Hooking up PTO w/ Engine Running

[Soundguy]

when you are in nigeria, would you get my cash too.. apparrently some bank has some money and decided to release it to me since my name is close to the owner's who died and left no heir's.. but I have to split a portion o it withe banks controller..

I guess they think we are stupid????

soudnguy

 

[RalphVa]

Pure stupidity to leave the engine running. You're wasting fuel and risking your life.

Ralph

 

[radman1]

I am sorry, but wasting fuel as an argument is pretty weak.

 

[wawajake]

I can't see it as being any more dangerous than walking in front of a Toyota with the engine running and transmission in park and we all would do that.
Seriously when you have to adjust the three pt arms , or for some implements it is easier to install the pto first with machine further away and with parking brake on...............and yes I bypassed the seat switch two years ago , but someone would have to move the pto lever 8 inches in the groove to get it to engage, and my dog does not know how to do that ( not yet anyway , but austrialian shepherds are smart)

I guess I could wear a motorcycle helmet when I take a shower in case I slip , everything has risks , you mitigate as best you can and think before you do....

 

[grsthegreat]

I can't see it as being any more dangerous than walking in front of a Toyota with the engine running and transmission in park and we all would do that.
Seriously when you have to adjust the three pt arms , or for some implements it is easier to install the pto first with machine further away and with parking brake on...............and yes I bypassed the seat switch two years ago , but someone would have to move the pto lever 8 inches in the groove to get it to engage, and my dog does not know how to do that ( not yet anyway , but austrialian shepherds are smart)

I guess I could wear a motorcycle helmet when I take a shower in case I slip , everything has risks , you mitigate as best you can and think before you do....

Also remember....you have to wear bubblewrap to enter a shower in California to prevent slip and fall injury. (Its listed right next to the law that states you cant shoot a whale from a moving vehicle:laughing

 

[Soundguy]

I am sorry, but wasting fuel as an argument is pretty weak.

not just weak.. it's lame...

soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

i know a guy that fell in his kitchen from a standing position, and broke a leg.

lets ban kithens! they are unsafe..

please.. world is fraught with real danger.. and everything has odds.

I'll take my chances with equipment I know and maintain vs some other unknown.

i have a better chance of winning the lotto or getting hit by lightning.. or heck.. 1 in 3200 chance of getting hit by space debri.. go figure..

soundguy

 

[North West Farmer]

Soundguy,

I definitely do not disagree with you. The comments I made regarding my past experiences relative to catastrophic accidents resulting from man versus PTO shafts were not meant to indicate that it is not possible to work with PTO's safely if you don't turn the motor off. I do know that in my 35 years of responding to emergencies of all types as a member of a technical rescue team, we ran on numerous PTO and power shaft incidents and most were fatals.

As a fireman, it didn't take long in my carrier to realize that we had our jobs because somebody screwed up, got hurt, burned down a building, whatever. If it hadn't been for people making mistakes I would not have had the carrier in the Fire Service, a carrier that I enjoyed tremendously. One of my main regrets today is that I got too old to physically meet the requirements, so when my time was up, I retired and left a second family of emergency responders I cared for very much. Wish I could still be there.

In following the forum I most often agree with your reasoning and statement of good common sense. All of us do what you do, make our own decisions relative to the risks involved and move forward on that basis, reducing our exposure to injury to the best of our abilities.

The discussion appears to be degenerating to a rather nasty series of comments regarding the laws and decisions some people make relative to what is or is not safe practice.

I did say the safest thing to do is shut down your power supply prior to dealing with power shafts, but I didn't mean to indicate it is not possible to work with power shapts (PTO's) while the engine is running if you do it in a safe manner of some sort. I feel that there are usually several different safe ways of doing the same task and it is up to the individual to determine the methodolgy and make their individual judgments regarding the safety of the operation.

From reading your comments, I definitely believe you are a very safe person and that your application of common sense to your world on a day to day basis is done so at a very high level. I would be proud and feel safe in working with you any time, based on the thinking you demonstrate through your input on the various forum threads.

Nick, North West Farmer

 

[Chilly807]

1 in 3200 chance of getting hit by space debri.. go figure..

soundguy

Hey, I saw that too... I have to say, I don't like those odds. Just because some Twinkie put a chunk of metal in space, and apparently miscalculated the orbit.

