My Stupidity kicked in at full throttle.

[ismilelots]

I bought a new 2024 Mahindra 1126 tractor. I have put around 70 hours on it. Until this past Saturday it had never had it's PTO stub uncovered. When I took the cover off the stub looked very smooth and black. I intended to connect a new 48" rotary cutter to the tractor. Every thing looked good and clean in the PTO shaft yoke.

Well the shaft went on to the stub about 1/2". From there I used a block of wood and drove it on, as far as it would go. About 1/4" from the lock pin groove.

My thought when driving it on was that it would free up while I was using it. But I ain't gonna use it for fear that the shaft will free up and sling off.

Now to my question. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I am gonna git the shaft off. I am disconnected from the rotary cutter with the cutter end of the drive line separated from the tractor end of the drive line.

My thought is to tie the shaft to a tree and drive off with the tractor.

I am open to any other ideas.

When I git this apart I will be cleaning the powder coat paint off of the stub.

Mule

Careful hooking to a tree. I had the same problem and the dealer warned me it could damage the shaft inside and the whole rear would have to be removed. They came out and got it off for me.

 

[Bob Gibson]

Disassemble the drive shaft by taking the cross out of the yoke, then just use a bearing puller hooked onto the yoke and pull against the PTO shaft. It should come off easier than it went on.

 

[Gord Baker]

I wouldn't try brute force. I had a PTO shaft on a tiller that was locked up. I tried pulling on it with the loader (brute force). Didn't work. I sprayed the heck out of it with PB Blaster, put strap through the PTO yoke, and hooked it to a come a long on a tree and applied tension. I let it sit overnight and kept spraying it with PB Blaster. Then, I took a hammer and did a tap, tap, tap. It came right apart.

If spraying oil on it doesn't work, try brake cleaner, carb cleaner or solvent. A soft touch is better than brute force.

There are a lot of smart people on here so you will get some good advice.

My thoughts are heat and some way to impact hit it like you drove it on, only to drive it off.
A steady pull like tying to a tree may cause more damage.

I bought a new 2024 Mahindra 1126 tractor. I have put around 70 hours on it. Until this past Saturday it had never had it's PTO stub uncovered. When I took the cover off the stub looked very smooth and black. I intended to connect a new 48" rotary cutter to the tractor. Every thing looked good and clean in the PTO shaft yoke.

Well the shaft went on to the stub about 1/2". From there I used a block of wood and drove it on, as far as it would go. About 1/4" from the lock pin groove.

My thought when driving it on was that it would free up while I was using it. But I ain't gonna use it for fear that the shaft will free up and sling off.

Now to my question. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I am gonna git the shaft off. I am disconnected from the rotary cutter with the cutter end of the drive line separated from the tractor end of the drive line.

My thought is to tie the shaft to a tree and drive off with the tractor.

I am open to any other ideas.

When I git this apart I will be cleaning the powder coat paint off of the stub.

Mule

That should have been a simple easy connection. If you can get the spray straw in position try to spray lubricant into the splines from the tractor side or if possible from the inside of the "U" joint. Some are hollow. Do it for a day or two. Be careful applying heat, only do it to the Opposite side of the spring loaded Lock Pin. Keep a constant pull on the unit. Some use a 10' length of heavy chain and give it at 'towel snap". You might also consider using a Slide Hammer. I doubt the splines are correct so don't try to use it again if it does not go on with one hand.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I don't know what is more amazing. 1. The people who continue to post about how to get the PTO shaft off without reading that the OP has already got the PTO shaft off or 2. The people that say there is only one way to get this PTO shaft off while the OP has already proven that that is false.

 

[zzvyb6]

Well, he did say in the initial post that "it went up about 1/4" from the locking groove". So apparently it was never locked on. Which is why, I believe, he was hesitant to even turn the PTO on.

That's right. But if it WASN"T pulled out far enough (Pin type or twist lock), it would only go on that distance and the pin or balls are jammed against the end of the stub shaft.

 

[TGD]

I would inspect the lock pin or balls for damage. You may have forgotten to hold the lock pin in the release position while attempting to install the shaft on the PTO splines. It should just slide on without much effort if everything is correct and the splines are free of paint and undamaged.
Beating it with a hammer would force the pin that is already in the locked position to wedge against the splines on the shaft possibly damaging the lock pin to where it now won't move freely. The 1/4 inch or so it slid on then stopped would be an indication the pin (or balls if the ball type) is still in the lock position.

I would be very careful about applying a large amount of outward pressure on the PTO shaft to free a coupler that is stuck. The housing is not designed for much inward or outward force to be applied. It's a quick way to break the housing around the PTO shaft bearing and that is big bucks to fix and not a warranty item.

 

[tradosaurus]

O K, thanks for all of the helpful positive posts. I appreciate the negative posts also. I find something useful in any response.
The shaft is off.
I used a ratchet strap attached to a tree with the other end hooked to the shaft, just before the U-joint. With a hammer I tapped on the strap hook in a direction away from the tractor. After a tap or two I would try to tighten one click. Finally it came off like an arrow shot from Robin Hood's bow.
Before I put the shaft back on the stub the stub will be clean down to the bare metal. It will be lubricated, at least this one time.

Glad you were able to remove the shaft. You were fortunate not to have been injured and/or damaged your tractor.
I would have used a hammer only, like on the of previous posters suggested.

I would start with a large screwdriver slid in the middle of the yolk so I could apply pressure by pulling with both hands, as others have said apply penetrating oil first and don't hook a chain and start snatching or pulling just take your time and it's going to slide back off.

 

[Lavender Valley]

It's fascinating how many ways there are to do something.... just how much work people will gamble against how much risk they are willing to take.

Chaining it to a tree and driving forward will probably accomplish something, but you don't have any control over what that might be. It might even be the PTO Housing or even the rear end casting that comes loose..

