Mid PTO shaft

Anonymous Poster · Dec 17, 2002

I took delivery of a BX2200 and a MMM last week. I removed the MMM last evening leaving the PTO shaft uncovered. The dealer said that there is not a cover for that shaft. Doesn't seem right to me. It came with a cover for the rear shaft. I would think that it would collect dirt being exposed like it is plus it is coated with grease.

Do you know if there is a cover available for this shaft? If so, where could I find one?

John

cpicton1 · Dec 17, 2002

I haven't seen or heard of a cover for the mid PTO. I think the cover for the rear PTO is more of a safety feature than protection for the shaft. Might be it just looks better covered. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Anonymous Poster · Dec 17, 2002

Thanks Craig, I guess I won't worry about it.

I have another question. When it's time to sharpen blades how do you get at the blades to remove them? Do you remove the deck and flip it on it's side or do you use ramps and leave it attached to the tractor? What is the best way?

John

jrlichina · Dec 17, 2002

You remove the deck to remove the blades.

steveky · Dec 17, 2002

John, not sure about your tractor but my L3010 has a cover over the mid pto shaft. It came that way and I've never used a mmm on it. I bet theres a dealer someplace that would get you one.

Good luck
Steve

Anonymous Poster · Dec 17, 2002

Hi,

My B2910 has no mid PTO cover and I have not had any luck getting one from the dealer. I did ask when I bought the tractor this summer, and never got a good answer.

Any B27/2910 owners have one on their tractors? Seems like some models have Mid PTO covers and others don't. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Bill in Pgh, PA

Rover · Dec 17, 2002

My B2910 doesn't have a mid PTO cover, but my older B8200 I traded in did have a cover. I've noticed several things on the newer tractor that have been economized.

Rover

Anonymous Poster · Dec 17, 2002

Since I don't have reason to use the mid PTO, I do keep it covered with grease for protection from rust.

I guess that would be a good idea to use grease in any case...but especially if the thing is just sitting down there unused.

Bill

MReeter · Dec 18, 2002

JWE,I been running Kubotas up on car ramps for years to change blades,works the best in 4-WD,and if you have an Air Impact to remove & replace the studs that holds everything onto the spindles.

The only downside is that you have to be carefull when starting the studs back in,making sure the spindle cover,the blades and washers are all aligned properly before putting the final "tighten up" on everything.

To my notion, to remove the deck just to sharpen blades is a waste of time,something I am short of in the Summer months.But, to each his own,if you have the time to remove the deck,then thats O.K. also...I always shoot a litte grease on the mid-pto,it helps when putting the deck back on next Spring,if you keep the locking collar on the power shaft and the pto shaft clean and lubed,it sure makes hooking and unhooking much easier...

Anonymous Poster · Dec 18, 2002

MReeter

Thanks for the comments... I have a set of ramps. I will try it both ways to see which works best for me.

John

Jeff396 · Dec 19, 2002

I'm to the point where I need (read way overdue) to sharpen my blades. What's been keeping me from doing it is two things.....how do I get them off and how tight do they need to be when I reinstall. I will definately try the ramp idea as I wasn't looking forward to trying to flip the deck. As for tightening, if I remember right I had read that the torque on the blades needs to be about 300 ft lbs. Do you actually torque them or just give them a good healthy hit with the air impact? Also, how do you check and see if they are still balanced after sharpening?/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Jeff

Bird · Dec 19, 2002

<font color=blue>Do you actually torque them or just give them a good healthy hit with the air impact?</font color=blue>

I just used the air impact myself. If you know what the torque rating of your impact wrench is, I don't see a problem. Of course for your wrench to get that torque rating, you have to know a couple of little things, like, is your air pressure at 90 psi? Is the torque rating for a 5 second burst (as some are rated)? Or is the rating the "ultimate" number; i.e., continue until it can't turn anymore? Nah, too complicated./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif I just ran'em up snug and gave it a couple more seconds./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

MReeter · Dec 19, 2002

Jeff,I have never put the Torque Wrench on the studs to ck. it.I have a cheap $25.00 1/2" Impact that has 4 settings on it,I set the torque between 2-3.I use about 90-100 lbs. of air to run it.

One time I marked the blades and the spindle cover to see if they were spinning out of sequence,and they hadn't moved,so I called the settings I had on the wrench "good enough"

Yes,I balance all of our blades(15 total) after cleaning them up and sharpening.I use a small 2 piece blade balancer that you can pick up at any Hardware Store. It's not Rocket Science,but it works for me...

Jeff396 · Dec 19, 2002

Thanks, I'll take a look for that balancer.

Jeff

drcollie · Dec 20, 2002

I've no cover for the mid-PTO shaft on my BX22 either.

As for sharpening blades on the 60" MMM, it's WAY-WAY-WAY too much a pain to remove the deck and flip it over.

I grab a floor jack and pick the rear of the tractor up with it, then brace the tractor with some wood blocks or jackstands once the rear is fully raised. Ramps would work just as good.

You'll need an air impact gun to pull them off like that, however. It's a big socket...I recall 24mm but would have to look in my toolbox to be sure.

Blast off - Blast on. Watch how the washers and caps come off, there are several to stack on there.

As for torque values, forget it. There is no air impact gun in the world that can be 'calibrated' by the gun settings to be even reasonably accurate. You can install a Torque Stik between the socket and gun, and they are accurate to +/- 5% generally, but then your tool rig is so long you can't access the blade nuts unless you have the tractor up on a lift, etc.

I sharpen blades about every 6th mow. It's amazing how fast they get dull and banged up. Good news is they're relatively cheap for a set and you can afford to have a couple sets in reserve.

-Duane C

Anonymous Poster · Dec 20, 2002

Drcollie... Thanks for the information. I will check to see if I have a 24MM impact socket. I sharpened my blades on my Wheel Horse every other month. That seems to be the correct interval for my operating conditions.

Do you know if Gator blades are available for the 60" Kubota deck?

John

Bird · Dec 20, 2002

<font color=blue>There is no air impact gun in the world that can be 'calibrated' by the gun settings to be even reasonably accurate.</font color=blue>

I think there actually IS a way, but the instruments to do it will cost you well over $1,000./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

jrlichina · Dec 20, 2002

If I don't feel like taking off the deck I just put it on my truck lift push the button and walk underneath to take them off. A lift is really handy!

k8ny · Dec 20, 2002

Socket is a 30mm

Kelvin · Dec 23, 2002

I don't know how different the designs are, but the mid-PTO cover is a necessity on my B2150. I think that on most of the newer tractors, the mid-PTO and rear-PTO operate independently. With the B2150, the mid-PTO and rear-PTO cannot be operated independently; they are both ON or both OFF.

Here is a repeat of a "war story" that I told a couple of years ago. While using a rear rotary mower in tall grass, the grass wrapped around the spinning mid-PTO shaft, which caused two major problems:

(1) I kept smelling something burning (before I found the problem). I finally saw a smoldering wad of grass laying where I had mowed on a previous pass. It was a very dry time of year and I nearly set the field on fire. There were plenty of houses and dry woods in the neighborhood. Could've been a very expensive lesson.

(2) The grass that was wrapped around the spinning PTO shaft damaged the seal around the PTO shaft, thus allowing my hydrostatic fluid to leak out. Something was wrong with the first replacement seal, so I had to get another. It worked fine.

So...

There is proabably not much NEED for a PTO shaft cover if the PTO is stationairy while operating in tall grass. But if there is no PTO shaft cover, make sure that you don't ACCIDENTALLY turn on the mid-PTO.

Hope this helps,
Kelvin