BCS Tractor Maintenance Tip - Removing Implements
Until recently, our farm implements have been limited to a UTV, riding mower, chainsaw, string trimmer, and hand tools. We rented a tiller each spring for the garden, and a log splitter each fall for firewood. Because our woodland paths became overgrown with wild rose last year, we hired someone to brush-cut our paths. This made us start to evaluate whether we needed more horsepower. I found a used BCS two-wheeled tractor on Marketplace with a tiller, so we made the plunge.
One of the reasons I lobbied for a BSC was that you can buy different implements that run off the tractor's power takeoff (PTO). I found a brush hog attachment, again on Marketplace, so we could attack the brush along our fence lines.
Anyone who has a BCS probably knows where this is going. In order to switch implements, you need to remove one from the PTO and attach another. The implement is held onto the PTO by a single steel pin. All you have to do is lift the pin with the attached lever and wiggle the implement off.
One of the weak link in this system is the dang pin. If it is not lubricated and cleaned periodically it can become stuck or bind in the PTO housing. The lifting lever is made of wire, which immediately comes off the pin if the pin gets stuck. There is a hole that passes through the top of the pin for the lever, but once the lever comes off there is nothing to lift with. After a summer of wrestling with this pin, I thought I would share some tips I used to switch implements.
The key is to loosen the pin using penetrating oil, and spin/lift the pin to free the hole of debris. This is very difficult to done once the weak wire handle comes off. The one thing you do not want to do is use a vice grip, which is what everyone reaches for. This will mar the metal at the top of the pin and will yield poor results. Below are the tools I use to loosen a stuck pin.
I start by removing the lever and the washer that it passes through at the base of the PTO collar. I then spray the pin with penetrating oil and pass an allen wrench through the hole in the top of the pin. The allen wrench provides enough levelage to turn the pin. The goal here is to loosen the pin so it turns freely. This can be easier said than done; be patient and keep spraying penetrating oil and spinning the pin.
Once the pin freely turns, the next step is to figure out how to lift the pin up and down to flush the crud and corrosion from the hole the pin rides in and engages the implement. Again, do not use a vice grip. My secret weapon is a tie rod wrench purchased from Harbor Frieght. The gap between the fork of the tool is just a bit larger than the diameter of the pin. Cut a 2x4 the height between the ground and the top of the pin. Put two washers on the pin and pass a nail through the hole in the pin. Place the tie rod wrench between the two washers and prop the end of the fork onto the 2x4. This will give you enough leverage to begin lifting the pin straight up and down as you do not want to bend the pin. More penetrating oil is helpful here in flushing debris from the hole the pin slides into. Try and turn and lift the pin; eventuall it will loosen enough so that you can put the washer and lever back on. Lift the lever to disengage the pin from the implement and wiggle the implement off the PTO coupling. A painters 5-in-1 tool can help separate the implement from the BCS.
This season, I am planning to store our BCS with the pin in the 'up' position in an effort to keep it from sticking next year. Storing the tractor without an implement attached would probabaly be a better approach.
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