PTO Shaft frozen by rust or something?

[bbse]

I left my near new post hole digger out for a couple of years. It was greased and I left left the shaft elevated off the ground. Never the less, It welded itself together with rust. I soaked it in Kroil, chained one end to a tree and chained the other end to my tractor. Broke a 1/4" logging chain twice. Never budged. I tried keeping it stretched by chain and come along for 2 days hitting hit with Kroil and hammer. No luck. Don't own a torch. looking for ideas. It is like new on the outside, hardly any rust at all.

 

[jmc]

I've had luck with frozen cable/housings by hanging one end from a tree limb and attaching a heavy vice to the other and dropping the vice repeatedly. You'd need an inline rope or cable somewhere to get the impact.

 

[ruffdog]

Have you taken the safety slip cover off yet? Being that the tubes are fairly thin walled, even a small propane torch will help.

 

[5030]

50% acetone, 50% red ATF. Better than any commercially available corrosion breaker.

 

[CoyPatton]

Old mechanics trick for bolts that are rusted badly is to melt candle wax on the threads. I do not know if it will help on the shaft or not.
Heat the shaft enough to melt the wax against the metal. Use lots. While the shaft is warm tap along the shaft with a hammer.

 

[Smokeydog]

Had same problem with square shaft pto shaft PHD. Made before safety guards. Took several attempts and several days of Kroil and propane torch heat to break free. Finally rigged porta power to pull shaft apart. Twice! Now store pto shaft inside.

 

[bbse]

Thanks for the replies...all good answers. I guess I need to try and remove one yoke to remove the shield(I have it loose from both ends) or cut it off. I can then propane torch it. I will try the acetone atf mix.

 

[deserteagle71]

I left my near new post hole digger out for a couple of years. It was greased and I left left the shaft elevated off the ground. Never the less, It welded itself together with rust. I soaked it in Kroil, chained one end to a tree and chained the other end to my tractor. Broke a 1/4" logging chain twice. Never budged. I tried keeping it stretched by chain and come along for 2 days hitting hit with Kroil and hammer. No luck. Don't own a torch. looking for ideas. It is like new on the outside, hardly any rust at all.

Funny you should bring this up at this time!

Not long ago I had to use my post hole digger - for the first time in at least 10 years. And like you, I couldn't get the PTO shaft to extend. Which I didn't understand, because I always make sure to lube all my PTO shafts thoroughly before putting away the equipment. To get it apart I hooked a come-a-long to it - pulled it so tight I thought I was going to pull the gearbox apart. Then liberal applications of Kroil and a 4 lb hammer finally got it apart. To my surprise there was NO rust on the shaft at all - only the old grease which had set up like cement after all those years.

 

[joecdeere]

It’s never fun when they rust! My last one I had to hook to the winch on my trailer and keep hammering on it as I kept tension on it with the cable. I try to store my shafts up with a cut out milk jug or 1 pound coffee container over the end to keep rain out

 

[PILOON]

"To my surprise there was NO rust on the shaft at all - only the old grease which had set up like cement after all those years." (deserteagle 71)

Obtained a powered grease gun that was completely jammed from dry hardened grease.
That stuff was like cement! I needed to pry it out but by bit using a screwdriver but the efforts were worthwhile as I now own a $25.00 powered grease gun.

Most grease is actually clay based and as U know clay goes really hard when dry.
Heck pottery is actually baked clay.