Eurocardan PTO shaft no longer telescopes

lilmatt · Oct 18, 2009

I have a Eurocardan telescoping PTO shaft on my Land Pride PD15 post hole digger. The digger was new this summer. I went to mount up and use the post hole digger today, and I found the PTO shaft no longer telescoped! It is stuck all the way in, or real close to it. As a result it won't reach my PTO, and besides that something's clearly wrong.

I didn't notice any trouble when I used the post host digger a couple weeks back, and nothing has fallen on it or driven over it, so that it could've been bent. I can't heat it as the shaft guard is plastic. Any suggestions?

zzvyb6 · Oct 18, 2009

Its either jambed or twisted. Soooo.

You might have put it together wrong (there's a subtle difference in the tongue and groove orientation). Or, its twisted a bit from drilling with a high power application.

In either case. You got it into that position. Now get it out. Take a 2x4 and cut a notch in it to hold the tractor end of the shaft. Then beat the board with a hammer or sledge until it extends. A little grease or graphite lube is always a good idea in a take apart pto shaft.

You stated that something else is clearly wrong but failed to say what that is. I wouldn't consider a stuck pto shaft to be a clear sign of wrongness. So what is that other observation? Are the U-joints broken?

lilmatt · Oct 18, 2009

The PHD dealer put the shaft together. I've only been able to see what's inside by looking that shaft up on the internet.

No U-joints are broken. I was just saying that if I _could_ reach the chuck to the PTO, I wouldn't want to run it since something's wrong (that being the stuck shaft).

I've got the shaft off the PHD now so I could bring it into the garage to work on it. I'll try your "percussive maintenance" suggestion. Thank you.

brin · Oct 18, 2009

lilmatt said:
I have a Eurocardan telescoping PTO shaft on my Land Pride PD15 post hole digger. The digger was new this summer. I went to mount up and use the post hole digger today, and I found the PTO shaft no longer telescoped! It is stuck all the way in, or real close to it. As a result it won't reach my PTO, and besides that something's clearly wrong.

I didn't notice any trouble when I used the post host digger a couple weeks back, and nothing has fallen on it or driven over it, so that it could've been bent. I can't heat it as the shaft guard is plastic. Any suggestions?

I have had that happen on older equipment I have bought for a good price and had to rescue..usually it had been left sitting for a time. Here is what I did and it has worked so far. back your tractor up to the equipment and attach a chain from your draw bar to the yoke just behind the spline of the PYO shaft of the piece of equipment and kind of pop the clutch on the tractor - you want to jerk it loose the shaft slides in a larger outer shaft and is probably stuck...at least that is what I have run into on two separate occasions and when it pulls out free you can squirt some WD -40 into the square opening on the receiver end and take a thin brush and get down in there and try to scape the edges of the interior walls ..get it cleaned out , then dean and lube the other end and slide them back together...worked for me..