PTO Driveline stuck together- grr...

[evan price]

I picked up a Woods RM48-YM1 finish mower for my Satoh Buck S470 tractor on Craigslist for $300. It appears to be in pretty good shape, solid, no serious rust, no play in the spindles, and he put a new belt on it the last time he used it (with the receipt). It was his spare mower after he bought a 6' King Kutter finish mower to mow faster. It was tarped in his driveway not out in the rain.

Well, it hooks up just fine and seems to run OK but the PTO driveline won't telescope out. It's too short to hook up to my PTO. It has the metal shields in place and I can't even see the split where the square tubes push together. I tried chaining the mower to my truck and using a small chain to my tractor drawbar but even when backing up and jerking on the chain all I was doing was moving my truck.

I tried tapping on the middle of the shaft but I don't want to cave in the PTO shields.

I tried hooking it to the tractor by jacking up the rear of the mower to hook up the PTO shaft to the PTO and the lower 3-point arms to the lift pins and lifting the mower up with the 3-point and then jumping up and down on the rear of the mower so the force would cause it to slide out. No good. All I did was bounce the front axle of the tractor off the ground.

My next thought is chaining the mower between two trees and using my 5-ton come-along to try to pull it apart. I don't want to break something! Maybe try hammering it deeper and break loose the seal?

Am I better off to just buy another driveline or is there some trick to this I am not aware of?

 

[Specop_007]

I dont think PTO's come with any type of lock on them. If it were me I would try to remove the cover and hit it with some heat while hooked up to a come along to try and pull it apart. The shaft may have gotten twisted and then lowered which bound it up tight.
I wold think if it were just rust that tugging on it when it was chained to your pickup would have popped it free.

Also taking it apart should reveal if theres any type of weird locking mechanism on it so it can be closed up and not slide apart. Think of those little snap buttons you see on the vacuum cleaner hoses...I've never heard of any type of lock on a pto but I'm far from a pto expert....

 

[nybirdman]

They are a pretty tight fit,probably rusted solid.Could try chaining between two trees and pulling with a comalong,spray PB Blaster down the shaft first and soak over nite.If you break it ,time for a new one.
I take mine apart every two years and grease.

 

[sweettractors]

Some penetrating oil and heat will help while pulling and pecking with the hammer. If all else fails, take the hot wrench to the shields and go from there. Replacement PTO shields should be available through the Mfg. Ken Sweet

 

[Pooh_Bear]

I seem to remember having this same exact problem a couple of weeks back.
I plan on buying a new shaft to use while I unstick the old one.
I'm going to try the come along trick and some PB Blaster.

Pooh Bear

 

[leonz]

Most likely the the shaft halves have rusted together
as the members have so kindly stated, and it tends
to reduce the curse words previously stored
from the last seasons inventory.

You just might be able to break it loose with a piece of
solid square stock laid along the safety sleeve of the
female shaft sleeve and wack the solid square stock
with a 4 pound hammer to break the rust bond.


Using Fluid Film on the mating surfaces works wonders
as well, and as Ken has so kindly mentioned replacement
shields are available from vendors, so its better to find out
if the propeller shaft has crapped the bed and then obtain
a complete new one with a limited slip friction disc clutch
to protect the tractor. :thumbsup:

 

[Gobblin Tom]

a good soak with PB Blaster might do it also!!:thumbsup:

 

[JohninCT]

I had one just like that. I heat it, beat it, soaked it with PBB, attached it to a tree and tugged it with the tractor. No dice. Finally decided to end the frustration and risk of injury and went to TSC and bought a new shaft. Old ones still in the barn gathering dust. I just can't seem to throw junk away.

 

[JohninCT]

...My next thought is chaining the mower between two trees and using my 5-ton come-along to try to pull it apart. I don't want to break something!

I would STRONGLY recommend that if you want to do this that you take the shaft off the mower and wrap the chain around the universal yoke. You don't want to bend or break your mower. You'll be kicking yourself then.

 

[evan price]

Well, it came apart finally. I couldn't get the shaft off of the input shaft of the mower. Took the bolt out and it would not budge. While being frustrated and looking at it and thinking about getting out the torch set I noticed that the female square hole was on the eisde attached to the implement. I set the rear of the mower on a couple old car rims to angle it downwards and that let me hang the driveshaft more straight up and down. Then I used up an entire can of P B Blaster down the square tube. I filled it till it was running out. A few hours later I noticed it was down halfway so I filled it again. A few hours later it was empty so I filled it again. Then an hour later it was empty. Filled again. Then 15 minutes it was empty. Filled again. Now it was running out the bottom of the safety shield. Then I hooked a chain to the tractor and gave it a tug and it plopped out. I greased the heck out of that sucker while it was out.

Thanks for the advice, y'all!