Potential PTO Shaft Rotation Tool?

[Patent Guy]

On the LX2610 when the PTO selector is set to mid I have been told that it is possible to manually rotate the rear PTO shaft from the tractor so that it may be aligned with the splines of a PTO shaft for shaft attachment. However, before being told that the rear tractor PTO tractor shaft could be rotated when the mid PTO is selected, I would have said that it cannot. It certainly cannot be rotated readily by hand. Short of starting, spinning rear tractor PTO shaft, shutting down, and hoping for the appropriate alignment, rinse, repeat has anyone come up with a tool to rotate the shaft just a little to align the splines? No this isn't a problem if the implement allows for PTO shaft rotation, but some do not. What I was starting to think about was obtaining one of the PTO shaft extenders from Tractor Supply or equivalent and using a breaker bar or pipe wrench to turn it - or something of the sort. Then I thought, many others aren't first time tractor owners like me and someone must have solved this problem. All help appreciated, and thank you.

 

[Jhilde]

That's strange. I have a b2650 and with the PTO selector in the mid only position I can spin the shaft freely about a quarter turn.

 

[thebicman]

Had the same issue with my B2601. I could not get pto to turn freely. I now put it in mid position and also put in neutral. Works for me. Give it a try.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I don't have that tractor, havent' looked at drawings BUT have a concern over the PTO not being 'free' when disengaged. Say you've got a bushhog or tiller connected, then disengage the PTO, if the PTO isn't 'free', then the hog WILL spin the PTO shaft and the 'internals' ? That doesn't sound good or proper.

 

[bucktail]

I have an over running clutch on my L1500 which turns by hand in the direction of rotation. Otherwise you can bend the implement PTO at the U joint and turn that . Or you can stick something in the U joint and turn it with that. Just be careful not to break anything.

 

[Njtool]

I actually have an LX2610. I don’t know why people without this tractor, or people with just simple opinions would bother replying to this thread. Perhaps they just like to hear themselves talk (type)? Or they want to appear smart? I’m not a doctor, but I play one on t.v....
if you can’t answer a specific question, why do people feel the need to respond??

I digress. As I said, I actually own an LX2610. Which is what your question is about. It’s not about a BX, or what the engineers should have done, or what my opinion of safety is....

when my pto is set to rear, it won’t turn, as you stated. If I put the selector in mid pto, I can turn my rear but I need something to grip it shaft with. I used a couple of paper towel, I didn’t have a glove handy.

it didn’t turn easy but it turns smooth once you get a grip on it. I turned it clockwise and anti-clockwise.

try using a glove or towels to turn it. I can’t imagine it would be different, we have the same tractor.

 

[bird dogger]

I'll dare to respond. Patent Guy, if your pto shaft doesn't loosen up over time and is still hard to turn by hand for alignment.....you could try an "adjustable hook spanner wrench" of the appropriate size. A good hardware store, harbor freight, or an online search should turn up something that would work. Just a thought......even a cheap one should easily turn that pto stub. You could even make your own custom fit one out of a thin piece of metal.

 

[NCL4701]

On the LX2610 when the PTO selector is set to mid I have been told that it is possible to manually rotate the rear PTO shaft from the tractor so that it may be aligned with the splines of a PTO shaft for shaft attachment. However, before being told that the rear tractor PTO tractor shaft could be rotated when the mid PTO is selected, I would have said that it cannot. It certainly cannot be rotated readily by hand. Short of starting, spinning rear tractor PTO shaft, shutting down, and hoping for the appropriate alignment, rinse, repeat has anyone come up with a tool to rotate the shaft just a little to align the splines? No this isn't a problem if the implement allows for PTO shaft rotation, but some do not. What I was starting to think about was obtaining one of the PTO shaft extenders from Tractor Supply or equivalent and using a breaker bar or pipe wrench to turn it - or something of the sort. Then I thought, many others aren't first time tractor owners like me and someone must have solved this problem. All help appreciated, and thank you.

I don’t have one but I’ve seen them. I think most of the ones I’ve seen were made by the owner of the wrench.

PTO Speed Wrench

PTO Speed Wrench Makes for easier alignment of the tractor and implement's PTO shafts. Flip wrench between 540 and 1000 RPM shafts.

www.sloanex.com

 

[torch]

I don't have an LX2610. But I am surprised to learn that there is a tractor out there with a PTO that won't turn if it is disengaged. Can you hold the clutch in with a piece of wood or similar?

