3-Point Hitch Hooking up PTO

[RalphVa]

I have been having a he11 of a time hooking up the PTO for my blower to the tractor. Limited space and needing to pull the yoke back while pushing the shaft on.

Anyway, I don't know in what threads I read it but a lot of people suggested using a bungee cord to take the weight of the shaft would make life easier.

Tried it today and instead of taking me 15 minutes to get the PTO on I had the blower completely hooked up including the PTO in under 3 minutes.

Just wanted to say thanks to TBN and all those that suggested this in the multiple threads, you have made my life much easier.

View attachment 678791

I had my dealer replace the pull-collar type PTO end with a push button one on the bush hog. Have a push button one on the MacKissic: MUCH easier. Now, the push button one for the bush hog makes it almost as easy as the Mac one.

Ralph

 

[Jstpssng]

That sounds tempting after my first ever pto hook up attempt on the logging winch with a ring
There is very little room between the winch and the pto; access is so restricted that having the shield off would make it much easier to just get it on
let alone pull and snap it into place.
However, I use the winch so little and have no other pto driven implements that I will leave it on for now.

I hook up the PTO before the top link, which allows me more room to get down there. I also do the opposite of what others seem to do... I engage my PTO so that it doesn't turn while I'm trying to attach it. I find that 000 gear lube works well on the shafts. I don't mind the sleeve, possibly because I keep it lubed.

 

[mikester]

Some times hooking up the tractor side before the implement side is easier. Some tractors have a flip up PTO shield, see if yours does.

 

[shooterdon]

I have only the snowblower to hook up and in spite of it being new and well lubed it is a PITA to hook up. But once it is on, it stays on until the spring. Like the OP, I learned about the bungee cord assist and it really helps.

Next year, I am going to remove the PTO cover. The only time I run the PTO when I am off the tractor is when I need to spray lube on the blower chain. I can be attentive for the 15 seconds to do that. If I was running a chipper, post hole digger, gen set, log splitter etc I would less likely to remove it...but I am not experienced and tend to be more cautious than the experienced guys I hang with.

 

[hube2]

I'm surprised that no one mentioned raising the implement up so that the shaft is level with the PTO (ie: no bend) or to 'lanolin' spray/lubricate the splines prior to inserting.

It may be hard to see in the pic, but with the blower on the ground the PTO is just about level. I also keep everything lubed up with Fluid Film. It's a really tight spot. When tested with the bungee I also did it before hooking up the top bar, another tip from TBN, and that gave me a little more working room.

 

[hube2]

I have only the snowblower to hook up and in spite of it being new and well lubed it is a PITA to hook up. But once it is on, it stays on until the spring. Like the OP, I learned about the bungee cord assist and it really helps. ....

I will likely be alternating between using the blower and the bucket for moving snow. If there is only a few inches I can actually clear what I need to clear faster with the bucket. I don't really want to keep the blower attached all winter because it's easier to maneuver with it off. When the blower is on the entire thing is from front of bucket to back of blower is 16 feet. If it was going to take me 20 minutes of struggling to get it hooked up then I was going to eventually hook it up and leave it on.

I combed this forum for advice. I have used tractors in the past with PTOs when I worked on farms, but they were much larger tractors with plenty of room to work that had PTOs at almost waist level instead of nearly on the ground. Never really had a problem with those.

Now that I know I can get it hooked up in just very easily in just a couple of minutes at 5AM using the bungee I will likely leave it off unless I need it. I can actually slide the 450# blower around quite easily if I need to and I when I park the tractor I park it so everything is ready to hook up. Leaving it off I can also run the PTO with nothing on it for a few minutes to help warm up the hydrophilic oil.

 

[hube2]

Some times hooking up the tractor side before the implement side is easier. Some tractors have a flip up PTO shield, see if yours does.

On mine there is a shield held in place with a bolt that has a big plastic wing nut and the shield requires some maneuvering to get it out of the way. It needs to be removed to change the PTO shear bolt. But this would mean hooking up both ends plus putting that shield back on increasing the time to hook it up. At 5AM when I'm going to be doing this I want to be fast and efficient.

I would not call myself a safety nut, for example I hook up the PTO with the engine running, I'm the only one around when I'm doing it and I have to move 2 levers to turn it on and those levers are not going to magically move themselves, but I'm also not going to be removing any shields. I have been looking for a fast way to momentarily disable the seat safety switch so I can actually inspect the operation of the blower and spray oil on the chain. I'm not going to completely disable that switch either because it reminds me that I didn't do something that I was supposed to do. If it's disabled I want it to be because I disabled in on purpose for a specific reason and then enable it again when I'm done.

 

[PILOON]

I always spray/wash/flush PTO couplings B4 attempting to join up.*
It is amazing as to how the smallest bit of grit can make coupling difficult.

My 'go to' is a spray can of WD-40 but other pressurized products would do the trick as well.

* learned that trick for coupling the hydraulics on my plow truck back when I did snow contracts.
Dang couplers always seemed to have grit and crap in them.
For ice I kept a plumber's torch in my PU.

 

[natedog75]

I got feed up with pto and bought a skid steer. Now all my implements are hydraulic. Nothing like trying to hook lines with pressure built up in the implement.

JK I still have a tractor my dad and I share. It doesn’t get used as often. Hooking up the PTO is a pain because by the time we go to use it everything has seized up.

 

[Farmer495]

Wait until you get a CV shaft with the same sliding collar and a small tractor shield. You will hate life!

All seriousness, keep male and female ends lubricated and clean, shut tractor off if needed (some tractor shafts can turn part turn by hand when off, but not when engine running) Wear good gloves if you don't want greasy hands, line things up, move locking collar once shaft is started.