The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

Does anyone have any info on or photos of a forward pointing pto shaft that sits under the gearbox? I believe they were used to power a brush or other such attachments fitted to the front of a Major.

Hiya AdrianNP. I have a 61/62 Super Major with the same type shaft as yours. I asked on here before but we didn't come up with any definite answers. Brian was on his travels at the time so maybe he'll be able to enlighten things this time round. Grani has a similar shaft on his Major too. I'll try to post some pics of mine, I've forgotten how to do it now. RedXMajor.

Hi RedX

Unfortunately I don't have the forward pointing pto shaft on my Major but I really wish I did. I'm really interested in what kind of attachments they drove. Have you ever used yours to power anything? Would love to hear if you have. Is the shaft splined like the rear facing one?

Hi Adrian.
Sorry, I thought you had a shaft on your Major. I have never powered anything with the shaft on my Major because I have yet to discover what it actually powered in the past. I have had a few suggestions thrown at me like a roadbrush or a mid mounted mower and I have seen pictures of mid mounted fingerbar hedgecutters but the hedgecutters seem to be run from the rear pto shaft. The shaft isn't splined but instead has threads like a large coarse threaded bolt and is about 30mm in diameter and about 50mm long. I doubt if a power shaft is meant to thread up onto this because I would imagine it would get extremely tight in use making it near impossible to loosen off again.
I'll try to get the photos posted (I did it before on an old post here but can't remember how now). Grani posted photos of the shaft on his Major before too. It had the splines similar to the rear shaft.
Thanks.
RedX.

Many thanks for the info, Redx.

Adrian

I have a Leyland 472 fitted with a front 3 point hydraulic lift made by Ferranti. It has a PTO powered from the front of the crankshaft with a gearbox and electric clutch. It was apparently originally owned by a road department in the Netherlands. I imagine such things would be used for snowblowers, brooms, or some sort of mower/trimmer. Whatever was on mine apparently jammed and put a noticeable twist in the splined output shaft. I have not found any reference to such a system anywhere on the internet and no one on the Leyland forum seems to have ever heard of it.

I have this on mine, it comes off of the double pully, goes under the radiator, it has a universal joint to a pump. Is that what you are asking about? Mine drives the hydraulic pump for my backhoe and front end loader. The pump mounts in front of the radiator below the blue brush gaurd , not a very good picture below, you can see the hoses.

Thanks for the photos. How great to see a Super Major working hard in such an amazing location as Wyoming. The men who built your tractor would be so proud to know that their handiwork is still being put to good use after all these years.

You have a drive off the crankshaft pulley, which I have heard of but have never seen. The forward pointing PTO shaft protrudes forwards from the PTO gearbox housing slung under the primary gearbox housing. If you find the drain plug for the primary gearbox, you are looking at the PTO sub-assembly that feeds power rearwards to the PTO shaft at the back of the tractor. A few tractors were fitted with a sub-assembly that featured a forward-pointing PTO shaft also, though I have never seen one and am therefore speaking with no authority on the subject!

Is this the forward facing PTO you were talking about?

This FSM is at a whreckers in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Thanks for posting this photo, whirly. I don't know why, but I really love the idea of having this modification. I'm sure I would rig something up to be driven by it. Right now, I'm not sure what though. Any ideas?

Does anyone know if this modification can be fitted to the existing PTO housing by removing the front plate?

You could fit one of those nifty mid-mount sickle mowers.

Hi i just discovered on my fordson super major http://www.fordsontractorpages.nl/phpbb ... 491#p30491

I just got the feeling of this was going to be a nice day

Regards

Kenneth