You can extend the lifespan of a PTO shaft with these 5 tips
Maintenance, inspection and cleaning: these three factors greatly affect the lifespan of a power take-off shaft. Spring – before the busy period of the harvest season – is the perfect time of year to do maintenance on your PTO shafts. Follow the five tips below and you will extend the lifespan of your PTO.
1. Keep the PTO shaft clean
This is the most important rule in the maintenance and use of a PTO shaft: clean the shaft on a regular basis. That may sound like common sense, but some people simply place the power take-off shaft on the ground after decoupling. Inevitably, lots of dirt and sand will stick to it, especially if the PTO shaft has been lubricated recently. Any grit left on the shaft will cause wear and tear on the next clutch, because sand and grease together are the ideal scouring paste.
2. Put the PTO shaft away properly
Many machines provide handy features on which you can hang or place a shaft on. Use them! If the machine does not have a bracket to hang the shaft on, people often use the safety chain from the cover. This chain ensures that the cover does not rotate, but, of course, it is not suitable for lifting the entire weight of the shaft; it is there to improve the safety of machinery users. If your machine does not have anything to hang the shaft on, you can just use a bracket or a chain to keep it off the ground.
3. Lubrication is important
Lubricate, lubricate, lubricate: this applies to both the profiles and to the other parts of the PTO shaft, such as the sliding clutches and the joints. Unfortunately, this necessary maintenance work is sometimes skipped, especially if the lubrication nipple is in an inconvenient spot. The amount of grease that an average grease gun puts out per pump stroke is about 3 grams. For joints, you use 15 grams, for covers 6 grams and for shafts 15 grams. How often you should lubricate your PTO shaft differs according to brand and part. Recommendations can vary from every 8 operating hours to every 250 operating hours.
4. Tighten and loosen slip Clutch Device
Many machines are used for only a short time of the year and are inactive for a longer period. With a friction clutch device, venting would be needed before the first operation. The reason for this is due to a potential buildup of moisture or rust making the clutch plates stick together. This may prevent the friction clutch from working correctly and may result in damaging the machine or drive line.
How do you prevent this? Before loosening any compression springs please make a note of the length of each spring, this will allow you to be able to reset the clutch to its original setting . On a coil spring clutch you will then need to loosen the compression springs nuts to allow plates to free up. However on a bevel spring type clutch or clutch pack you would need to tighten the nuts only on the pack to take up the pressure. Please note the you do not need to slacken completely but enough to allow the clutch to slip easily. Once these steps have been completed make sure you are in a clear area and well away from any bystanders or animals. The machine would then need to be put in to operation for a brief moment only to allow the clutch to slip. This should clean the plates enough to make them free of debris and moisture. Then you must allow for the clutch to cool down. After this you can retighten the compression springs to their original length.
It’s a good idea to do this to any friction clutch before the start of the season.
5. Follow the maximum work angle
PTO shafts are made to transfer power and bridge a certain distance and angle. However there is a limit to this. A PTO that uses standard universal joints can work at a maximum over all angle of 25° when in continuous operation. For very short periods, this can be 45°. There are wide-angle couplings for working with wider angles. These are best suited to draw bar type applications and not a three point linkage and work at a 25° angle during continuous operation; for short-term operation this may be 70° to 80° for example when turning. With long-term continuous operation at too great an angle, the lifespan is seriously shortened, especially for wide-angle couplings.
PTO shafts at Kramp
The range of PTO shafts you can choose from at Kramp consists of the top brands Walterscheid and Bondioli & Pavesi: these are the European market leaders. For an economical alternative, you can try our house brand Gopart – a very economical alternative. View our assortment of PTO shafts here.
Would you like to find out more?
Your Kramp account manager has a lot of specialised knowledge about agricultural machinery and accompanying parts, and access to a huge team of product specialists. If you’d like to find out more about PTO shafts or any other farming equipment, don’t hesitate to contact your account manager.