I would try that idea with the ratchet strap first. It's pretty safe. It appeals to my own bias towards solving problems with more work and less risk to expensive parts.

If that didn't work, my next move would be even more conservative. I'd take the PTO shaft apart until it was possible to put a standard gear puller onto the coupllng. That might involve some hacksawing and a new PTO shaft, but it insures that pulling the coupling off won't do any farther damage to the PTO. And there is zero chance of damaging the PTO housing

rScotty

Great post rScotty, a PTO stub in the tractor is in bearings and some are held in with only an internal circlip, not made to pull on. I had a wide tree felling wedge that I cut some of the centre out so it fitted over the PTO shaft, this tool makes it so easy to separate the shaft off the PTO stub

 

[rScotty]

Great post rScotty, a PTO stub in the tractor is in bearings and some are held in with only an internal circlip, not made to pull on. I had a wide tree felling wedge that I cut some of the centre out so it fitted over the PTO shaft, this tool makes it so easy to separate the shaft off the PTO stub

I hadn't thought of a wedge - though I've used the same leverage to take other things apart. I'll remember that one.
Sometimes it's worth looking into the parts book to see how things are put together before forcing them. There isn't much but the bearing circlips holding any PTO shaft in place.

 

[WinterDeere]

Wedge, lever... doesn't matter. All are an equally-bad idea, as you're applying a thrust load to the PTO stub, leveraging against the housing. A puller between stub end and driveshaft end avoids putting any thrust load on whatever c'clips or thrust washers are holding that stub within the housing.

Most of the answers on this thread remind me of why I don't buy used machinery, anymore.

 

[newbury]

O K, thanks for all of the helpful positive posts. I appreciate the negative posts also. I find something useful in any response.
The shaft is off.
I used a ratchet strap attached to a tree with the other end hooked to the shaft, just before the U-joint. With a hammer I tapped on the strap hook in a direction away from the tractor. After a tap or two I would try to tighten one click. Finally it came off like an arrow shot from Robin Hood's bow.
Before I put the shaft back on the stub the stub will be clean down to the bare metal. It will be lubricated, at least this one time.

That's great.
Still a good thread.
Is there any way to get a mod to change the title and maybe add something like PROBLEM SOLVED?

 

[Williy]

By looking at this diagram I don't see how a wedge would
destroy any thing when you are gently tapping the wedge
I use a rubber mallet works better than a hammer at times

willy

 

[Williy]

For the pto; shaft on the back of the tractor has anyone used
a piece of PVC pipe with a cap ;on one end full of grease to
cover it?

willy

 

[WinterDeere]

By looking at this diagram I don't see how a wedge would
destroy any thing when you are gently tapping the wedge
I use a rubber mallet works better than a hammer at times
View attachment 3113362

willy

Designs will vary, but in the case of that particular design, it appears you'd be putting a thrust load on a ball bearing assembly (140), by having the wedge put force between stuck driveshaft and the housing.

The drawing doesn't show us all the details, but it appears the outer race of bearing is in stopped c'bore in housing, whereas you'd be pulling on stub that seems to be held only by inner race. Large thrust loads deform ball bearing assemblies and can cause them to prematurely fail, which is why you always push or pull on the race where the interference exists, when installing them. You never want press on the inner race of a ball bearing to press it into a housing, and you never press on the outer race to install it on a shaft.

We could argue about the probability of damage, in all likelihood it might be a very low risk for the amount of force required to get the driveshaft off. I'd bet many old farmers have even done this with no damage. But there is a very easy way to do the job that doesn't create this risk of damage, by just popping the spider out of the u-joint and using a gear puller to remove the driveshaft end. At least to me, that seems too easy to even consider the risks of another method.

 

[Razzmatazz]

For the pto; shaft on the back of the tractor has anyone used
a piece of PVC pipe with a cap ;on one end full of grease to
cover it?

willy

What a great idea! I think 1.5inch pvc might work

 

[Jstpssng]

What a great idea! I think 1.5inch pvc might work

I have one made for the purpose. This is the spare I picked up, in case I lose the other.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

The PTO shaft is a solid. The sleeve is slid over it and stuck. Out of curiosity, is the face of the u-joint yoke a solid with a hole in the middle? On the one I have access to at the moment, that is how it is made.

Can you disassemble the u-joint off the sleeve, and tap the hole to install a Zerk's fitting and push them apart with a grease gun?

 

[tradosaurus]

For the pto; shaft on the back of the tractor has anyone used
a piece of PVC pipe with a cap ;on one end full of grease to
cover it?

willy

My tractor came with a rubber sleeve to cover the back of the tractor PTO shaft when not in use. (exactly the one in post #76)
When I do have an implement attached I store the rubber sleeve in the small tool box on the back of the tractor.

 

[WinterDeere]

My tractor came with a rubber sleeve to cover the back of the tractor PTO shaft when not in use. (exactly the one in post #76)
When I do have an implement attached I store the rubber sleeve in the small tool box on the back of the tractor.

Same, but I'd probably look at Willy's idea, if I ever lost mine. Another option is is US Plastics, who will probably sell you just one piece of one that's a perfect fit. I think US Plastics is just a distributor/reseller of Caplugs.com and a few other brands, but the big boys like Caplugs won't sell individual units, you usually have to buy 100's or 1000's from them.

 

[tradosaurus]

Same, but I'd probably look at Willy's idea, if I ever lost mine. Another option is is US Plastics, who will probably sell you just one piece of one that's a perfect fit. I think US Plastics is just a distributor/reseller of Caplugs.com and a few other brands, but the big boys like Caplugs won't sell individual units, you usually have to buy 100's or 1000's from them.

I think I can swing $11 for a new one if I lost the original.