Rear snow blower pto drive shaft

[smalltown]

When buying a used rear pto snow blower am I wrong to say that happening onto a sale where the snow blower was used on the same model tractor as the one I own is a big plus?
A quick check for drive shafts appears to put these things at around $300 if I am correct. Does that sound right?

 

[Yandaddy1110]

Agrisupply has pto shafts starting at $59.

 

[flyingcow]

yes that sounds about right. The last one I bought was about $350

 

[Zick]

Agrisupply has pto shafts starting at $59.

They maybe starting at that price but I can almost guarantee that it's not the right one and the correct one will cost much more than that.

Ran into this problem when trying to find a replacement shaft for my Farm King snowblower. Nobody had the right shaft on hand and the correct one was over $200 IRC.

 

[smalltown]

As a follow up question. I have seen a few used rear snow blowers for sale, but they weren't used with the quick hitch. I run my tractor with the quick hitch so now I am wondering about drive shaft length, and will it be too short even if it was run on a JD 2520 like mine, or possibly a JD 2320. I did check TSC for drive shaft extenders. Not sure about which one if any would fit. Are these extenders a good thing to use? Having never run anything off of the rear PTO I am wondering about the drive shaft shield. Wouldn't the extender be outside of the existing shield and be a safety concern? Just trying to figure all the angles of buying a used rear blower.

 

[kco]

Can you just remove the quick hitch for the winter? I recently bought a Pat's quick hitch which fortunately works with my two mowers and snowblower without PTO shaft changes. However, if the blower shaft had been too short I would take the quick hitch off for the winter. There's lots of time to put it back on in the spring before the mowers are used.

 

[RoyJackson]

As a follow up question. I have seen a few used rear snow blowers for sale, but they weren't used with the quick hitch. I run my tractor with the quick hitch so now I am wondering about drive shaft length, and will it be too short even if it was run on a JD 2520 like mine, or possibly a JD 2320. I did check TSC for drive shaft extenders. Not sure about which one if any would fit. Are these extenders a good thing to use? Having never run anything off of the rear PTO I am wondering about the drive shaft shield. Wouldn't the extender be outside of the existing shield and be a safety concern? Just trying to figure all the angles of buying a used rear blower.

I'd go with kco's suggestion to remove the QH during the winter season...especially if you use the snow blower extensively (good possibility since you're in western Maine). I do remove my QH since my Woods 74" blower isn't compatible with a QH...and the blower does stay on all winter anyway.

...Having never run anything off of the rear PTO I am wondering about the drive shaft shield. Wouldn't the extender be outside of the existing shield and be a safety concern? Just trying to figure all the angles of buying a used rear blower.

As far as a PTO extender, the ones I've seen at Tractor Supply aren't what you'd need. This one:
Pto Adapter
will work, but do ensure your PTO drive shaft doesn't bottom out I doubt you need this adapter if you remove the QH.
This adapter adds about 4" to the tractor's PTO stub shaft...it's not a problem with my tractor's PTO shield and and shouldn't be a problem with yours. Of course, it's a good idea to stay away from the PTO drive shaft anyway.


I have one of these "adapters" to use with my chipper (the only implement that requires the adapter usage...and that's due to the previous owner (of the chipper) cutting the drive shaft short).
It puts the drive shaft u-joints on more of an angle then is recommended (which might cause excessive wear on the u-joint), but the chipper/shredder only gets used for a few hours at a time 3-4 times a year...