 

[GreensvilleJay]

While I don't have one, I looked for LX2610, on the Kubota parts page....hmm, seems there's THREE different versions ,but looks like they all share the same PTO section. They have a PTO clutch which the PTO lever controls. I assume that with the PTO 'off', that the PTO clutch would be FULLY disengaged, so the PTO shaft ( and whatever's attached to it ) would 'freewheel'. If it doesn't freewheel, what the OP posted, then I suspect the PTO lever isn't disengaging the PTO clutch.,similar to a 'dragging car clutch',always partially on
If this is 'normal', then please someone explain why ,as any 'backfeed' could send destructive energy back into the tractor.
I checked my BX23S and the PTO shaft freely turns when NOT engaged, and it has a 'PTO clutch' as well. However the PTO leverl mechancally controls operation upstream of the clutch.All my previous 14 tractor were/are control the PTO by engaging/disengaging a sliding gear on a shaft, not the engage/disengage a clutch that the LX2610 looks like it does. The WSM hopefully would explain HOW it operates and adjustments ?

 

[Bark]

if you can’t answer a specific question, why do people feel the need to respond??

In response to your question------Sometimes, people will respond to a question that has not been answered just so the person who posted will know that others are paying attention and to raise the posts profile. Its called a bump. Its also called being polite.
I hope that answers your question

 

[BobInSD]

In response to your question------Sometimes, people will respond to a question that has not been answered just so the person who posted will know that others are paying attention and to raise the posts profile. Its called a bump. Its also called being polite.
I hope that answers your question

You might need to define some of your terms: Member · From New jersey


Meanwhile, I have no idea why mine (L5740) won't freewheel when disengaged. All of my previous tractors would freewheel. I haven't tried with the clutch in.

 

[NHSleddog]

I actually have an LX2610. I don’t know why people without this tractor, or people with just simple opinions would bother replying to this thread. Perhaps they just like to hear themselves talk (type)? Or they want to appear smart? I’m not a doctor, but I play one on t.v....
if you can’t answer a specific question, why do people feel the need to respond??

I digress. As I said, I actually own an LX2610. Which is what your question is about. It’s not about a BX, or what the engineers should have done, or what my opinion of safety is....

when my pto is set to rear, it won’t turn, as you stated. If I put the selector in mid pto, I can turn my rear but I need something to grip it shaft with. I used a couple of paper towel, I didn’t have a glove handy.

it didn’t turn easy but it turns smooth once you get a grip on it. I turned it clockwise and anti-clockwise.

try using a glove or towels to turn it. I can’t imagine it would be different, we have the same tractor.

The LX2610 is a rebranded B2650 so the feedback should be accurate.

 

[NCL4701]

I don’t know why some PTOs won’t turn or are hard to turn manually. We have 3 tractors, all different makes, two of them antique, and none of the PTOs operate like any of the others but they’ll all turn manually via some unique procedure.

The OPs original question about where to get a PTO wrench was answered with a link to supplier above that sells them for about $20. I can’t hardly fill my little diesel can for that. Apparently there are enough hard to turn PTOs in the world someone saw fit to market a wrench for them so it must not be incredibly rare. The L4701 is actually the hardest of our three to turn so I’ve thought about ordering one of those wrenches to assist when space is tight and leverage is lacking. So far just too cheap to put in an order.

 

[GeoHorn]

For many people, online discussion forums are a ”social venue”….. a way to spend free time in conversation with others…. a way to Learn New Things…. or simply to advance/participate in a “hobby” interest….
There are many talents applicable to tractors which are transferrable from other machinery and may be interesting to the participant….

Why is anyone overly-concerned about others participating in Public/Free forum discussion?
Isn’t that the whole idea?

(I sometimes visit a Pontoon Boat forum hoping others have made some contribution…but sadly it is over-moderated and no one wants to venture into the room for fear of criticism….. and another Pontoon Boat forum is avoided because it is populated by an “in-group” of vulgar and aggressive hate-speech “profeshinuls”…. which have little expertise to share, but freely give out insults to any new visitor.)

THIS Forum is well-moderated and generally friendly, IMO. I’ve been helped here and made friends I‘ll likely never meet in-person…. and I hope to pay it forward whenever I can contribute.
No reason to criticize participants that are only being conversational, IMO.

 

[NCL4701]

For many people, online discussion forums are a ”social venue”….. a way to spend free time in conversation with others…. a way to Learn New Things…. or simply to advance/participate in a “hobby” interest….
There are many talents applicable to tractors which are transferrable from other machinery and may be interesting to the participant….

Why is anyone overly-concerned about others participating in Public/Free forum discussion?
Isn’t that the whole idea?

(I sometimes visit a Pontoon Boat forum hoping others have made some contribution…but sadly it is over-moderated and no one wants to venture into the room for fear of criticism….. and another Pontoon Boat forum is avoided because it is populated by an “in-group” of vulgar and aggressive hate-speech “profeshinuls”…. which have little expertise to share, but freely give out insults to any new visitor.)

THIS Forum is well-moderated and generally friendly, IMO. I’ve been helped here and made friends I‘ll likely never meet in-person…. and I hope to pay it forward whenever I can contribute.
No reason to criticize participants that are only being conversational, IMO.

Agree. If my last comment was taken as criticism, while I agree it wasn’t written well to make the intended point, criticism wasn’t the intent.

