PTO Ball Bearings

genesisdj · Sep 27, 2009

Hello. Do you think it is possible that if the ball bearings broke apart on the PTO shaft, I would not know it and all the tractor hydraulic functions would work, and the hydrostatic transmission would work as well for 4 months?

FTCKUBOTA · Sep 27, 2009

need more info ??

Toolguy · Sep 27, 2009

Can you explain why you are asking this question? If you talking about the PTO shaft that drives the front axle then yes, everything else on the tractor might work OK, except the 4WD. I would think you would hear some grinding or knocking noises under the tractor if the u-joints were bad in the front axle drive shaft. Good luck.

genesisdj · Sep 28, 2009

No what happened is I used an implement that had a driveshaft that was a little too long. And it pushed the rear PTO driveshaft in a bit and ruined the seal. The tractor ran fine, and all the hydraulics worked fine as well (BH, FEL). When I brought it to the dealer to diagnose a leak in hydraulic fluid they messed with the rear PTO and said that the Ball bearings came apart and I did it and not them when they took it apart. I just don't see how I could use it for 4 months and not see any problems with the transmission or pump.

Toolguy · Sep 28, 2009

The same force that damaged the seal probably also damaged the bearing. It obviously did not affect the hydraulic pump or transmission. It could have but, it didn't. I would say you got lucky this time.

RickB · Sep 28, 2009

There is often collateral damage from an implement PTO shaft that is too long and bottoms out. If the tractor's PTO shaft seal was damaged as a result of a too-long implement shaft, bearing damage could easily have happened as well. The bearing could have remained damaged but more or less intact until the seal was disturbed for replacement.

You know what you did wrong relative to the PTO shaft. You know that the seal was damaged. The shaft itself can't be shoved further inside the tractor without breaking something. You arranged for the dealer to repair the seal. If they hadn't "messed with the rear PTO" you would probably be here grousing about a repeat failure of the PTO shaft seal. Now you get to pay for the repair including the damaged part(s) that were discovered during the seal replacement. Call it tuition, and pay attention to the length of your implement's PTO shafts.

Yes, I know you don't like to read this. But it is true.

rbargeron · Sep 29, 2009

genesisdj said:
Hello. Do you think it is possible that if the ball bearings broke apart on the PTO shaft, I would not know it and all the tractor hydraulic functions would work, and the hydrostatic transmission would work as well for 4 months?

Yes the ball bearings could be toast and it likely wouldn't affect the hydraulic pump(s). The pump(s) draw fluid through the filter(s) on the right side of the rear gearcase. Any debris from broken ball bearings would get stopped in the filter. If the pto seal was completely ripped out the transmission oil would have leaked out and the hydraulics would have eventually stopped functioning - but may still not have been damaged.