Power take-off shafts generally vary with the size of the tractor. This means that a person caught in a PTO drive unit that turns at 540 revolutions per minute, conceivably could be whipped around the shaft nine times per second. If the weight of th person caught in a PTO shaft did not cause a slow operating tractor engine to stall, the accident could be totally devastating. Power take-off accidents still are fairly common. Open power-drive lines on augers, elevators and posthole diggers cause a major share of PTO accidents.
Some operators remove the master shield on the power takeoff drive from the tractor.
This easily could lead to a major accident. Power take-off accident injuries are similar to those of the past, even with newer equipment. The numbers of PTO accidents is partially a result of inexperienced operators who fail to observe many of the standar s required for safe operation. PTO accidents probably will continue for years, because of the unshielded shafts on older equipment still found on many farmsteads and careless or untrained operators. It will take considerable time and effective educational programs to change all this equipment and the realization of the importance of safe procedures among operators.