As luck would have it, the stupid thing landed either in water or somewhere unpopulated.

Sean

 

[Soundguy]

Soundguy,

I definitely do not disagree with you. The comments I made regarding my past experiences relative to catastrophic accidents resulting from man versus PTO shafts were not meant to indicate that it is not possible to work with PTO's safely .....From reading your comments, I definitely believe you are a very safe person and that your application of common sense to your world on a day to day basis is done so at a very high level. I would be proud and feel safe in working with you any time, based on the thinking you demonstrate through your input on the various forum threads.

Nick, North West Farmer

No worries.. I got no beef with what you said. In fact.. even though I will work around a running machine, and hookup a turned off pto, does not mean I would advise someone else to do it. in fact.. i'd advise them not to.. just for liability / safety's sake.

I have to work around a pto genset now and then, and at shows, we all work around belted equipment. I've been lightly slapped by a belt, no biggie.. I've seen others hurt worse though.

just got to be as acarefull as possible, and still do what we do..

sounds strange maybee to say this.. but I'd rather be hurt doing something I loved, vs say.. getting hit by a car or killed by a mugger.. (would prefer NOT to be hurt at al.. but.. )

soundguy

 

[Short Game]

I skipped a lot of posts. Too many to catch up fast.

My old Cub Cadet needs the clutch pushed in to engage the PTO. I never thought twice about hooking up a shaft with it running. My 2010 LS has an electric engage. It worried me right off... I have my old habits and do it running, but now that I think about it, there is no way for a clutch to push itself, but a wire shorting out is very different. While it was just the fact of something else to fail that first concerned me, an electric clutch failure would be
dangerous.

 

[jenkinsph]

About all you can save in hooking it up with the tractor running is the time it takes to stop and start the tractor. That's not alot of time saved for the risk imo.

 

[Soundguy]

everything has risks

jumping out of a perfectly good plane with silk tied to your back? risk.. yet done every day

setting at a restaurant eating looking out the window at a street.. wonder if any cars will jump the curb? happens allthe time.


if i sat home all day and wrung my hands worrying about every single possible thaing that could hurt me day in and day out I'd be a wreck.

time to live and take (some) chances and roll with the cards dealt.

I've already got my important 'retirement' detials and plans made. anyway...

soundguy

 

[Jay4200]

I always shut everything down before mucking with my PTO. It's things like the infamous PTO shaft sticker (which I'll admit I think is hilarious) that sometimes make an impression.

JayC

 

[Short Game]

The international symbol for "I hate it when that happens."

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Heh. Don't get bent out of shape.

No question about it, the safest way is to shut down the engine, and pocket the key, when hooking up implements.

Is it over kill? Maybe, until some helpful other person hops in the seat while you're head down in the machinery.

Doctors can't really repair those kind of twisting, torsion, crushing damages; assuming your actually survive one.

 

[rtimgray]

So far, unless I've missed a post, I don't think that we've had confirmation of a PTO springing to life while someone is trying to hook up the coupler. Obviously the chances are greater that it could happen while the engine is running, but they are still miniscule.

I guess the question could come to this: which circumstance has the greatest chance of injury:

1. Hooking up the PTO shaft while the engine is running and the PTO springs to life and entangles an individual

or

2. Getting your fingernail hung on the keyring of your tractor key, creating hangnail that gets infected, goes septic, and you could die from gangrene

I suspect the odds are still longer on the latter, and it would always be safer to turn the engine off; but then again, there are hazards with starting the tractor each time (wear and tear on the starter and battery, on the key switch, carpal tunnel syndrome, leprechauns and gremlins, etc.).

I agree with Soundguy - everything has risks, and its up to each of us to determine our risk limit. ("Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" to paraphrase Harry Callahan.

 

[Short Game]

Makes me want to Photoshop a PTO shaft into Harry's hand where the .44 Mag was.

 

[rtimgray]

Makes me want to Photoshop a PTO shaft into Harry's hand where the .44 Mag was.

Now that would make a good PTO warning sticker!

 

[Short Game]

Now that would make a good PTO warning sticker!

One look at that sneer and I run and shut off the key!