Got a question for any welders in here

[FarmboyBill]

Think I can make a serviceable PTO tube shaft by welding angle iron together, then welding another set with the bend over the welds?

Do you think it can be welded to the universal so as to hold good enough?

[agmantoo]

No....there will be issues with the U joints. Search the net and you should be able to find a cheap PTO shaft. I loaned my log splitter last year and the user failed to get the unit locked to the tractor output shaft and while he was using the implement the PTO shaft came loose and wrapped the shaft around the drawbar. I found a replacement at a great price....let's say cheap.

[Gray Wolf]

The universal joint is most likely cast iron of some sort. Welding black iron to it will be close to impossible. Use lots of preheat and cross your fingers. Brag if you can do it.

Next up will be balancing the shaft and getting everything straight.

I'd look around and see if you can buy one. Or find someone who has done this.

I think a shaft like that will twist itself apart but I've never tried it. Good luck.

[agmantoo]

This is as good as I can locate as it is getting late here.
You need to match the PTO to the application. The unit here is good for 54 HP at 540 rpm.
http://www.agrisupply.com/agmate-pto...56/&sid=&eid=/

[idigbeets]

Why risk your equipment and tractor over a cobbled together PTO? They aren't that expensive.... $200 for most applications. Heck, around here we got farm junkyards that you can go in and get em for under $100.

[Yvonne's hubby]

Originally Posted by FarmboyBill

Think I can make a serviceable PTO tube shaft by welding angle iron together, then welding another set with the bend over the welds?

Do you think it can be welded to the universal so as to hold good enough?

Yep, I have made several pto shafts. just be sure to phase your ujoints properly when you weld them onto the ends of your shafts and check to be sure they are properly phased anytime you slip them apart and put them back together. A little red paint on the "up" side of each half makes this really simple.

What I like best for the ujoints is to take a car driveshaft that has the flat bolt on type flange at each end, cut the round drive shaft out between them and center up my square tubing on the flange. Make sure your box tube is cut square! tack weld it on all four sides, then weld it down tight.

[Yvonne's hubby]

Originally Posted by idigbeets

Why risk your equipment and tractor over a cobbled together PTO? They aren't that expensive.... $200 for most applications. Heck, around here we got farm junkyards that you can go in and get em for under $100.

I have had really good results making my own for a total cost of about 10 bucks apiece. That leaves me another 190 bucks that can be much better spent on other things.... like a trip to the liquor store!

[FarmboyBill]

That's, right now, a chunk of money. Im about broke till I get my SS check in 2 weeks.

[Brighton]

Originally Posted by FarmboyBill

That's, right now, a chunk of money. Im about broke till I get my SS check in 2 weeks.

You better be really confident in your ability to do it right otherwise you are going to be out WAY more than $100!!

[DaleK]

Depends what you're running. Something without a lot of torque like a sprayer should be fine, mine is just a thin walled square tube from the factory. A baler or something, no way. Also depends how long the shaft is, the longer, the less I'd want to try it

[oneraddad]

Originally Posted by FarmboyBill

That's, right now, a chunk of money. Im about broke till I get my SS check in 2 weeks.

Only took your shadow 3 minutes to show up Bill, I think she likes you ?

Usually they wait till after marriage to try and change you

[slingshot]

Ok....

If it's cast you will have to braise it. If it's dissimilar metals it most likely won't hold under torque.

Other wise yes you can weld it, proper prep it what will got it together . Joint preparation and heat will keep anything together.

Remember a cold weld is a useless weld. I think the only potential problem could be balance, but I think it's fine. I would do it

[FarmboyBill]

Im going to have a pro welder do it.
That welding cast to steel is the thing that worrys me. My boys FIL is a respected welder, and fabricates things for a MAJOR company, Bama Pie Co. He tried to weld cast wagon hubs to a steel axle. One broke when I dropped it from the bed of the pk to the ground.

[FarmboyBill]

I got the old shaft in the pk. Im going to a place that sells angle and tubular stock and get a length of thick square tubing. IF I can find a piece that will slip over the outside edge of it, ill buy it and double the thickness of the tube. That said, as I said in the beginning, its the welding to the universal that worrys me.
Ive been looking at the sale for months for one that would work. I found 2. Bought them and brought them home. Didn't work by a fraction

[Yvonne's hubby]

Originally Posted by FarmboyBill

Im going to have a pro welder do it.
That welding cast to steel is the thing that worrys me. My boys FIL is a respected welder, and fabricates things for a MAJOR company, Bama Pie Co. He tried to weld cast wagon hubs to a steel axle. One broke when I dropped it from the bed of the pk to the ground.

Nearly all of the factory made pto shafts are welded.... its not that big a deal. I dont think the ujoint housings are cast iron... I think they are probably steel castings which makes a big difference when welding them. I have done this several times with no problems whatsoever. I currently use several pto shafts that I have repaired or made from scratch... the one on my bush hog, one on a corn elevator, one on my 6 ft JD three point rototiller.... that one takes a real beating.... and one on my post pounder. I use a little lincoln buzz box, no preheating or fancy equipment at all. I use 6011 1/8 inch "farmer rod" as the guy at the welding shop calls it.

[Yvonne's hubby]

Originally Posted by Brighton

You better be really confident in your ability to do it right otherwise you are going to be out WAY more than $100!!

Ummmm, where? why? when a factory built pto shaft comes unwound the equipment just stops, never seen any damage to tractor or equipment.

[slingshot]

Originally Posted by FarmboyBill

Im going to have a pro welder do it.
That welding cast to steel is the thing that worrys me. My boys FIL is a respected welder, and fabricates things for a MAJOR company, Bama Pie Co. He tried to weld cast wagon hubs to a steel axle. One broke when I dropped it from the bed of the pk to the ground.

I'm a certified asme code welder by trade....

Technically you cannot weld cast iron at all, best you can do is join it or fuse it. About the only thing you can do is bolt steel to cast parts providing the bolt holes are cast.

The actual steel shaft is a non issue provided you control the heat to keep it straight. Welding is like anything else, there are guys that have been welding for 20 years that have no idea what there doing. Some are professionals some aren't.

[Allen W]

Any decent machine shop should have the materials to build or repair your shaft.

[FarmboyBill]

I know a welding shop 11 miles away. All these welders are one time oil field welders, and as such, for those left still into doing it, there pretty good at what they do,
I know a machine shop around 13 miles away. They might have the material, but they don't weld, just machine.

[badlander]

We got a new one for our brush hog this spring. Got it from Northern tool. It cost 99 including shipping. It runs so quiet It is rated for 35hp. Only took a few days.