jammed on tractor
  • Thread Starter
#14  
Thanks to you all. I will have to wait until later this week to try out these suggestions as I am now off island so don't have access to the tractor.

I've never taken apart the yoke of a PTO coupler. Are special tools required? Ring pliers?

Someone asked what brand PTO shaft. Not certain but it came with a Bush Hog Squealer cutter. I've never liked it because you need two hands to pull back the retainer ring from opposite sides while pushing it forward to couple with the shaft but it hasn't given me any other problem until now. I prefer the twist type that came with my Rhino finish mower.

I'll double check with Kioti before pulling but I like the idea of using a strap and the comealong to provide controlled force rather than the chain and tractor motion I was initially considering. I might look around for a prop puller too as that might be even more controlled and would not put any stress on the tractor PTO.

The PTO shaft was clean when I put the shaft on only 24hrs before this happened so rust and dirt is less likely the cause than jamming forward. I'd never had this issue before but I suppose the shaft is too long and I'll fix that. As Willl pointed out, the photo does seem to show that the retainer ball (only one ball is visible on my shaft:eek: ) does seem to have deformed the cup...though I've never looked at it closely enough before to know that is a change. Still, as others have pointed out there is almost an inch of shaft beyond the end of the retainer cup so maybe it isn't jammed on too badly.

Thanks again to everyone for your suggestions. I'll post when I have some follow up.
 
   / PTO shaft stuck/jammed on tractor #15  
Good luck in getting the shaft off, Ed!

I always spray a lubricant on the tractor PTO shaft before I attach the implement shaft...just in case (especially if the implement is going to stay hooked up for any length of time). I also give a squirt to the implement shaft pin. I've got a bad hand (from a stroke), so this makes it easier for install and removal (still a PITA though)
I don't think doing this would have helped in this case since it appears the implement shaft may have been jammed.

I am very curious what the Kioti dealer tells you...
 
   / PTO shaft stuck/jammed on tractor
  • Thread Starter
#16  
RoyJackson said:
I am very curious what the Kioti dealer tells you...

I'll post after I call a couple of dealers including some active on TBN I've done business with. My dealer has been very supportive but he is mostly an outdoor power equipment and Gehl skid steer dealer so I don't think he has extensive experience with tractor PTOs. I'll call Kioti customer service too.
 
   / PTO shaft stuck/jammed on tractor #17  
IslandTractor: Good Luck :)! Jay
 
   / PTO shaft stuck/jammed on tractor #18  
So is this jammed on account of the PTO turning and jamming in the socket on the shaft? If so, might "undoing" it work? That is, somehow turning the PTO backward with some force, while somehow keeping the shaft from turning? Would that unstick it? JAT.

Would heat help?
 
   / PTO shaft stuck/jammed on tractor #19  
madpogue said:
So is this jammed on account of the PTO turning and jamming in the socket on the shaft? If so, might "undoing" it work? That is, somehow turning the PTO backward with some force, while somehow keeping the shaft from turning? Would that unstick it? JAT.

Would heat help?

It appears the coupling jammed the tractor's PTO shaft when IslandTractor crossed a ditch. If the two shaft sections of the implement PTO are too long, they can bottom out when going across an abrupt ditch (or from a steep slope to a level area).
That type of situation can bend the locking pin on the coupler or actually damage the tractor PTO.

Since PTO's only turn in one direction (at least with the tractors I'm familar with), I'm not sure how one could reverse direction with enough force to break this thing loose.

Although the application of heat works in many situations, I don't think it would work here...based upon the description of the problem.

Let's see what Island Tractor's dealers think about this...
 
   / PTO shaft stuck/jammed on tractor
  • Thread Starter
#20  
Roy is right. The PTO shaft/coupler is jammed further on to the tractor PTO. If you look at the original photo I posted (reposted below) you can see that one of the ball bearings in the coupler retaining ring is visible (it shouldn't be) and that it deformed the retainer ring after being jammed.

My dealer (remember this is the Gehl skid steer dealer) suggested using a ball joint fork to unwedge the coupler. I don't think there will be enough room to get such a tool into position even after I remove the PTO shield. I suppose I could cut the handle off the tool and just hammer it into position. They did not think it would hurt to pull on the coupler but they acknowledged not having dealt with this issue before so I did not have a great deal of confidence in the response.

TBN friendly dealer #2 did have some experience (rather one of his crew did) with this particular PTO shaft style and has suggested disassembly of the coupler retainer ring (after removing PTO shield). He'll get back to me with details after talking to his mechanic. If that works it might avoid the issue of pulling on the coupler and this experienced dealer was in fact concerned about damaging the seal on the PTO housing/tractor shaft if too much force was applied in pulling. I don't yet have a full answer from him as his mechanic was not free when I called but I'll follow up to clarify.

It looks like this type of problem is not all that common which is a little surprising to me given the number of guys using bush hogs and driving bumpy terrain where you can easily "V" the tractor/bush hog which shortens the distance from PTO to gear box. Obviously the root cause here is that the PTO shaft is an inch or two too long but guidelines for how to cut those things are not terribly precise. As most people would be shy of cutting too much off, it would not be surprising to find that many PTO shafts are a bit longer than necessary and therefore susceptible to this type of problem.
 

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