Plastic PTO Guard - Chain it ? - or Let it spin..?

[Drifthopper]

New to me Land Pride FDR 2572 finish mower.

When trying it out this past weekend, hooked up these chains to keep the guard from spinning.

What do most do....? Chain it up to keep it from spinning..?

Or ... no chains, and let the guard spin with the shaft..?

 

[Trapper Bob]

I chain my guards to keep them from spinning. You can’t have to much safety.

 

[Fordtech86]

I just let it spin because I’m too lazy to take it off

 

[Russell King]

In second picture just below your hand is a hole in the metal pto shield. The chain snap is used to shorten the chain and snap into that hole so there is not as much relative movement as between the top link and pto shaft. The way you have it may work fine but looks like you can damage the plastic shield possibly?

I don’t think I have ever seen it that way- is it commonly done that way?

 

[NCL4701]

I chain it to the hole in the PTO shield on the tractor in the manner described by Russell King.

 

[Roadworthy]

Chain it down, front and rear, other wise it'll tear itself up. Grease the little nipples at the collars, too.

 

[mikester]

I chain the ones that came with a chain

 

[GeoHorn]

I chain the pto shaft covers on my post hole digger. On my mowers I have removed them (because the shafts are too difficult to connect to the pto with them installed) and I stay the hell away from them when the tractor is running.

 

[mcfarmall]

Remove the chain and let it spin. Treat PTO shafts like they want to kill you. The non-rotating guards only lull you into a state of complacency making you think it's "safe" to get near them.

 

[SDT]

New to me Land Pride FDR 2572 finish mower.

When trying it out this past weekend, hooked up these chains to keep the guard from spinning.

What do most do....? Chain it up to keep it from spinning..?

Or ... no chains, and let the guard spin with the shaft..?

Done it both ways.

For decade or so, simply let them spin.

No need to grease and/or wear out nylon bearings in guard.

 

[dkselw]

Bare-Co seem to think it is safer to not have chains PTO Safety Guard Chains Risk

 

[RalphVa]

Why have the guard if you let it spin?

 

[GeoHorn]

Why have the guard if you let it spin?

That’s a great question…but when you consider it…. if inadvertent contact occurs With a Guard the Guard will not “grab” you or your clothing but will still allow slippage from the pto-shaft ,,, (while inadvertent contact with a spinning un-protected shaft can wrap your pants leg/shirt-sleeve AND YOU up and turn you into a spinning bloody meatball for your family to discover.

 

[TheOldHokie]

Bare-Co seem to think it is safer to not have chains PTO Safety Guard Chains Risk

That analyisis misses a couple points.

1. To be a danger the chain has to be connected incorrectly
2. For the miscoonect chain to become a hazard the gaurd must malfunctions and sieze with the PTO shaft such that it rotates with sufficient force to break the steel chain or its attachment point
3. At that point the guard malfunctions isn't going to stop harmlessly when they/you touch it. Its just as much a rotating hazard as the flopping chain and inner shaft.

My suggestion: connect the safety chain properly and you will avoid all of those potential hazards. And if the guard malfunctions and the chain breaks at the guard as it is supposed to you will know the guard is now a hazard.

Dan

 

[GeoHorn]

That analyisis misses a couple points.

1. To be a danger the chain has to be connected incorrectly
2. For the miscoonect chain to become a hazard the gaurd must malfunctions and sieze with the PTO shaft such that it rotates with sufficient force to break the steel chain or its attachment point
3. At that point the guard malfunctions isn't going to stop harmlessly when they/you touch it. Its just as much a rotating hazard as the flopping chain and inner shaft.

My suggestion: connect the safety chain properly and you will avoid all of those potential hazards. And if the guard malfunctions and the chain breaks at the guard as it is supposed to you will know the guard is now a hazard.

Dan

I don’t think they “assume” quite like you interpreted them. They Postulate. Their postulation is that IF the chain is connected IMproperly…it can become dangerous. They agree with you, Hokie.

Where they got that part Wrong…was they postulated that the chain will fail at the MACHINE END. That is not any more likely than it’d fail at the pto-guard-end…where it is attached to PLASTIC.
I believe it is FAR more likely…that if the chain should fail…that it would do so at the guard.

Secondly, if the guard should “seize” to the pto-shaft…. the guard is still PLASTIC and further, it hides the U-joints which are most likely to grab your clothing and you…. Therefore even a spinning plastic pto-guard is MUCH SAFER than no guard.

This discussion has convinced me to reconsider reinstalling the guards on my mowers.

 

[TheOldHokie]

Their video lacks credibility because of their Original Mistake: ASSUME

As a formally treained but not very skilled "Mathematician" I would take exception to that characterization. ASSUME is the basis of every mathematical proof or logical argument I ever saw or wrote. Its the foundational basis for the deductions that follow.

Their analysis fails not because they posited an assumption but from the incomplete argument developed from it. They made an excellent point and I learned something from the video - connecting the chain improperly creates the potential for a hazardous event to occur. But they overlooked the potential for similar hazards if the chain is not used at all. And they also failed to properly analyze the case where the chain is properly connected and the shield malfunctions, As a result they arrived at an invalid conclusion.

Dan

 

[GeoHorn]

I see your point Hokie. (You quoted a post I made but which I quickly realized was defective…so I deleted it and re-stated my real intentioned post. Boy..You’re Fast! …it was only up for a minute at most.)

Meanwhile,… My subsequent post is more valid I believe.

 

[TheOldHokie]

I see your point Hokie. (You quoted a post I made but which I quickly realized was defective…so I deleted it and re-stated my real intentioned post. Boy..You’re Fast! …it was only up for a minute at most.)

Meanwhile,… My subsequent post is more valid I believe.

I edited mine as well for added clarity.

We have a diffenent understanding of what is supposed to fail and where, My understanding is the chains at both PTO and implement end are supposed to fail at the point they attach to the PTO guard. Since that is a plastic loop that is what will fail if properly connected. Then the chain simply hangs limp and poses no danger.

If that shield can fail and generate enough torque to snap that steel chain it can do real damage to a human. I just double checked the chains on my mower. The looked OK but just to be safe I shortened them up even more. I am not a safety freak but I don't see any need to go out of my way to create a different hazard if I can easily connect the chains properly and avoid it.

I also have an old Mohawk bush hog and the PTO on it has never had a shield. It is most definitly a hazard and really should be fixed!!!!

Dan

 

[rjent]

When I was a kid in the 50's there were no guards on PTO shafts. Those were the days of PTO equipment and Belt driven machines. We were taught to take responsibility for our behavior and treat the machines as dangerous tools and to use your head and think about what you are doing. I think spinning shafts are reminders to our subconscious of danger. I let the covers spin and I even have PTO shafts with no covers at all.
Think and be responsible is the best way to prevent accidents.

JMHO

 

[Cathy Liebchen]

I chain my guards to keep them from spinning. You can’t have to much safety.

We only chain them at the implement end