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20-Spline Pto Shaft Fits Older Deere Tractors
“If you’ve got an older Deere tractor that you want to hook up to a manure spreader or a mower or some other tool with a 20 spline pto shaft, this insert shaft makes it real easy,” says Curt Goeckner, co-owner of R and G Machine in Effingham, Ill. Goeckner and his partner, Mike Rieman, made the specialty shaft after Dave Behrns, a Dieterich, Ill., farmer showed them a mockup that he had welded together.
  Goeckner says, “Mike and I looked at what Dave had in mind and we drew it up on AutoCAD. We used the dimensions from a 20 series Deere tractor pto shaft so our shaft would fit into the tractor just like the OEM shaft. Before we built it I talked to a metallurgist to make sure we had the right grade of steel to handle the stress that a tractor pto shaft encounters.”
  The 1 3/4-in. 20-spline tractor shaft that R and G built is the same length as an OEM tractor shaft. An implement pto connects to the R and G shaft just like it does on the OEM model, sliding on easily and locking securely in place.
  Goeckner says their insert shaft is easy to install. “Just remove the snap ring that holds the OEM shaft in place, pull that one out and put ours in.” He recommends that the rear of the tractor be elevated slightly during the process so oil doesn’t run out when the shafts are switched. “If a person is really fast you can do it on level ground,” Goeckner says, “but if you fumble around a cup or more of oil can run out fairly quickly.” The R and G insert fits on Deere series 20, 30, 40 and 50 series tractors.
  Behrns says there are thousands of older tractors out there now being used with newer implements that have 20-spline, 1,000 rpm shafts. He doesn’t like the idea of using a bolt on adapter because it adds 4 in. or more to the tractor shaft. That creates stress on the tractor and the implement pto. “I know of a couple people who have either bent the implement shaft or have broken the knuckle because the angle with that shaft extension was too harsh. In both cases it was expensive to repair the implement shaft, and the problem at the tractor didn’t go away,” Behrns says. “This design works a lot better than a bolt-on extender and it’s easier on the tractor and the implement.”
R and G has built a dozen of the insert shafts and had farmers test them on different tractors. “They’re running in Kansas, Arkansas, Nebraska and Illinois,” Goeckner says, “and they’re all working well.”
  R and G has applied for a patent on its insert shaft and thinks there’s a market for the product. Goeckner says the price for their insert will be comparable to bolt-on adapters.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dave Behrns, P.O. Box 14, Dieterich, Ill. 62424 (ph 217 925-5257) or Curt Goeckner, R and G Machine, 1303 Parker Ave., Effingham, Ill. 62401 (ph 217 342-6622; r&g@effingham.net; randgmachine.com).


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2012 - Volume #36, Issue #5