The question asked this week was, what is a PTO, a power take off shaft and what does it do?

A PTO is a power takeoff shaft commonly found on tractors and used to transfer power from the tractor to a piece of motor-less equipment. (See also universal joints.) Farm implements that standalone, like augers and other types of grain lifts need power to turn the gears and conveyor mechanism; to do that power is provided by a tractor’s power take off hookup. The shaft is a separate piece of equipment that hooks into the rear of the tractor and then into the implement, in this case the auger. The shaft turns, and like a drive shaft as it turns the power turns gears through couplers that power the implement and make it useful for work.

The large photo above shows the tractor fitting where one end of the PTO hooks in. That metal shaft is what turns and as it does the pto shaft will also turn. There is a similar hookup on the implement. The two are connected by a PTO shaft.

A properly shielded PTO shaft has a cover; if not covered it’s an accident waiting to happen and an exposed PTO can be legal grounds for punitive damages should an accident occur. Like fall protection gear the covering on a PTO shaft is intended to shield the workers from injury that sooner or later will befall busy workers. When working around a spinning shaft, assume it’s unshielded and stay as far from it as you can. Never, never, never step over a spinning PTO shaft. Loose clothing, like a pant leg, will get caught up in an unshielded spinning shaft. Trust me when I say this is not something you want to learn about while on the job. 

To get a better idea of what I’m talking about I’ve included three images; below the fold is the rear of the tractor where the PTO connects, a close up view and a protected (yellow) PTO already hooked between a tractor and piece of far; implement.

If you’re wondering what types of injuries can be caused by spinning PTO shafts consider broken legs, quadriplegia, paraplegia, brain damage and if you’re lucky death. While good tools make work more efficient, they can also maim and kill workers who take them for granted. Unshielded PTO shafts are as unforgiving as a woman scorned.

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