Which pto shaft

[deep river]

I recently purchased a used Ford 3000. I also bought a used "Bush Hog" finish mower that already had pto shaft installed. I want to pair the two together as a 'mow only' combo. The shaft slid up fine on the PTO, but will not 'lock' in place. The collar seems to work ok but something isn't latching correctly. I have never owned a Ford or a bush hog brand and was looking in Ag Supply for a shaft. There ain't but 1700 different models to choose from... Other than the spline count and the length, what do I need to know? Would like to get the old one to work, but if a couple of hundred $ will get a new one, I may go that route.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Jim.ME]

I recently purchased a used Ford 3000. I also bought a used "Bush Hog" finish mower that already had pto shaft installed. I want to pair the two together as a 'mow only' combo. The shaft slid up fine on the PTO, but will not 'lock' in place. The collar seems to work ok but something isn't latching correctly. I have never owned a Ford or a bush hog brand and was looking in Ag Supply for a shaft. There ain't but 1700 different models to choose from... Other than the spline count and the length, what do I need to know? Would like to get the old one to work, but if a couple of hundred $ will get a new one, I may go that route.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Does your tractor's PTO shaft splined area have a groove around it for the driven PTO shaft coupler to lock into? Is it in good condition? Can you see the components inside the coupler moving? If it has been setting exposed, it may need some penetrating oil worked in to it to free the internals of the coupling up.

Besides spline count and length, you should get one rated for at least the horsepower of your tractor maybe a bit more.

 

[Destroked 450]

540 PTO shafts and couplers have been universal 1 3/8” 6 spline between all brands since the mid 50’s
There should be a U shaped grove in the tractors pto that the implements coupler locks into, slide to coupler on as far as it will go and then pull back on it, if the coupler doesn’t lock onto the pto the lock is probably stuck in the coupler and needs freed up

 

[Brown David]

https://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/threads/pto-extender-how-to-keep-on.1758471/#post-11459161

 

[Steve in IL]

I recently purchased a used Ford 3000. I also bought a used "Bush Hog" finish mower that already had pto shaft installed. I want to pair the two together as a 'mow only' combo. The shaft slid up fine on the PTO, but will not 'lock' in place. The collar seems to work ok but something isn't latching correctly. I have never owned a Ford or a bush hog brand and was looking in Ag Supply for a shaft. There ain't but 1700 different models to choose from... Other than the spline count and the length, what do I need to know? Would like to get the old one to work, but if a couple of hundred $ will get a new one, I may go that route.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

If I understand correctly, the mower's PTO shaft slides well into your tractor's PTO shaft, but does not seem to "lock" in place. As others have indicated, the mower's PTO connector lock mechanism might be frozen, and just need some lubrication. You ought to be able to see it working as you look down through the hole where the tractor's PTO shaft connects.

Alternatively, if you intend to not be removing the mower often, you can (usually) bolt the mower shaft to the tractor shaft. Most of the time both have a through hole that you can place a bolt in (double nut it). You do need to index the two shafts correctly to get this method to work.

One final thought... (Especially if this mower has not been on this tractor before). Be certain that the mower PTO shaft telescoping feature has the correct dimensions and is well lubricated. Basically, if needs to smoothly suck in enough to lower the mower all the way, and extend out (without separating) enough to raise the mower all the way.

 

[deep river]

Thanks for all the helpful replies. I'll give it a good 'look at' again tomorrow. It's been raining here the last couple of days and haven't been able to work on it...

 

[deep river]

Got it working. Soaked it good in PB Blaster. Seemed like the collar, springs and everything was frozen... Thanks for all the help!