PTO Shaft frozen by rust or something?

[DieselBound]

With bolts that are stuck I've had good success TIGHTENING them first. Of course, you're not looking to bury them, you're just looking to get them to twist, to break free of their bond, after which you turn them in the direction to remove. If it don't work one way, try the other!

I recently expended a supply of cuss words dealing with a stuck PTO shaft. It was going to be a quick job, just hook up and mow a couple of spots. NO! NO! Of course not, not That easy! Had everything except the shaft connected to the tractor. Went to pull on the shaft to meet up with the tractor's shaft and... ZILCH. This is on my B7800, which really sucks to connect up 3pt attachments to. I disconnect everything and drive the tractor forward. BIG hammer and pound on the end of the yoke to COMPRESS the shaft. <-THIS is the "turn it the other way" part. Oh, had first sprayed the crap out of things. I then take a crow bar and insert it through the yoke's joint and, pinning one end of the crow bar against the back of my foot, pound the other side of the crow bar to force the shaft to pull out. If you pay close attention you won't hurt yourself and it works (for me anyway). Not pretty. I'm now swearing to remove all PTO shafts and store them for the winter. Will see how the PTO shaft for my 6' cutter is... (issue with that tends to be the slip clutch; I'm getting a flail in a few days, so perhaps it'll eliminate any need to find out how the RC's shaft is).

 

[PILOON]

Once with a frozen PTO shaft we used chains and pulled with CUT to no avail.
Lubricants had no effect.
What finally worked was constant tapping along the shaft while under tension.
Vibration seemed to dislodge the rust weld.
We cleaned the male portion with wire brush and sandpaper and uses a long rod wrapped with steel wool to free the female portion of rust as much as possible.
A liberal application of synthetic grease finished the job.
That was 4-5 years ago and still working as intended.
Used synthetic grease as we knew clay based could dry out and cake solid.

 

[SylvainG]

How about once a month push and pull the PTO shaft of all your implements? Would that prevent seizing?

 

[grsthegreat]

In over 30 years of tractor use, I have never had a frozen or stuck pto shaft. What am I doing wrong

 

[marhar]

Have you taken the safety slip cover off yet? Being that the tubes are fairly thin walled, even a small propane torch will help.

I have had one that was hard to slide, not frozen. When attaching a bush hog I did not have leverage to easily connect to the PTO. After removing the shaft and getting it in the shop I found the plastic safety cover was catching.