PTO SHAFT FLEW APART TODAY

escavader · Oct 22, 2007

HI GUYS,
Ibought the chipper brand new ,when i bought my tractor,january 05.Im assuming the dealer cut the shaft for me.Idid have it locked in its proper slot on the tractorpto shaft is almost level when chipper is on the ground. id say the splines are togeather an inch or so when chippers down. I do not run it up off the ground because its a top loading gravity feed unit,and i cant see whats going on if the wood wont feed in.I have also tore off my gaurd along time ago by not letting it come to a stop before lifting the 3 point up,the angle of driveshaft tore it up[dont call the safety cops]
everybody keeps refering to a tourgue limiter.dont think i got one,its a slip spline steel shaft[male and female,with a yoke and u joints on each end.
Soundguy,why should i have to change the yokes and u joints,paint aint even worn on them?
So heres my question guys,these steel spines[long hollow triangular tubes]
are they all the same,can i go anywhere and get a duplicate?The female didnt get banged up,but the male got trashed real bad[tractor end]Can i replace just the male?Or do they come in a matched set?Sorry for my ignorance-first tractor ive ever owned.
ALAN\

gemini5362 · Oct 22, 2007

I would go back to the dealer and tell them what happened. If the shaft was cut too short that would be their issue. I believe that most of the posters on here are erring on the side of safety. Without being able to see the whole shaft most are saying replace the whole thing that being the safest way to do it. If you feel that a part of it is not damaged you can get just half a shaft. I believe TSC sells them along with some farm supply stores. . I myself would recommend taking the whole shaft to your dealer and tell them what happened and ask them to repair it as a warranty item. Failing that have them give you a price on fixing it. To me it sounds like 1 inch of overlap in the splines is not enough.

32Ford · Oct 22, 2007

First let me say I am not very familiar with the construction of chippers. Are there knives in it that can be removed and sharpened? If they have never been sharpened they could be very dull. Using a chipper with very dull knives would put a much higher load on the driveline. Might be a contributing factor.

Billy_S · Oct 23, 2007

WOW!! Did you have a change of underwear handy?

AlanB · Oct 23, 2007

There are several drive shaft profiles, types, and sizes out there available, a good dealer will be able to match up whatever you need.

A good dealer will also have an experienced mechanic who can eye up your pieces and reccomend what you need to replace etc.

For those with Pats, and others that find themselves too short, you may consider adding an Overrunning clutch into the driveline to make up for the shortness of the shaft. I keep my ORC on the back of the tractor, and it pretty much offsets what the Pats adds on.

Good luck.

escavader · Oct 23, 2007

Billy_S said:
WOW!! Did you have a change of underwear handy?

I certainly didnt let any grass grow under my feet,in getting to the key on that tractor

GEMINI 5362
I wouldnt imagine any warrenty,the chipper would be comingon 3 tears old soon.Wouldnt matter,got a great dealer ,i know theyd go good for it.If i find what i need at tsc ill just fix it myself,if they aint that much.Dealer is a bit out of my way.
32 ford chipper had brand new knifes in it.
ALAN B weird writing that cause im ALAN B too

What is that over riding clutch you refer to,and how does it work?
ALAN

gemini5362 · Oct 23, 2007

escavader said:
I certainly didnt let any grass grow under my feet,in getting to the key on that tractor

GEMINI 5362
I wouldnt imagine any warrenty,the chipper would be comingon 3 tears old soon.Wouldnt matter,got a great dealer ,i know theyd go good for it.If i find what i need at tsc ill just fix it myself,if they aint that much.Dealer is a bit out of my way.
32 ford chipper had brand new knifes in it.
ALAN B weird writing that cause im ALAN B too What is that over riding clutch you refer to,and how does it work?
ALAN

I would not expect the warranty to cover it. I would however expect if the dealer had cut the shaft too short for them to work with you on the replacement. If they just sold you a new shaft for cost or made one up at cost you would get a better deal and would be cheap publicity for them.

AlanB · Oct 23, 2007

Catalog: Current Buyer's Guide from Agri Supply® - Where we have Something for Everyone for your Farm Shop & Home

down in the lower left corner.

It is a clutch designed to keep the implement (usually a bush hog) from back driving the tractor.

It is not the slip clutch.

I have the one that pins in place with the push pin so I can easily remove it.

The reason that I have the easily removed one, (and this is where someone will want to jump in and tell me I am wrong) is that in some high tourque applications (PHD in my case) they will slip.

That said, it made it nice with my Pats that it basicly adds back in the distance that you gain when you install the Pats. (somehow I know that is not grammaticly correct, but what the hey)

Anyway it is basicly like a ratchet inside that housing, but it does not quite "lock up" as securely as a ratchet does.

I do run mine on my Rototiller, and the slip clutch slips before the ORC.

Took me a while to figure out what was going wrong when I left it on my PHD and the PHD would stop spinning, without having sheared the shear bolt.

Not sure if it will power the shredder, I would think so, but I do not have one to tell you.

Edit, oh yeah, you can look on the tech help for the Eurocardan shafts there on the Agri Supply web page and get a feel for the different shafts,

Or if you are in the Tractor place, ask to look at their TISCO book, and it is amazing (at least too me) of the variety of drive shafts out there.

Bob_Young · Oct 24, 2007

PTO shaft length can be a bit touchy on a small tractor. From what I've been able to glean, you want at least 6" overlap between sections when the shaft is extended it's fullest. And you don't want the shaft to bottom out when the implement is fully raised. Don't forget that toplink adjustment might alter needed shaft length significantly on some implements. Don't know if that 6" is hard and fast. Might be less for lower HP or short stubby shafts.

As someone above pointed out, Pat's Easy Change (or a Quick Hitch) can easily change a properly sized shaft to one that is marginal. I had to ditch my Pat's EC when I hooked up an old 5' bush hog and found only 2" of overlap. When I tested it with 2" overlap, the shaft wobble was scary. Without Pat's overlap was 7".
FWIW
Bob

Soundguy · Oct 25, 2007

In inch of overlap? I'm guessing that just won't cut it..

for safety I'd repalce it. If you don't want to.. do whatever makes you feel ok. ( If i rigge dit up with marginal parts i sure wouldn't loan it out to anyone... )

soundguy

escavader said:
HI GUYS,
Ibought the chipper brand new ,when i bought my tractor,january 05.Im assuming the dealer cut the shaft for me.Idid have it locked in its proper slot on the tractorpto shaft is almost level when chipper is on the ground. id say the splines are togeather an inch or so when chippers down. I do not run it up off the ground because its a top loading gravity feed unit,and i cant see whats going on if the wood wont feed in.I have also tore off my gaurd along time ago by not letting it come to a stop before lifting the 3 point up,the angle of driveshaft tore it up[dont call the safety cops]
everybody keeps refering to a tourgue limiter.dont think i got one,its a slip spline steel shaft[male and female,with a yoke and u joints on each end.
Soundguy,why should i have to change the yokes and u joints,paint aint even worn on them?
So heres my question guys,these steel spines[long hollow triangular tubes]
are they all the same,can i go anywhere and get a duplicate?The female didnt get banged up,but the male got trashed real bad[tractor end]Can i replace just the male?Or do they come in a matched set?Sorry for my ignorance-first tractor ive ever owned.
ALAN\