The intent was more that someone asked why anyone would respond if they don’t have the exact same model tractor. Well, I don’t have the same model tractor so I got no clue why the PTO won’t turn therefore I didn’t make any attempt to address that.

However, 540 PTOs are standard size and at least part of the OPs question was where to source a wrench to help turn it. Like quite a few other questions, doesn’t matter what model tractor you have, if it has a 540 PTO the wrench fits. Fits my L4701, my father’s Farmall H, and his 9N/2N/8N FrankenFord. I strongly suspect it fits the OPs tractor. Whether I have the same model or not simply isn’t material to the question so the answer is still valid.

 

[Old_Paint]

At the risk of peeving NJTool a little more, I also have an LX2610, SU model, meaning NO Mid PTO or selector position for one, so I really don't have the same tractor. However, I can display Mid PTO speed on the display (which always reads zero in the absence of the output shaft). Figure that one out. As for the PTO rotation when 'disengaged", I have disengaged mine at idle with the chipper (huge 200 lb flywheel) attached and rotating, and it will stop that chipper VERY quickly, like it has a brake. Perhaps not a brake, but more like a hydraulic motor that's dead-heading against a pressure relief. My guess is that the inability to turn the PTO shaft with it in any position is because it's hydraulic. The LX2610 and it's predecessor both have hydraulic PTO outputs, meaning, disengaged, the valve is simply closed. Apparently, it does not vent both lines to tank in this position. My guess is that the hydraulic PTO motor is dependent on pressure turning it for lubrication. No pressure, no lubrication, failed hydraulic motor. Pretty sure the rear PTO on both the HST model and gear-box models are the same hydraulically driven devices. Ain't no clutch on my HST model, so I got none to push to see if it gets easier. I tried with a pair of channel locks (being careful not to scuff the splines) and nope, it ain't moving. So I keep an old beat up 3/8 drive extension in the tool box to put in the u-joint of what I'm connecting. Smarter thing would be a wooden dowel to make sure I don't scuff up the zerk in the Ujoint.

 

[Patent Guy]

Thanks to those who responded. I had opportunity to swap attachments out over the weekend so investigated further. It is possible to rotate the PTO shaft by hand, not freely, but it readily moves with the PTO selector set to the mid pto - SOMETIMES.

The actual issue is exact positioning of the PTO selector at the mid only PTO position. On my tractor, which is now at 42 hrs, the PTO selector lever positioning is a bit dodgy, it does not readily move between the 3 positions (rear only, mid only, rear & mid). Sometimes one could say that it "jams" a bit. Very similar circumstance to what can happen with the range or 4WD selectors when you have your foot a little on the drive pedal and do not know it, or are on a hill. In these instances the problem is readily resolved by moving the tractor a little and finding a spot where it goes in easily - thus taking the load off the gears which I presume lack any form of synchronization. The PTO selector demonstrates this same type of intermittent difficulty properly engaging the selected PTO position - but I do not know how to "take the load off of the gears - as I presume no 'gears' exist" - hate to use force with the PTO selection lever as the engagement lever feels a bit "bendy".

I am going to try two things to resolve this issue now that it is better understood (1) spin the PTO on and off with the tractor wherever the selector is and then see if the selector lever will then readily move to the mid position if the selector lever does not wish to readily change position (2) as was mentioned above - put the tractor in neutral and see if that somehow removes the resistance in the PTO selector moving freely. Will see what happens. This also could just be a situation where the tractor is new and needs some wear for these parts to move more freely I suppose. I'm also going to order the wrench for $20, no reason not to have that in the toolbox.

Thank you again.

 

[hedgerow]

I don’t have one but I’ve seen them. I think most of the ones I’ve seen were made by the owner of the wrench.

PTO Speed Wrench

PTO Speed Wrench Makes for easier alignment of the tractor and implement's PTO shafts. Flip wrench between 540 and 1000 RPM shafts.

www.sloanex.com

Thanks for posting this wrench. I buy a fair amount of parts for Sloan and I have never seen that wrench. On my big JD tractors 150-200 Hp I always have trouble hooking up the pto on the batwing mower. They have a hyd brake that hold the Pto. Even with the engine off and hyd bleed down it tough to turn the shaft and you not going to turn the mower. I use channel locks now to turn but I ordered two of those wrench's and they will be in the tool box on those tractors. So far on my MX-6000 I have only hooked up a sprayer pump so it been no issue.

 

[B737]

I'm also experiencing this with my LX3310. Makes hooking up PTO shafts mildly annoying.

I was able to easily hand spin the PTO on both the BX and B2601 as long as the selector was set to mid only. The LX is stubborn, and won't budge. I am going to try the transmission in neutral and try out the other position on the PTO selector to see if it makes a difference, I've only tried while set to mid only.

@Patent Guy did you ever sort this out?