Flail Mower PTO Shaft for Flail Mower

[jgbanshee]

I need to get a PTO shaft for my Ford/NH 918H flail mower. I bought it with half the pto shaft missing. Max Hp for the mower is 70hp. I will be using it with my 52hp Ford. Before I measure for a shaft should I add a slip clutch or is it unlikely that I will need one with a flail mower. Also, can I replace the PTO shaft with a square shaft rather than a triangle like the original?

 

[jgbanshee]

I detached the pto shaft from the mowers gearbox and found that there is no shear bolt and the shaft is a 6-spline with quick detach pto shaft.

 

[radman1]

I don't think a slip clutch is needed on a flail mower. I would probably just buy an entire new pto shaft if you can't find the matching other half. Square shaft should be fine as long a the hp rating is high enough. IMHO, I would not worry about a shear bolt. Flair mowers usually won't break if hit something since the knives will be knocked back. It will still make a lot of noise if you hit something hard/heavy.

 

[rbargeron]

The shaft on my rfm gave it up recently (tubing worn thin from never greasing it) so I was in the market for a new shaft assembly. Agri-Supply has very good prices on Eurocardan shafts and parts Eurocardan shafts use rounded triangle tubing, made in several sizes. I bought a whole Class 4 (47 pto hp) assembly - both ends and all the safety covers, delivered for about $102. It was a bit longer than I needed, but they are easy to cut shorter. For your 52 hp Ford, a class 4 shaft should be fine.

 

[jgbanshee]

I measured for a new shaft today. After hitching the flail mower to the tractor, I measured 32 inches from detent in stud shaft (mower) to detent in pto shaft (tractor). No one makes a shaft that can handle the hp that is less than 32 inches. i would like to be able to remove shaft with mower attached to tractor too.

 

[sandman2234]

They may not make shafts short enough, but they still make hacksaws.
David from jax

 

[rbargeron]

PTO shaft assemblies are often supplied longerr than needed. New length is often measured center-to-center of the u-joint yokes. Get the shortest standard assembly listed with the right reatures on each end - then shorten both sections of it equally using a hacksaw. The rule of thumb is to have at least 1/3 overlap of the telescoping sections. A new shaft from Agri-Supply etc. will have instructions on taking apart the plastic covers so you can work on it. It's not unusual to need to saw off several inches to fit your application - it wants to be short enough so it can be connected or disconnected with the implement mounted to the 3-point hitch. They say always measure twice, cut once - in this case, measure 4 times, cut twice.