Shut off engine to unhook/hook up?

[looch]

I leave it running, but I don't dilly-dally while hooking up the PTO - go in, connect, get out. No loose clothing or gloves, and I don't stick my fingers through the yoke.

 

[snowman]

I shut it off whenever I need to deal with the PTO. While I don't think that the PTO can engage itself automatically, you never know when a mechanical failure could occur that could cause it to start spinning.


I do leave the engine running when I have to move around to hook things up (lift arms, etc).

 

[GSS]

Yea, my Cub Cadet has a button too. I shut it off before hooking any PTO shafts up.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Mosey, I'm not a veteran tractor driver but I am a veteran person (old) and frankly I'm not as sharp as I used to be when I flew airplanes and drove fast. I read the manual that came with my tractor and I even shut down the engine when I climb down off of the tractor to move something, open a gate, etc. That said, I feel that the time devoted to being cautious is time well spent.

 

[n6ckv]

YES! Do turn it off. My rear PTO tends to turn when the tractor is cold and the PTO is in netural. The TO is thick and transfers the power. Once it warns up the PTO does not turn, but it is better to be safe


carl

 

[Green_in_MI]

Mosey,

Follow your own advice on the intelligence thing. Hook up your PTO last after you turn it off.

 

[chim]

I still connect / disconnect non-PTO implements like a rear blade with the engine running. Since reading accounts of awful things happening to people getting caught in PTO's, I have taken up the practice of killing the engine whenever I'm doing anything near the PTO. While I know PTO accidents always happen to other people, I also realize that I AM "other people" to the rest of the world. No point in risking "serious death or injury" as one of my young 'ens once said..............chim

 

[MossRoad]

I shut my 3pt hitch tractor off. I just back up to the implement and leave the lift arms a little high. Shut it off and get out. Reach in to the cab through the right door and lower the lift arms by gravity a little at a time until the left arm fits. Then use the crank on the right lift arm to adjust the lenght to fit. Once it is on, I crank it back to level then lower the lift arms all the way to make sure the implement is seated on the ground. Then I can hook up the PTO shaft, hop back in the cab and then try to find the key from the hole in my pocket as mentioned by Egon /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I always try to take the time to find a level spot to drop an implement. Makes hookup much easier and safer the next time.

As for my Power Trac with the hydraulic PTO; I shut it off every time I have to get off the seat, with the exception of warming it up on cold days.

 

[DUMBDOG]

Guess I will start turning the tractor off when hooking up the pto shaft.

 

[Mosey]

The scoring on this is like a college basketball game, one side goes on a scoring run, then the other side goes on a scoring run! The first several were "don't shut it off" and the last several were "shut it off". Interesting.