All you need to know about the upcoming changes on the Power Take-Off (PTO) drive shaft

The PTO drive shaft is widely used to transfer mechanical power from a tractor to an operating machine. To ensure safety to those using PTO shafts, the design and construction of the shafts and guards must conform to certain criteria that are covered in the harmonized standard EN 12965.

There are now some changes to the standard EN 12965 to improve the safety and further reduce the risk to the user. Below you can read the overview of the key changes.

Change of locking system on the Power Input Connection (PIC) end:

The main change is regarding the yoke design on the implement/machine end (PIC) on complete primary PTO shafts (main shaft between tractor and machine). Yokes with push pin or collar yokes with exposed springs will no longer be allowed on primary shafts. It is important to know that yokes that are push pin design but the pin is covered and protected by the casting are still allowed.

The reason for this change is to greatly reduce the risk of anything becoming tangled up with the shaft. Another addition to the updated standard is that PTO shaft manufacturers have to conduct a rigorous new entanglement test for each design of shaft/connection.

There are some exceptions to the above change and this is if a torque limiter, over-run clutch or similar device fitted on the PIC end. Also if the use of a tool is required to lock the PIC yoke, so this means that clamp bolt and flange yokes are still allowed.

Secondary PTO drive-shafts are not affected by this change.

Additional markings on the guard and information in the user manual to improve safety

The changes mentioned above are applicable to all complete primary PTO drive-shafts with a production date of 2021 onwards.

When it comes to repairing a broken PTO shaft with spare parts then it is still allowed to replace like for like. So if a shaft has a push pin yoke that is broken then it is still allowed to replace with a push pin yoke. However, we would recommend where possible to change to a yoke that conforms to the updated standards.

As Kramp is a distributor of PTO shafts, it is allowed that we can sell out any old versions first before supplying the new versions.

If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to get in contact with your local product specialist or account manager. They will be happy to assist you.

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