PTO safety shields

[bmaverick]

If a toddler is anywhere near my running shredder I have bigger problems than a PTO safety shield.

As I mentioned in my original post I have read the horror stories and seen the gruesome pictures. I don't doubt they are deadly which is why I don't go near them unless the tractor is off. Period. Would safety shields have helped these people? Probably but they were violating other safety rules being near it while running in the first place.

Fooling with PTO shafts has to be the most frustrating part of tractoring to me and that is mostly due to how hard they are to handle with all the guards.

Likewise, in a normal kitchen, why do people stick their hands in blenders and mixers with rotating chopping or slicing blades ???

Knowing how families all help with harvesting produce, that Asian girl must of been helping to roll water melons slightly away from the PTO gathering implement. Kids and tractors don't mix with rear attachments.

Seasoned tractor owners and ones immature are both prone to PTO accidents. Busting up the PTO drive train is better than loosing a life. I would rather loose a tractor than a person being killed.

Do the shields work? For the most part yes. The farm worker lost an entire arm from the shoulder in this accident.

 

[cqaigy2]

Farming is one of the most dangerous occupations, most of it from machinery.

 

[Bearsixty7]

Does anyone else hate these things? Between the flip up deal on the tractor, the plastic around the shaft, and the plastic around the coupler and u joints it makes everything way more difficult than it should be. Greasing the joints is a pain, connecting and disconnecting is a pain.

PTO shafts are very unforgiving. I get that. Lots of people have been killed or lost limbs from get entangled in them. I have the utmost respect for them and don't go anywhere near the the shaft when the tractor is on much less when the PTO is engaged. Frankly I am not sure what benefits these shields offer to me and I am contemplating removing them. The only PTO implements I have are shredders and I may buy a tiller. Both of those things scare me by themselves and I don't want to go anywhere near them when running. Is seems one would be more likely to get sucked up in a tiller or stick their foot under the shredder and get hit with a blade than come in contact with a PTO shaft.

What am I missing? I am not saying the shields don't protect you from the shafts but if you never go near them what is the need?

I think if you are the only one that is ever going to be running the equipment or even near it, removing them is fine.

We had 1 or 2 pieces of equipment on the farm when I was young that didn't have shields and we were taught from day one, the PTO is turned off and has stopped spinning before getting off the tractor or anyone comes near any PTO driven equipment.
The only machine that it became tolerated on later in my teens was the square baler if a pile of hay or busted bales need pushed in front of the pickup tines that was very rare and there was a bar in front that made it almost impossible for you to fall into it IF you even got that close. You also had to make sure any loops of twine were cut and removed first.
We never had any PTO events or even close calls because we had a strong respect for the equipment and the dangers.

 

[LouNY]

Square balers used to get one or two people every year from kicking hay into the pickup.
I had to repair the pto shaft on my brush hog last year, it ended up being almost the same price to just replace it as repair it.
One bad u joint and yoke and both shafts were bad.
Bare Co USA - Complete PTO Shafts High Power
I got the AB8150, these Bare Co pto shafts have an easy to disconnect bell which will easily allow greasing access.

 

[hube2]

I have a shield on my PTO that is just a PITA. This is not the plastic shield over the shaft but the one on the tractor over the PTO. It is shown in this image, the bungees are hooked to it.



This shaft goes to my snowblower. There is a bracket on the blower to hold the shaft when it's disconnected. In order to hook up the shaft the end of it must go past this shield. The shaft is about 1/2 to 1 inch too long. I have to remember to take the shaft out of the bracket and put in on the ground before I back my tractor up to hook it up. I thought about shortening the shaft but after looking at it it is already shortened as much as possible to maintain the minimum overlap of the two halves of the shaft when at it's longest point. You'd think that if I raised the blower to the point where the shaft would be at its longest I'd be able to get it past this shield, but that is not the case. I'm not the guy that's going to take off that shield. Eventually I will remember to put the shaft on the ground before I hook the blower up to the 3PH.

 

[SaintJames]

I just tossed a set of plastic covers and run an open PTO now so that it's easier to grease and much easier to hook up and unhook. Besides, I was taught to never be near a spinning shaft, so just like the little lawn mowers that have to shut off when you let go of the handle, it's extra stuff that careful operators don't need. I would remove that shield from the tractor, too. My Massey 1010 has a similar shield that prevents you from getting both hands on the bell unless you are underneath. Go figure

 

[dirttoys]

Does anyone else hate these things? Between the flip up deal on the tractor, the plastic around the shaft, and the plastic around the coupler and u joints it makes everything way more difficult than it should be. Greasing the joints is a pain, connecting and disconnecting is a pain.

PTO shafts are very unforgiving. I get that. Lots of people have been killed or lost limbs from get entangled in them. I have the utmost respect for them and don't go anywhere near the the shaft when the tractor is on much less when the PTO is engaged. Frankly I am not sure what benefits these shields offer to me and I am contemplating removing them. The only PTO implements I have are shredders and I may buy a tiller. Both of those things scare me by themselves and I don't want to go anywhere near them when running. Is seems one would be more likely to get sucked up in a tiller or stick their foot under the shredder and get hit with a blade than come in contact with a PTO shaft.

What am I missing? I am not saying the shields don't protect you from the shafts but if you never go near them what is the need?

I hate to admit to being old and not woke. They get lost at my place. Now that said; noone else uses the gear, and should you read about me being eaten by a PTO, I was aware of the risk. Like you, I am very respectful of a shredder, and don't get off the tractor with the PTO on.

Best,

ed

 

[5030]

Show me a farmer with all his digits intact and I'll show you a safety conscious farmer....

The 2 occupations with the highest workers compensation claims are farming and tree trimming.

 

[5030]

My ONE implement I use regularly off the tractor is my grain elevator (commonly called a grain leg in farmer speak). I run it via pto off the tractor (me off the tractor) all the time because you have to monitor the flow of grain from the truck or gravity wagon into the collection bin on the auger. Not only do you have a spinning pto shaft, you have an exposed auger in the collection bin just waiting to suck you in in a second. I always have my wits about me when using it. Machinery has no feelings and will suck you in just like it eats grain.

 

[Captain Dirty]

From an old post:

Fatigue-induced lapses of judgement may be more excusable than gross negligence, but the consequences can be just as grave.