How do I get this PTO bolt off?

[adlertom]

I'm trying to remove the bolt that goes through the PTO shaft where it attaches to the gear box of my Land Pride rotary cutter (see photo).

I've removed the two stacked nuts on the underside, but I can't get the bolt out.

I can turn the bolt about 1/4 turn in either direction, but no more. I tried gently tapping it out with a hammer and that didn't work either.

Am I missing something?

 

[DieselPower]

How hard did you "tap" on it with the hammer? Sounds like it needs a good wack. Try applying some penetrating oil to it and let it soak for a while. It sounds like it is galled in the hole, rust?

 

[MrJimi]

Sounds like you may have hit something while cutting and may of put a dent in your bolt, kinda like almost sheared but not, what happens if you turn it over and put nut on to protect threads and whack it with a BFH, that should get it out

 

[CATMAN]

I think MrJimi is right about the bolt being bent/ slightly sheared. I would try really hard to get it to rotated a full revolution if at all possible before hitting super hard. If it is 25% sheared, you may be drilling this one out from both ends. Good Luck.

 

[MrJimi]

Thanks CATMAN and just incase that some of you don't know what a BFH is ?

























It's a
Big Farmers Hammer

 

[adlertom]

Thanks for the advice guys. I didn't tap it all that hard. I'll try turning and tapping a bit harder and see what happens.

The partially sheared bolt theory makes sense. I wish the real shear bolt would have done a better job of protecting this bolt however. Much easier to get at that one.

 

[JC-jetro]

Thanks for the advice guys. I didn't tap it all that hard. I'll try turning and tapping a bit harder and see what happens.

The partially sheared bolt theory makes sense. I wish the real shear bolt would have done a better job of protecting this bolt however. Much easier to get at that one.

Can you get to the bolt from a front with a respectable size visegrip? visegrip and a 2 foot piece of 1-1/2" cheater bar may be the medicine. Smallish pipe wrench grabs pretty good sideways coupled with a cheater bar is also good. I'll give that a try before anything else personally. A bit of heat may help thing out too.

 

[adlertom]

I can get a 1/2 inch drive socket on it without too much difficulty. I was just hesitant to crank on it without knowing if that was the right thing to do.

I did some further studying of the owner's manual, and it turns out that this bolt *IS* a shear bolt. I originally thought there was only one, at the tractor end of the PTO shaft. Turns out this bolt is a second one.

It's a 1/2 by 3 1/2 grade 2 bolt.

I'm done futzing with it for tonight. I'll try getting rough with it later this week.

 

[JC-jetro]

I'm done futzing with it for tonight. I'll try getting rough with it later this week.

I just re-read your original post, if you have removed the double nuts on the other side why not put one nut back on the bolt but don't turn it all the way in , get yourself a rod of some sort and beat it with a small 4 lb sledge hammer. if nothing else it will loosen the bolt or may be push it out a bit, I then take the nut out and try to pound it our with another bolt held tight with the visegrip. I either pound it out that way or grab on the other side again with a visegrip and try to coerce out ... A few mild cuss word may help the situation slightly

 

[firemanpat2910]

If you have all ready removed the nuts, and it is a shear bolt, now you have a shear pin. I would get the proper sized punches, one bigger than the bolt to dive it flush, one slightly smaller to drine it out, and a BFH and whack it. Do not tap on it all you will do is mushroom the head. Line every thing up where you can get a good shot with the large punch and smack it.

 

[Soundguy]

What bolt are you refering to as a shear bolt up at the tractor pto stub end??

In any case.. i had a shear bolt partially shaer on my 5' KK.. I drove it about 1/4 of an inch before it wouldn't budge.. I then cut the head off with a hacksaw and then I punched it out from the head side.

Soundguy

I can get a 1/2 inch drive socket on it without too much difficulty. I was just hesitant to crank on it without knowing if that was the right thing to do.

I did some further studying of the owner's manual, and it turns out that this bolt *IS* a shear bolt. I originally thought there was only one, at the tractor end of the PTO shaft. Turns out this bolt is a second one.

It's a 1/2 by 3 1/2 grade 2 bolt.

