PTO question

[Silver Fox]

Question
I need to dig about 40 postholes. I have been told when you rent a pto driven post hole digger you need to be sure its the correct length for your particular machine or you can damage your pto. True? The only thing I know, if it reaches my pto spline must be the right length. Is there more to this? The only pto equipment I have is a bush hog and Its a County Line use the pto that came with it and seems to be fine.

 

[bcp]

It could reach your tractor PTO but not have enough overlap in the sliding joint.

You will find some variations among PTO shaft manufacturers, but here is one recommendation.

Bruce

 

[Diydave]

Check the length of the shaft, with the digger all the way up, it should have 6" of overlap, at that point...

 

[85Hokie]

Both of these guys explained it perfectly......^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

One last thing - make sure the PTO shaft is NOT too long too. This can be a problem but being too short is more likely a problem.

To find out if too long - hook every thing up and adjust the 3 point so it is level (pto to pto is horz.) then see if shaft will go into both easily. Again - this is somewhat rare - but I have seen it happen.

 

[Silver Fox]

Thanks guys! Understand.

Corny joke of the day......digging a post hole is not rocket science, but you do need a P.H.D. (post hole digger) Sorry...

 

[Stubbyie]

Be certain the rental post hole auger has the PROPER shear pin in its driveline, wherever it's located (top at gearhead or bottom at PTO; I've even seen one that had a bushhog-type slip clutch on the shaft).

And on the way out of town pick up a few spare shear pins. Even though it's a rental unit, be sure you keep the U-joints greased.

Depending on soil conditions use of a PTO auger can be problematic. I've seen a smaller-ish tractor using an auger hit a rock (or something) and instead of shearing the pin the torque swung the tractor to one side before the operator could get out of the PTO.

Go slow and pay attention.

If you have any doubt and if your rental outfit has an option, get an auger that has a carbide rock-tip on it---won't do much for boulders but can get through thin plate-rock.

If you hit super-sticky clay that balls the auger, try tossing into the hole a shovelful of gypsum or hydrated lime---if it works reliably depends on your local soils. I've used Class-rated ("Class-C" around here; maybe Class-A elsewhere) cement powder also (not sacked ready-mix) but you need water to keep the auger washed.

Good luck and please post back your continuing experiences so we may all learn.

 

[D2Cat]

You get into tight clay and it won't come up with tractor hydraulics, use a big pipe wrench to back it out manually.