Pto safty shields

[Hamor]

Just getting my winch on the tractor for the first time tonight after checking it over and cutting off the first 3'-4'of cable to get the frays out .
The pto safety shaft is in bad shape ,part of the shaft is not covered by the shield.
There is only a small area that shows the shaft ,but I have been reading on the dangers of pto's .
I thought that where i had a sm. hand towel that I'd been wiping my hands with and the tractor was just running at around 800-900 rpm's I'd just see for myself just what would happen if something lose landed on it.
WOW I could not be leave how fast that got caught up , it kinda jumped me how it whipped around like that. After seeing that I won't be using it until I replace it.
I wonder how many people use pto shafts without it being safely covered thinking it's ok?
I could see the rope slipping out of my hands or falling down there and getting rapped up while pulling a log . If the rope didn't break , wouldn't you have a log coming at you at full speed and not being able to stop it?
I'd have to get into the cab to get to the pto knob to disengage it.
Has anything like this happend to anyone?
I would think someone would have come up with a way to turn off the pto from in back of your tractor in case of something going wrong, instead of having to get in or on your tractor to disengage it. Scary Stuff! be safe!

 

[groundcover]

Had a guy step over the PTO shaft to a trailer mounted sprayer on the nursery when I was a kid. Caught his pants and sucked him in. He came as close as you can to losing his leg, left a big impression on me and I didn't even witness it .

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have ripped and cut that plastic off just about all my PTOs. I can't get the yoke off the tractor shaft because you can't get at the yoke and you can't grease them either! What a load of crap because of a few careless (or stupid?) people! The first thing I do when I buy a tractor is take that sheild off from around the PTO!

On the other hand, I don't go ANYWHERE near a turning PTO either. I don't trust my electic PTO engagement of various tractors and shut off the engine before I touch a PTO.

 

[Hamor]

I have ripped and cut that plastic off just about all my PTOs. I can't get the yoke off the tractor shaft because you can't get at the yoke and you can't grease them either! What a load of crap because of a few careless (or stupid?) people! The first thing I do when I buy a tractor is take that sheild off from around the PTO!

On the other hand, I don't go ANYWHERE near a turning PTO either. I don't trust my electic PTO engagement of various tractors and shut off the engine before I touch a PTO.

Well ,yes it is a pain to get to the yoke, but it can be done. As far as the stupid and careless people you talk about , I'm sure we have all done things that might not seem to smart at the time or were in a hurry to get something done and have that thing called an "accident" were you might fall into something or someone else getting hurt around that piece of equipment that could have been prevented .
Maybe if you were running a chipper or winch, you might think twice . Be safe!

 

[Gary Fowler]

If I were using any equipment that required me to be in the vicinity of the PTO to use, it would for sure have a good, intact PTO shield to protect me.
My old 307 bushhog doesn't have a PTO shield and I really don't feel the need to put one on it. I don't go near it when the PTO is turning. I had a Howse that I used with my first CUT tractor but I had to take a sharp knife and split the outside cover and grease the inside of the two pieces in order to push and pull the shaft for extension/ retraction and I had to carve out a semi-circle at the u-joints in order to get a grease gun on the zerk fitting as even with a flex hose it couldn't be accessed. It still worked as a protective device after the mods but was then user friendly. Before splitting the outside cover, 2 people couldn't even pull hard enough on it to make it slide. This is one of the reasons many folks do away with safety devices. They are poorly engineered and improperly built so they are either a PITA to use of impossible to use and in some instances actually increase the risk to the operator.

 

[dave1949]

I took the flip-up shield off my pto output shaft. It was just too difficult to get my hands where they needed to be when attaching a driveshaft to the pto. I think the plastic bell ends of the driveshaft do a pretty good job of covering the u-joint and shaft. When it's not in use, I always have the plastic screw on cap on that covers the pto shaft.

Safety shields or not, it's never a good idea to mess with or get close to rotating, powered equipment. There is always a safer way.

 

[Gary Fowler]

There are some very dangerous things that we work around all the time that can do much damage to a person, ie. table saw blades, saber saws, grinders etc even though they mostly have a semi-guard on them, caution and safety awareness is the best tool to prevent injuries. I wouldn't remove a PTO shaft guard if my equipment had one, but I am not going to install one on my bush hog as I know enough to stay away from it when it is turning. I don't get on the equipment when PTO is engaged and I am not likely to be able to reach it from the operators platform since it is over 6 feet away and behind the cab glass and a door.
I could never understand why someone would try to step across a live PTO shaft to get to the other side in the first place when it is only about 2 steps to walk around it even if you are stupid enough to be working on a bush hog platform with it running. Some of the gene pool has to be removed occasionally for the good of the species whether that be human or animal.

 

[Industrial Toys]

If I am intent on hurting myself, I would just walk a few steps and into the auger of my snowblower! What's next? Why not mandate a sheild around the work on a lathe?

Tired of the Nanny and Big Brother State, saving me from myself and handing me the bill!

 

[Farmerjonathan]

Industrial Toys I completely understand your arguments. But a few years back (a decade plus) I had my kids running around and helping, now I have grandkids that want to "help". I keep safety in mind for them.

 

[Scotty Dive]

I am not for any more regulations or anyone making me do anything, but a safety shield makes sense even for the experienced operator who trips and falls into a rotating shaft. I won't even discuss having kids around with their curious fingers.

I found this video - and I learned something from it and am now checking all of my covers:

How to install and maintain a shaft cover on a tractor PTO - YouTube