New to Me: Posthole Digger... PTO Shaft Questions.

[KWentling]

Is 70" the total length of the driveline or the length of shaft you need? Baum has the shape but only in 59 1/16" lengths and there looks to be 6 sizes.

Kim

 

[SPYDERLK]

The 1 1/8" is the OD of the round shaft coming out of the digger gearbox. I finally found a shaft with that size of fitting on the end, but it was only about 32" long. I need about 70".

[[I guess what I have is semi tricoidal. I'd never heard or seen that word before, but it seems to describe the shape of the shaft I have. It's like a triangle with knobby corners and bulging sides.]]

There is a roll pin in both ends, but there are a few spot welds between the shafts and the yokes. It will be a test of my grinder skills to get them off.

Only the one end is twisted up like that. The other is straight, but if the price is right I'll replace them both. I'm now on a quest for online retailers of "Semi tricoidal" shafting material.

I kinda made it up -- I had it confused with trochoidal. Its not a real term, but youve described exactly what I was trying to find a word for. Let us know what its called when you find one.
larry

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Is 70" the total length of the driveline or the length of shaft you need? Baum has the shape but only in 59 1/16" lengths and there looks to be 6 sizes.

Kim

The measurement from the tip of the tractor PTO to the tip of the gearbox shaft with the auger as high as I can get it is 66".

 

[Iplayfarmer]

...Let us know what its called when you find one.
larry

According to this reference page that I just found the shaft is called tri-lobe shaft. It is, apparently, the Italian style shaft.

 

[KWentling]

According to this reference page that I just found the shaft is called tri-lobe shaft. It is, apparently, the Italian style shaft.

If you can identify the size from that chart and post it, the wall thickness, and if those measurements are from the inside tube or the outside tube I can give you Baum's price.

Kim

 

[FredH]

O.K. , I am not the smartest person in the world by any imagination of the world , but I do have some questions .

1) Why did the original shaft bend ?

2) Most PTO shafts I have seen on Post Hole diggers , ( and just about everything else ) are 2 piece , With 1 sliding over or inside the other to allow for movement as the implement is raised or lowered , especially a hole digger . My neighbor rented one for a weekend and we used our TC30 to dig holes for a arena and the shaft would get longer or shorter as you raised or dug deeper into the hole . Not to mention that when you connect the shaft to the PTO of tractor , you need to have movement .

So if 66" is the total over-all length , I would think that a collapsed length in the vicinity of 54" to 56" would be enough to cover the distance and supply enough overlap to remain stable .

Although I understand the desire to save money trying to repair only a portion , I would most likely go the other way and replace shaft completely , and yoke on auger head if needed , thus saving time and patience .

Fred H.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

O.K. , I am not the smartest person in the world by any imagination of the world , but I do have some questions .

1) Why did the original shaft bend ?

I only got pieces of the story from the guy I bought it from. It somehow involved the wife driving and laying the auger down. The one clear fact was that somehow the shaft wrapped around the gearbox. It was also clear that the accident did not happen while the implement was running.

2) Most PTO shafts I have seen on Post Hole diggers , ( and just about everything else ) are 2 piece , With 1 sliding over or inside the other to allow for movement as the implement is raised or lowered , especially a hole digger . My neighbor rented one for a weekend and we used our TC30 to dig holes for a arena and the shaft would get longer or shorter as you raised or dug deeper into the hole . Not to mention that when you connect the shaft to the PTO of tractor , you need to have movement .

So if 66" is the total over-all length , I would think that a collapsed length in the vicinity of 54" to 56" would be enough to cover the distance and supply enough overlap to remain stable .

56" sounds about right. One thing I've considered is that I can always cut it shorter if needed. I can't cut it longer.

Although I understand the desire to save money trying to repair only a portion , I would most likely go the other way and replace shaft completely , and yoke on auger head if needed , thus saving time and patience .

Fred H.

If I could find one with that 1 1/8" end, I'd probably do just as you suggested. I bet that the repair is going to cost at least half of what a new shaft would cost. The problem is that I've looked all weekend online and can't find the right shaft.

 

[FredH]

Depending on your time table for wanting to use , ( I mentioned patience ) , I would take your time and search the internet .

My Dad has a old simplicity garden tractor with a 36" tiller on the back ( Made back in the '60's . The plastic coupler that joins the engine to the drive shaft started cracking and eventually broke causing the drive shaft to start wobbling around . Must of made a heck of a lot of noise , but since he did not have his hearing aids in , Well long story short , The drive shaft looked similar to your PTO shaft . Finding the new couplers and a drive shaft took several weeks but eventually found new couplers and a used drive shaft and its back running like a top .

I used to have the links to were I got the parts from and another bulletin board that helped guide me along , but seem to have deleted them for some reason .


And What this " You can't cut it longer " Stuff. Don't be giving up yet , were there is a will the is a way .

Fred H.

 

[FredH]

Give these people a call :

farm Equipment Parts, Gear Boxes, PTO's, Clutches, gears, & shafts

Look at bottom of 3rd page of this 4 page pdf file .

http://www.walterscheid.com.au/Walmain/Products/PDF/Agmaster_Cat_DLS07_11.pdf

Or maybe go the other way if a good deal like this below can work .

https://www.thevaluebarn.com/ShopOn...uctDetails/mid/378/ProductID/850/Default.aspx

Fred H.

 

[KWentling]

If it were me, I would snag one of those shafts from The Value Barn and bush the 1 3/8" yoke down to 1 1/8". I don't think you can reshaft your old one and add the guard for that price.

Kim