I'm done futzing with it for tonight. I'll try getting rough with it later this week.

 

[Farmerford]

Can you just leave it alone? It will work until it shears completely, and they are usually much easier to get out then.

 

[firemanpat2910]

If he leaves it in and it shears its either going to be real easy or real hard to get out. If it spins say 90 degrees and jams up its heii to get out, if it slips easily it will almost fall out. With my luck lately I would deal with it now. If its only a grade 2 drill it out if a hammer and punch wont work.

 

[sheepman]

I'm with Farmerford on this one. If the bolt shears all the way, you should be able to slide the PTO shaft all the way off of the shaft coming out of the gearbox. Then what's left of the bolt should come right out. That's my experience anyway.

 

[BillyP]

After looking at it closer I think this is what you have. It's not a shear bolt.



Maybe someone, for the lack of having the right pin, put a bolt through it and secured it with a nut? If that's the case spin it around and drive it out with a punch.

 

[RoyJackson]

If I'm looking at the picture right, it's not a shear bolt. It's a bolt that slides down beside a groove on the splined shaft of the gear box. The bolt takes the place of the push button, twist and pull back type locks? I've never had one so maybe (if I'm right) someone else can go from here. Could be the bolt screw through the back side and double nuts lock it in place?

No, it's the shear bolt. It's shown (along with the two nuts) quite clearly in the Land Pride manual.

I had looked at my manual and the online manuals for Land Pride (my cutter is also a Land Pride) and typed up a nice long description...then I realized Adlertom had already determined that...so I deleted my post.

Anyway, it is the shear bolt.

 

[BillyP]

No, it's the shear bolt. It's shown (along with the two nuts) quite clearly in the Land Pride manual.

I had looked at my manual and the online manuals for Land Pride (my cutter is also a Land Pride) and typed up a nice long description...then I realized Adlertom had already determined that...so I deleted my post.

Anyway, it is the shear bolt.

Sorry Roy, I got to looking with my better eye which isn't very good and deleted that post.

 

[adlertom]

For those who suggested leaving the bolt it in place until it shears all the way, the reason I'm removing it is to service the grease zerk on the U-joint. The zerk is bad so I need to replace it. I need to remove the PTO shaft in order to remove it and install a replacement.

The consensus from all of you is to just whack it out, which makes sense. I just wanted to be sure that I wasn't missing something or didn't understand the mechanism, hence my original post.

 

[diyDave]

Instead of using the BFH, Use a BFimpact gun-1 of 2 things will happen- 1. you shear the bolt head off and have to punch out the rest. 2. you loosen the bolt enough to remove it whole.

 

[MikesTractor]

II've seen this problem many times. The solution is different each time depending on how much the bolt is deformed. There have been many valid answers to your problem, again it will depend on how bad the bolt is deformed/partly sheared to which one will work the best. Obviously, the easiest thing to do would be to run it until the bolt shears off all the way. But, if you did that, you would be ignoring the grease fitting that needs to be replaced.

The first thing I would try would be to turn the bolt. Spray some kind of penetrating oil or lubricant on the bolt to help lubricate it if it turns. Spray this on from the threaded end of the bolt. Don’t be afraid to put some pressure on it. If it breaks off, that could be a good thing. It would get 1/3 of the bolt out.

If you get the bolt to rotate a couple of times, then you should be able to drive it out. as mentioned before, be careful not to mushroom the end of the bolt.

If it breaks off and part of the bolt comes out, put the nuts back on the other end and tighten them down. Keep tightening and see if you can break this end off too. If you manage to break the ends off but they are not deep enough, you can drill the bolt out down to the gear box shaft.

This should leave only the part in the middle. You should be able to get the shaft off then. There should be a lock ring on the end of the gearbox shaft to keep the PTO shaft from slipping off while it is running. Be sure to remove the lock ring. You may have to slide the shaft toward the gear box to remove this lock ring, then you can slide the shaft off.

The shaft may still be hard to slide if there are any burrs on the end of the broken bolt. You might be able to rotate it and slide it at the same time.

Hope this helps,
MIke