The former owner of my "new" 276 baler was a complete moron. I have spent a lot of time (and money) replacing his half arsed repairs repairing years of neglect. This one has me puzzled though.
The long shaft of the PTO has been replaced - the long tube appears to be original but I don't know for sure. He also replaced the short PTO shaft with something from TSC that is undersized. The long shaft was too long and prevented the tube from sliding all the way back. How he didn't destroy the clutch on the front the flywheel is amazing - but it didn't appear it had seen much use since he had installed it. I took it apart and cut 4" off the long shaft which allowed the tube to slide to the base of the long shaft. I need to take it apart again and clean everything up. Even with oiling the shaft when I put it back together there is considerable resistance in the shaft moving back and forth - almost like it has tar inside gumming it up (excessive heat?). The short shaft is too short - the PTO support is leaning quite a ways forward to hook up - I am guessing he did this to give the PTO shaft some travel for uneven ground.
Right now the only things that MIGHT be original to the baler's PTO is the long tube and the PTO support - although those could have been savaged from a junk pile.
How much travel should there be in the PTO shaft when its hooked up to the tractor? How close to vertical should the PTO support be when hooked to the tractor? I
Can you cut a section off the tube and the shaft to give the PTO more travel?
Currently when fully collapsed the shaft slides all the way up the tube to the knuckle on the end of the tube and the tube is at the knuckle of the shaft. I propose to cut 2-3 inches off of both to give it more travel - and buy the correct short shaft to hook up to the tractor. Even if the PTO shaft was fully extended to the maximum length the support would allow there would still be about 2 foot of the shaft inside the tube.
What I should do is replace the entire PTO shaft and start over but finding a complete unbent PTO shaft for a 30+ year old baler isn't that easy.
The long shaft of the PTO has been replaced - the long tube appears to be original but I don't know for sure. He also replaced the short PTO shaft with something from TSC that is undersized. The long shaft was too long and prevented the tube from sliding all the way back. How he didn't destroy the clutch on the front the flywheel is amazing - but it didn't appear it had seen much use since he had installed it. I took it apart and cut 4" off the long shaft which allowed the tube to slide to the base of the long shaft. I need to take it apart again and clean everything up. Even with oiling the shaft when I put it back together there is considerable resistance in the shaft moving back and forth - almost like it has tar inside gumming it up (excessive heat?). The short shaft is too short - the PTO support is leaning quite a ways forward to hook up - I am guessing he did this to give the PTO shaft some travel for uneven ground.
Right now the only things that MIGHT be original to the baler's PTO is the long tube and the PTO support - although those could have been savaged from a junk pile.
How much travel should there be in the PTO shaft when its hooked up to the tractor? How close to vertical should the PTO support be when hooked to the tractor? I
Can you cut a section off the tube and the shaft to give the PTO more travel?
Currently when fully collapsed the shaft slides all the way up the tube to the knuckle on the end of the tube and the tube is at the knuckle of the shaft. I propose to cut 2-3 inches off of both to give it more travel - and buy the correct short shaft to hook up to the tractor. Even if the PTO shaft was fully extended to the maximum length the support would allow there would still be about 2 foot of the shaft inside the tube.
What I should do is replace the entire PTO shaft and start over but finding a complete unbent PTO shaft for a 30+ year old baler isn't that easy.
