Posthole Digger Post Hole Digger Question..........

[gltrap54]

Relic PD with a frozen PTO shaft......... Can this be heated with a torch to loosen the grease or am I doing more harm than good? :confused3:

 

[Peter 315]

Yes you can heat it .Then try and pull it apart ,and clean it up. I doubt there is any grease in it

 

[gltrap54]

Yes you can heat it .Then try and pull it apart ,and clean it up. I doubt there is any grease in it

Thanks Peter 315! I'll give it a shot!

 

[Fallon]

Worse case scenario a new shaft is under $200 or so at TSC. Penetrating oil, some heavy pulling while chained to a tree & maybe some heat might work. Cant hurt to try. Dont hitch it to the PTO on your tractor to try & pull it apart. Liable to break expensive things that way. Chain it to the hitch.

My old PHD ran fine for a long time after I bent & mostly unbent the PTO shaft... Twice. I was slightly off on reengineering the PHD to fit on my QH. Worked great as long as you extended the hydraulic toplink before lowering the 3pt.

 

[bdog]

Heat and penetrating oil are your friend. Penetrating oil has never done much for me when in a hurry but if no rush I have seen the stuff work wonders when you spray something daily for a week and then try taking it apart.

 

[spitter]

Let it soak in a bucket of evaporust that stuff works great.:drink:

 

[bigtiller]

Soak it in diesel fuel for a few days. A piece of rain gutter, cut to fit makes a good soaking container.

 

[Jw5875]

Get it hot enough for some candle wax to seep in.

JW5875

 

[bspeedy]

My 'heat wrench' almost never fails. I've never tried the candle wax thing, but I bet that does work...

 

[gltrap54]

Thanks fellas! lots of good ideas.......... replacing it might be the way to go..... Thus far I've invested $75, so I can afford to spend some money on it....

 

[goeduck]

I would put a come-along winch on it between two trees with an angle so the end with the small shaft is pointing up. Tension it and fill that groove with penetrating oil. I’d keep adding oil if it seeps in. Leave it for a few days and add tension and heat if need be. I would also give the thick end some good taps with a maul if It doesn’t look like you could deform it. Many PTO shafts are thinner metal.

 

[gltrap54]

Did some research on the ol' beast & my machinist urged me to buy a new pto shaft, as well as replace the bent auger with a new one......... looking at Amazon for the pto .......... TSC wants $300 for the pto & Amazon has one for around $100, shipped........ Could there be that much difference in quality between the two?

 

[lennyzx11]

After spending an hour getting mine working correctly yesterday, I'd like to comment.
My PTO shaft would stick right in the areas I needed to slide it in order to connect it to the tractor. I bought it used that way and the problem was mostly that the seller had painted the shaft that horrid John Deere yellow!

So yesterday, I pulled the shaft apart with a comealong and cleaned it with diesel, wire brush in a 4" grinder, and a 60 grit flap disc judiciously used in moderation. Regreased the inner shaft with marine grease while the outer shaft soaked with diesel poured inside.

 

[gltrap54]

After spending an hour getting mine working correctly yesterday, I'd like to comment.
My PTO shaft would stick right in the areas I needed to slide it in order to connect it to the tractor. I bought it used that way and the problem was mostly that the seller had painted the shaft that horrid John Deere yellow!

So yesterday, I pulled the shaft apart with a comealong and cleaned it with diesel, wire brush in a 4" grinder, and a 60 grit flap disc judiciously used in moderation. Regreased the inner shaft with marine grease while the outer shaft soaked with diesel poured inside.

I commend your tenacity! The issue(s) with my PTO shaft go beyond the stuck shaft however...... Local machinist pointed out that the U joints were shot & would need replacing also..... Since they're welded on, they'd need to be cut off & replaced....... I can buy a new one for less than he wanted to fix the old one...... Ditto for the bent auger.... He wanted $100 to straighten it & TSC has their 9" auger on sale, at times, for $109.....

 

[dieselscout80]

I just got one apart that was rusted and stuck.

I used lots of penetrating oil, a little heat, lots of waiting for penetrating oil to work and then a little light tapping which broke it free.

I re-greased it will add a grease zerk to make sure it doesn't happen again.

 

[prichard]

I commend your tenacity! The issue(s) with my PTO shaft go beyond the stuck shaft however...... Local machinist pointed out that the U joints were shot & would need replacing also..... Since they're welded on, they'd need to be cut off & replaced....... I can buy a new one for less than he wanted to fix the old one...... Ditto for the bent auger.... He wanted $100 to straighten it & TSC has their 9" auger on sale, at times, for $109.....

Certainly sounds like a replacement is in order.

 

[gltrap54]

Certainly sounds like a replacement is in order.

Agreed... I bought the old relic for $75, so if I invest another $200 in for auger & PTO, I should be ok.... Haven't had the plate off the jug, but I hooked it up & ran it & I didn't hear any gear noise.... It won't get much use & I'm old, so it will probably outlive me........ :laughing:

 

[prichard]

How about pics of the whole unit.

 

[TractorGuy]

Plenty of good ideas for getting it apart above. I would probably soak it and maybe even drill some holes in it to get the penetrating fluid down in the bore. I would probably chain to a tree and the draw bar and give it some tugs after that.

Never had one I couldn't get apart. I am cheap and would never just go buy a new shaft before attempting to salvage. By the same cheapness I would never spend $300 for a shaft I could get for $100. Check TS or Agri Supply for a replacement if needed.

 

[gltrap54]

How about pics of the whole unit.

Hey ya go.....