Pto driveshaft safety shield

[normde2001]

Can't find the thread at the moment, but a few days ago some guys were discussing the safety shield and the consensus was that it should not turn and should be held in place by the chain, (I guess the one that holds the lower arms together when there is no implement). Well, anyhow, I noticed mine was turning, although I could easily stop it with my hand, (the safety sticker says it should turn freely on the shaft.) I decided to hook the chain to the eyelet and began brushhogging. After about an hour I noticed that the chain had broken loose and the shield was turning. The front plastic bearing had welded itself together although I had "greased at" it through the plastic zerk. I took it apart and fabricated a new bearing out of thinwalled PVC and I believe it will work ok as long as I let it turn with the shaft. I can't believe that plastic bearing is designed to withstand a constant 540rpm. Any opinions would be appreciated.

 

[jtn]

I let my guard spin with the shaft. I do not go anywhere near it when the PTO is running.

JT

 

[dgood1]

Ditto on not going near the PTO when it is running. Mine gets disengaged before I leave the seat. I may do some other "unsafe" things, but going near a running PTO shaft or implement is not somthing I will not do.

 

[RobS]

Mine has a chain at each end which I use. It does not spin and seems to be surviving just fine. I do keep it greased and I suspect a plastic bearing works since there is so little load on it. Based on the stories I've heard about PTO accidents, I would recommend fixing it so it works properly /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Bird]

My Bush Hog tiller had a chain to hold that shield on the front (tractor end), but after a year or so, the chain pulled out of the plastic and allowed the shield to turn also. My Bush Hog finish mower had a chain at each end (tractor and implement ends) and they always worked with no problem. And my Howse brush hog didn't even have the chains, or any obvious place to connect one, so the shield turned with the shaft, but as you said you could easily hold it with your hand.

 

[njrqs]

Bird & Co.

Glad to hear some of you let the shield spin. I know it isnt supposed to, but mine does.

I figure it is smooth, and you can stop it by hand, so I figure if anything/one gets near it it has to be much better than no shield at all !!

 

[wichiwichi]

Whats with all these cheesy plastic sheilds any more. Safety sheilds are godd but they have so many now it's almost impossible to properly grease the equipment. I know the mfg's are trying to protect themselves from lawsuits. Maybe they need to put some commonsense clauses in some of these laws.

 

[TresCrows]

Not to be overly dramatic cuz I am just a tractor beginner compared to most of these guys but please do not grab hold of the PTO shaft--EVER--NEVER--stay completely away from it. Always kill the tractor and allow the cutter etc to spin down before ever touching the PTO shaft. It will rip you into pieces--even with the plastic shield should it jam at the moment you grab it. That is very dangerous. Did I say it will rip you into pieces, it will wind you up and render you into human spagahti. J

 

[ronjhall]

I have 3 implements that have the plastic shield with chains. All three have broken the chains in the last year. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif It would sure help if the PTO shaft manufactures would come up with a better way of keeping the shaft protected. /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif Of course this would add more to the price of attachments with PTO shafts. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

 

[chim]

TC, your concerns are not unfounded. A while back I noted somewhere on one of these threads about a safety program that was listed in the weekly Lancaster Farming News. There was a picture of one of the speakers, and one of his hands was a hook. His mistake was touching a running PTO guard that had the chain missing and was spinning with the shaft. He had apparently done it before, but this time the cover was frozen to the shaft. Many of us do things we ought not do from time to time. Some pay dearly............chim

 

[jhburke]

I agree with you. I know that a little grease is a lot cheaper than new ujoints. I fought the sheils and I finally got out my saw and cut a slot so that I could grease the joints.

 

[centex]

If your shield does not have the chains you are supposed to check that it rotates freely every time you use it. In fact the instructions for one of my implements that does not use the chains says to verify that each half rotates freely. Also one should not be touching the shield with the PTO engaged and in fact you should not be off the tractor with the PTO engaged. On the other hand the chains have all broken many times on the my implements that came with chains so you cannot rely on the chains to do anything. The ONLY safe way to deal with PTO shafts is to give them a wide berth.

 

[buck1]

Mine come without chains and spins freely. I'd never touch it though while it was running to see if I could stop it. That's an accident looking for a place to happen /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Darren]

When I've had chains pull off, I've used a small eyebolt and sandwiched two fender washers on both sides of a new hole in the guard. You may need to grind the end of the bolt off to minimize the piece sticking through the shield. The plastic ears never seem to last long.

If the plastic shields rotate and become separated at the belled end over the u-joint you can sometimes get a lot of stuff wrapped around the pto shaft. I like to prevent the shield from spinning for that reason. At 540 rpm you can get a fire going if you have a spinning shield, you get a debris buildup rubbing against something and you're not constantly paying attention

 

[normde2001]

My safety sticker says it should spin freely on the shaft. I would take that to mean it can turn or not, as long as it stops easily. If it's free on the shaft, anything that would press against it hard enough to catch fire would surely stop it from turning long before that.

 

[Mosey]

I had a post on this a while ago, which might be the one you're referring to:

"chains on the PTO shield - yes or no?"

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=safety&Number=137597&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1>http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=safety&Number=137597&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1</A>

My conclusion was to make sure I keep the shields greased, and every time I hook up the implement I'll make sure the shield turns freely. The most important thing is to never go anywhere near it when the PTO is engaged. For example, don’t even think about reaching in there an picking up that hat that fell off your head, etc. Shut off the PTO and let it wind down to a stop first. But, if someone should somehow accidentally fall into it, then the shield should keep them from getting spun around by the PTO shaft.

 

[normde2001]

Danny, I had not seen your post, but it kind of coincides with my original post in this thread. Incidentally, I could have greased the plastic zerks til the cows came home and still would not have gotten grease into the plastic bearings in the shield. It was a new shield and had never been greased. Me being a newbe at the time.....who knew?