Tractor guys....question

[hunter63]

Hooking up the tractor to the mower for the first time, I was having a heck of a time getting the PTO shaft to slide out, to hook to the tractor shaft.

I should have freed it up BEFORE I hooked the mower up...had to use the old hook a chain on the end, lay the chain down and give it a 'shake", sorta snaping the chain, like we used to do to get rear wheel bearings/axles out.

Looked all over the shaft and housing, gards atc and didn't see a grease fitting....What am I missing?
Is there some secret to this,..... or just make sure it's free before hooking up?

[Sparky93]

What kind of tractor is it?

[hunter63]

Tractor is a Mahindra, mower is a Land Pride...

I leave the PTO shaft hooked to the mower, as I drop it off for the winter....Then put on the back blade.

Been doing some searching and found a tractor forum.....
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/

JD is supposed to have grease fittings......but I'm still looking.

[Sparky93]

I don't know anything about Mahindra tractors, maybe look for a busted off grease fitting. I was greasing the harrow last summer and there were a couple grease fittings that had been busted off flush.

[Thaddius Bickerton]

has your zerg busted off and got plugged (hidden) with grease / dirt / hay dust. I have had that happen to me a few times on pieces of equipment then have to hunt and scrape till i find it and then get the little booger out and a new one back in. (son reverse threaded - left turn to tighten - some pointed rod and welded a T handle on , so I can wedge one in and back out stuff like that, Not perfect but it works if not frozen) I think you can buy a similar but forget the right name for it. Maybe at an auto parts store? Having a son who does metal makes it easier to get tools like that made up so I don't buy em anymore as a rule.

I don't know the specifics for your gear , but mine have zerg fittings, but I also slap a little on the shaft and smear it up and down if I'm not sure.

A season put up can freeze those up a bit, usually first run will loosen em up pretty decent.

Thad.


ETA What is spooky is I made a run into the Tractor place this morning to get a new shaft for an old hay baler we just redid, bet they had 100 of them laying out and 5 guys looking em over, must be an epidemic or some such. Did find one that will work on the old tractor we have though so was a good day. :-)


ETA #2 meant shafts / pto parts, not balers or tractors lol Not happy with way I'm putting stuff today, probably need to go to sleep but all i'll do is toss and turn since i'm not sleepy tonight.

[Sparky93]

has your zerg busted off and got plugged (hidden) with grease / dirt / hay dust. I have had that happen to me a few times on pieces of equipment then have to hunt and scrape till i find it and then get the little booger out and a new one back in. (son reverse threaded - left turn to tighten - some pointed rod and welded a T handle on , so I can wedge one in and back out stuff like that, Not perfect but it works if not frozen) I think you can buy a similar but forget the right name for it. Maybe at an auto parts store? Having a son who does metal makes it easier to get tools like that made up so I don't buy em anymore as a rule.

I don't know the specifics for your gear , but mine have zerg fittings, but I also slap a little on the shaft and smear it up and down if I'm not sure.

A season put up can freeze those up a bit, usually first run will loosen em up pretty decent.

Thad.

That's what I was trying to say, didn't know they were called zergs...

[crashdive123]

They're actually zerk fittings.

[randyt]

another good method for a easy out is to take a allen wrench of the appropriate size and grind a four sided long tapered point on the short end. Tap that in and give it a turn.

[Sparky93]

another good method for a easy out is to take a allen wrench of the appropriate size and grind a four sided long tapered point on the short end. Tap that in and give it a turn.

Great tip, I'll have to remember that if I run across any busted zerks this summer on the farm. (did I say that right, is the plural of zerk; zerk, zerki, or zerks? lol)

[Wildthang]

If you cant find the zerk, just rub some grease into the splines before installing the PTO shaft. Make sure the splines are coated with grease before you put it up for the winter. If the splines are badley rusted, I have sanded the rust off with medium grit sandpaper, rinsed it off with kerosene, and greased it up before coupling it up, and it slid right in.
As far as getting the zerk nipple out, you can also buy a cheap set of easy outs at an auto parts store, or almost anyplace that has tools! Also you can get a needle grease nozzle that you can just hold into the old zerk hole, and it will still inject grease into the splines in case you cant remove the broken zert nipple!

[hunter63]

They're actually zerk fittings.

The Guy that invented the Zerk fitting, lived here, and built a large mansion, and compound, houses for family and servants.

Before they built up the area across the street for the house....I could see the grounds from my porch.

Guy was a big deal way back when.....

I haven't found any fitting new or broken on the shaft, but I gonna get with Land Pride (maker of the mower)and see what they say.

[Thaddius Bickerton]

They're actually zerk fittings.

Thank you crashdive, I forgot, or my fingers did not get the word from brain to hand or some such. Zerk is correct.

Ya know us lazy speaking Southrons, we slur everything together so bad that it is easy to miss spell stuff if you spell it the way you say it.

I noticed the other day over at my sisters place that my BIL was watching some tv show about hunting hogs out in Louisiana or Texas. Anyway they were putting sub titles in the thing I guess because they felt people watching the show could not understand his drawl.

I kind of got worried, because I had no problem understanding him at all. Maybe something is wrong with me. But for hard to understand for me it is some of those yankee ways of talking. Whoever heard of calling a Pizza a "pie" (We had this fellow from NYC - was some benefit fellow- over at the VFW hall and he was wanting someone to split a pie with him. I asked him apple or blackberry and said I could maybe eat one piece, but not half a pie, and he just laughed himself silly. Guess the joke was on me.)

Thad

[Rick]

I take it you've never eaten a spuckie or drank from a bubbler? The one that gets me is pop. That's my dad.

You want a pop?
No thanks. I have one. He's at home.

[crashdive123]

Thad - spelling is no big deal - most knew what you meant. The only reason I corrected it was that your post seemed to spark Sparky's curiosity. In case he went looking - just wanted him to know what to look for.

[BScout]

I have no grease fittings on any of my PTO shafts where the 2 parts come together. There is fittings at both universals.

Just do as mentioned which is keep it clean and greased.

On a related note, if your terrain is hilly, you should consider substituting the top link with a piece of chain. If you stick with the top (fixed) link, you can bend it or something else if you drive through a valley. If the tractor is going up one side while the mower is still going down the other, you're creating a V shape (as seen from the side). Well everything is rigid to keep everything flat. Something has to give and it's often the top link.

If your mower has sliders for the top link point, you "should" be OK but again, if you're on hills, watch those slides to make sure they're not hitting the limits. If they are, consider the chain.

[hunter63]

I have no grease fittings on any of my PTO shafts where the 2 parts come together. There is fittings at both universals.

Just do as mentioned which is keep it clean and greased.

On a related note, if your terrain is hilly, you should consider substituting the top link with a piece of chain. If you stick with the top (fixed) link, you can bend it or something else if you drive through a valley. If the tractor is going up one side while the mower is still going down the other, you're creating a V shape (as seen from the side). Well everything is rigid to keep everything flat. Something has to give and it's often the top link.

If your mower has sliders for the top link point, you "should" be OK but again, if you're on hills, watch those slides to make sure they're not hitting the limits. If they are, consider the chain.

Thanks for the tip, I have looked at changing out the top link with a piece of chain, this was brought up by the local welder, tractor fix-it guy after I broke a side brace, and brought it to be welded....have the chain just need to get some ends that fit the pins.

As far as I can see, my PTO shaft doesent have zerks other than the U-joints either.

Been kinda caving around on the tractor forum, so been picking up some tips there as well....but yeah, thanks.