PTO Shaft Guard That is Easy to Deal With?

[Suburban Plowboy]

I posted a thread about my bush hog, and I complained about the PTO shaft being hard to remove and install. People said they were all like that. I went out and looked at it, and I realized my problem is the guard, not the shaft. I don't know a whole lot about PTO-driven implements because I only have one. The shaft itself is not that horrible to deal with.

My guard is a Eurocardan, and I had to use a screwdriver to pry it off. It's pretty beaten up after 20 years, so rather than fix it up, I would like to replace it with a guard that is easier to remove and install. Is there a good one out there?

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I see a brand called Bare-Co gets good reviews from some people. It has two levers you open to release the front cone so you can slide it back off the front of the shaft.

 

[ruffdog]

I'm thinking that most pto shaft guards are not interchangeable. I think you may have to buy the shaft too. Many of the instructions for the shafts say to trim the end guard cones to your application. With your old mower, I would just trim it.

 

[scootr]

The PTO guard on my Kubota was in my way. I removed it and welded a little 1/4" rod along each bottom end/edge so when I remounted it -it angled upwards more. This gives me clearance for the PTO easy connection adapter and still protects the driver.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I'm thinking that most pto shaft guards are not interchangeable. I think you may have to buy the shaft too. Many of the instructions for the shafts say to trim the end guard cones to your application. With your old mower, I would just trim it.

The manufacturers claim there are universal guards.

 

[CalG]

I cut the bell on the tractor end back about 2 inches to make things easy.
There is no exposure that isn't covered by the guard or the tractor metal shield.

It's just a bit easier....

 

[cathy liebchen]

EA sells a metal replacement cover. All Brown cutters come with an easily removed cover

 

[Smokeydog]

For me pull collars are harder than push button to work around pto guarding. Like the idea of trimming the bell back. Now often disconnect from implement, connect to tractor, then reconnect back to implement just because of space and guarding. I come from a time brushhogs didn’t have pto shaft guarding. We used 4” corrugated plastic drain pipe over the pto shafts to keep grass and kudzu from wrapping around the shaft.

 

[bdhsfz6]

For me, the PTO spline shield, which is bolted to the tractor, is more of a problem than the guard on the PTO shaft. I hate to admit it but I owned my first Kubota for several years before I discovered it could be tilted upward to allow more room to attach the PTO shaft.

As others have suggested, I trim the plastic shaft guards on some of my implements for better access.

 

[workinonit]

That tractor guard is one of the first things that gets removed on a new tractor for me. I can't deal with them. I have 3 brand new ones in my shop.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

How do you figure out what size to buy? I'm definitely throwing this one out.

My tractor has a Cat 1 hitch. It's a Kubota 3710. The existing guard is around 63" long, fully extended, and it's about 45" when collapsed. The tube is about 3" in diameter.

 

[LouNY]

Yes, the Bare-Co guards are one of the easier ones to work with.
Bare Co USA - Shaft Guard
Their AS20090 is likely the one you could use, it is only 63 inches long fully extended You could go with the AS20130 and cut it to fit.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Thanks for the help. It's hard to believe they still make these stupid designs when there is no reason to. It's kind of surprising how slowly the industry moves. The quick attach rear hitch took forever to arrive, and when it did, it was in the form of a big, heavy monstrosity. Then the Pat's Easy Change hitch came along and made it unnecessary, but people are still buying the monstrosities.

 

[bdhsfz6]

That tractor guard is one of the first things that gets removed on a new tractor for me. I can't deal with them. I have 3 brand new ones in my shop.

Removing the shaft guards on my Kubotas is an involved process. I think they are designed that way on purpose. It involves removing 4 bolts from the rear of the transmission housing. You need a pan underneath to catch the oil.

I may do it in the future if it becomes a real problem. For now, just raising the guard out of the way is good enough.

 

[LouNY]

When the tractor manufactures equip the tractor with a flip up guard it does make a difference. However much of this is regarding the implement shaft.
Most tractor guards are mounted with 4 bolts into the rear housing, I do believe that is the most common way of mounting them.

 

[workinonit]

Removing the shaft guards on my Kubotas is an involved process. I think they are designed that way on purpose. It involves removing 4 bolts from the rear of the transmission housing. You need a pan underneath to catch the oil.

I may do it in the future if it becomes a real problem. For now, just raising the guard out of the way is good enough.

On the JD tractors that I have had it is just 4 bolts. They flip up but are still in the way. They are just more aggravation than they are worth.