Question on Meteor 68 Snowblower

[Yourkie]

Question: Bought a Meteor 68 this year. Does yours have an exposed PTO coupling at the snowblower end such as mine? I thought the PTO outer bell normally covers the coupling, or there is a missing shield? Also are both inner and outer shaft tubes contained by a separate clip-on chain? It came with a single chain for the outer tube. The manual does not show it that well. Thanks.

 

[JerryK]

The joint is open on the blower end so you can get to the shear pin [bolt] and replace it if/when you break it. The chain between the two halfs of the shield should be connected with another chain that goes to your toplink [or some other convient place] to keep the shield from rotating when the PTO is in use. This chain should be long enough to allow the three point to move in its entire field of motion without breaking it. If you look, you will probably see a cheapo molded zerk on each end of the shield to grease it once and awhile to help it not rotate with the shaft. Good luck

 

[JerryK]

Forgot.....the chain connecting the two halfs of the PTO shield also is to help keep the shaft from extending out too far and falling apart. If you do have the two PTO shaft parts separate for some reason....make sure you put them back together correctly. The universal joint on each end should be 'in phase' with each other, just like a drive shaft on a car.

 

[Yourkie]

Thanks. This is my first PTO powered implement in 20 years of owning these compact tractors, and I wanted to get some user opinions.

The first PTO shaft that I received with this blower was what they call a T50 and was oversized in length and shear spec for this size blower. It also would have been necessary to cut that shaft down to length but that would have also required cutting off the cheap plastic zerk fitting at the end of the outer and inner tubes. Then I determined from the manual that the PTO shaft should be a T40 not a T50.

But I also wasn't sure if the shaft shield at the rear was supposed to cover the entire joint as the T50 bell did to prevent a user from getting snagged. You are correct that the shear bolt needs some access for it to be R&R.

Has your snowblower worked out OK?

 

[JerryK]

Yup, I live in an area that gets dumped on by lake effect snow. The blower really helps keep the drifting problems down, since it leaves no banks beside my long drive to fill full of snow when it's windy. I also get 'nuff snow that the ground very seldom has any frost, since it is covered all winter with snow.
This keeps the frost only in the area I clear, and helps with the mud/mush problem in the spring when the frost is going out of the drive. Also, since I have no big banks of snow piled right beside my drive, that helps with the old water problem, too.

 

[canoetrpr]

I've got the same Meteor as you and the end of the shaft is exposed just like yours to get at the shear pin - which I replaced just last week!

I have no chain anywhere... maybe I did and don't know what the heck I did with it.

I get the two ends of the shaft apart every so often when I am greasing it. It takes a few minutes to get them together right.

Overall - very happy with the blower.

 

[bx24]

Does Tractor Supply or other local outlets sell the "sheer pin" assembly. I have a an older Mckee blower that has a smooth 1" (or so) shaft with a key coming from the back of the blower.

I have a standard dual quick connect PTO shaft, but I need to figure out how to link the quick attach with the smooth keyed shaft (along with a sheer pin assembly) ....

Any ideas?

 

[JerryK]

I'm not sure if they sell adapters to go from the smooth/keyed shaft to the splined shaft, with a shear assy. in it. Your best bet would be do a search for PTO shaft sales sites on the web and call one of them for info. You will probably end up buying the correct new shaft [with an intergral shear] and keep your present shaft for ballast....Good luck, Jerry....

 

[JerryK]

Just as a follow up...Google walterscheid pto shaft and you should find lots of places with 800 numbers you can call for info. Good luck....Jerry

 

[fish6942]

Does Tractor Supply or other local outlets sell the "sheer pin" assembly. I have a an older Mckee blower that has a smooth 1" (or so) shaft with a key coming from the back of the blower.

I have a standard dual quick connect PTO shaft, but I need to figure out how to link the quick attach with the smooth keyed shaft (along with a sheer pin assembly) ....

Any ideas?

I picked up a used blower this fall and discovered that the PTO shaft that came with it wasn't the same one that came from the factory. Unfortunately, the shaft that came with it didn't have a shear assembly so no protection for the fan.

I ended up buying a complete new shaft with a shear assembly on the tractor end from these guys. The cost was just over $200. Agric PTO ShaftAgric PTO Shaft


I also brought the original shaft to Catco to see about changing one of the yokes to a shear bolt style. Unfortunately for the size yoke I had it would have cost over $100 to convert it. You may want to check into this.