Cutting A Groove in PTO Shaft?

[andersonbw]

I have a Wood's 42 F1 Mower that mounts on the rear of the tractor on the fasthitch. When I got it, it was missing the PTO shaft with the 10 spline yoke.

I got one of those 10 spline to 6 spline adapter bushings and have run a standard 8 spline pto drive shafts for several years.



I recently got a Howard Rotovator that included the original 10 spline yoke to attach to the tractor. Now I have a delimma. How can I use the 42 F1 mower and the Rotovator on the tractor without having to switch the 8-spline adapter on and off the pto shaft? Well, I generally want to keep things "original-ish" so I've decided to get a new driveline for the mower and keep the original yoke on the Rotovator.

I found this 10 spline yoke from Weasler and have verified that it fits.





As you can see from the picture, the new yoke has spring-locked ball bearings to secure the yoke to the PTO shaft. I sure would like to be able to use the quick-disconnect feature of this new yoke. To do that, I think I would have to machine a groove on the existing PTO shaft -- cutting just far enough down to remove the splines to create a detent for the spring lock ball bearings.

My concern is that it would somewhat weaken the PTO shaft.

Any thoughts?

 

[Mht]

I would think it would be a simple task for a machinist to cut a groove in the shaft and I wouldn’t think it would weaken it enough to ever make a difference but then again I’m not a machinist or engineer

 

[Jim Becker]

Is there only one ball to hold the yoke on? If so, you only need to notch one spline. It would be a little less convenient to only be able to put it on in one position.

 

[Gary Dotson]

I agree with Jim, if there is only one ball. If you need a full circle groove, it's as simple as marking the shaft location, get out a hand grinder, start the tractor and run the PTO while grinding a groove. You'll be done in about 5 minutes.

 

[Rick Prentice]

I did that exact thing before. I only ground one tooth. It only takes seconds to locate the ball/tooth alignment. My opinion, if you grind all teeth and accidentally go too deep, that'll be the place where the shaft will snap under any possible mishap.

Rick

 

[andersonbw]

Thanks for the advice and suggestions. The yoke has two ball bearings -- one on each side. I guess that would give me two possible orientations to hook it up. Since they are on opposite sides, if you find one then the other is right too. I think I'll just grind two as the PTO shaft itself is really easy to rotate when disengaged.

You guys have so much experience it gives me comfort that I won't be compromising the shaft too much. Fortunately, the PTO shaft is one of those parts that is easy to find should the worst happen.

Thanks again for the advice!

 

[Gary Dotson]

The coupler , you're using, is used on Kubota and other brands, I'm sure, for mid mount PTO mower coupling. Some of these tractors have triple the horse power and torque of your Cub. They don't have issue with a groove in the shaft, I'm sure you'd have no issue, either.

 

[Matt Kirsch]

Thanks for the advice and suggestions. The yoke has two ball bearings -- one on each side. I guess that would give me two possible orientations to hook it up.

That's exactly how anything that attaches to the PTO shaft on a Cub works anyway. The hole needs to align for a cotter pin.