PTO shaft stuck/jammed on tractor

[civesnedfield]

If you do go the route of taking the U joint out, grease the U joint before disassembly. Not alot of grease just a small amount. What this will do is keep the needle bearings where they should be when you remove the cap from the end of the U-joint to get it out of the yolk. If the cap is dry when you remove it the needle bearings will most likley be littered all over the ground.

 

[IslandTractor]

If you do go the route of taking the U joint out, grease the U joint before disassembly. Not alot of grease just a small amount. What this will do is keep the needle bearings where they should be when you remove the cap from the end of the U-joint to get it out of the yolk. If the cap is dry when you remove it the needle bearings will most likley be littered all over the ground.

great tip. I keep the U joint greased regularly but I'll give it a few extra shots just to make sure.

 

[dbdartman]

great tip. I keep the U joint greased regularly but I'll give it a few extra shots just to make sure.

U-joints, I have much experience with. Tractors, not much at all. That said, even if you grease the U-joint, there is a very good possibility you may have one or more dry cups. Grease, like electricity & water, will follow the path of least resistance.

For removing & installing U-joints, I use a large C-clamp & some sockets. Push one cap with a socket smaller than the cap's OD & have a socket larger than the cap's OD to push the other side cap into. Once the cap is about 60-70% of the way through the yoke strap, you should be able to remove it by hand. (Back in my "Neanderthal" days, I changed U-joints with a 3lb hammer & two short 4X4's ) Very good suggestion above to check out automotive pages on changing U-joints! Only other suggestion I think I can make is to have a large baking pan, cookie sheet, or some other such thing to put below your work area so that IF you pop a joint cap off & needle bearings fly to the ground, you have a fighting chance at gathering them all back up.

Oh, if you do disassemble that U-joint, pull each cap off & use your finger to smear some grease in them! This will assure the joint is FULLY greased, plus it will also hold the needles in place as you gather them back up & reinstall them, should they fly out.

Good luck!

 

[IslandTractor]

These posts on taking apart a U joint are very useful. I hope others find this thread in the future.

I am still being optomistic and hoping I can pry the PTO shaft coupler off once I remove the PTO shield but taking apart the U joint will be the next step.

Thanks guys.

 

[JerryG]

Good points about putting grease in the cups to keep the rollers in. I will add, wipe the grease off of your finger with your finger tip inside the cup not touching the rollers. That way you won't chance knocking the rollers over by pushing against them putting the grease in. And don't fill the cups full. If you do they don't like to go on. Like David said, use a large C-clamp if you have one. If you don't have a vise or like in this case you can't get it off the tractor that is the best thing to use. There is also less chance of damaging the cups using a C-clamp than when using a vise.

 

[zzvyb6]

Here's how I have fixed this condition in a slightly different situation (the stuck joint was on the other end of the drive shaft, not the tractor end). In fact it was nearly the same type of connector on my Kuhn hay rake. The gearbox end is exactly the same 6 spline end as the tractor's pto stub.

I put the shaft back together so that the rake was hooked back up. I did not attach any of the 3pt links. The shaft length was considerably longer than it would be if the machine were properly connected.

Then I drilled a 1/4" hold through the shaft such that the hole went through both sliding parts. I put a 1/4" bolt through the hole and drove the tractor away with an abrupt clutch engagement. The yoke pulled right off the gearbox end. This happened because the 6 spline shaft has grooves that are cut by a wheel and they taper up at the tractor or gearbox end. Any yoke going too far gets ramped up the splines and eventually gets jammed. All it took was a good hard yank to free it. The thing really wants to come off. The balls are spring loaded so they will roll right through the notch which normally retains them. The shaft runs just fine with the holes in there. I hope you all realize that the bolt had to come out.

Good as new.

 

[jbrumberg]

The tow strap and come-a-long suggestion is looking better and better . Jay

 

[IslandTractor]

The tow strap and come-a-long suggestion is looking better and better . Jay

No question one would want to try methods that don't involve disassembly of the yoke first and the tow strap/comealong is probably the safest of the "just yank it off" strategies. However, there is a chance that won't work so I'm glad folks are giving detail on how to proceed with disassembly. Hopefully my PTO will pop off instantly with my next manuver but it's nice to have these varioius strategies documented on the thread for when the simple manuvers don't work.

 

[hazmat]

Maybe you need to scare it straight. Print out the thread and show it to the PTO shaft - Tell it, if you don't come off right now, I'm going to start using the various methods of torture suggested by tbn.

I seem to remember that my high school imported local prisoners to "scare us straight"...

 

[Highbeam]

I agree with an earlier poster that the yoke is still properly on the splines but the ball that normally sits in a recess to hold the yoke on the stub has been driven beyond that recess and the retainer is now pinned forward by the ball that has been forced to ride on top of the spline. You can't pull the retainer back to release the ball because the retainer is held forward by the jammed up ball. The ball itself is a wedge. Even after the thing comes off I would worry that the ball and retainer are too deformed to function properly ever again. If you can cut that retainer and release the ball, the whole mess will come off. If you can use a gear puller, along with a few hammer taps, the yoke can force the ball to slide along the spline just far enough to fall back into its proper recess and then you can pass the retainer to the "release" position.

I would have a very hard time recommending pulling on the whole assembly with strap or chain. The PTO is not designed to be pulled, just to twist really hard.

Let us know how it comes off. Honestly, I would start by prying lightly between the tractor and the yoke with a bar while tapping on the yoke with a hammer. Rotating the yoke to be sure it comes off evenly.