Neapco PTO Shaft and Cover

Apr 3, 2021 attachment repair

Neapco PTO shaft and cover

Got an old finish mower with the John Deere 4200 I bought and the PTO shaft needed cleaning and greasing. I took it off and had a hell of a time getting the plastic Neapco PTO shaft cover off.

If you’re just here to get the thing off, here’s a video of how to remove it. I don’t have the shaft in it so I’m pushing from below, if the shaft were in it you have to pry with a thin screwdriver and find the end without the tail to pull up and out.

Disassembly

After some searching, it seems that the little white tab is called a shaft bearing, and it rides inside a groove in the PTO shaft. The thing that I just could not figure out is how to get that bastard out. I broke one and pulled it out before I figured out what they looked like.

I wish I had seen this picture before I spent so much time trying to figure these stupid things out:

After seeing this, I realized you just pry up the side without the piece of plastic on it and you can just pull the thing out.

Now I only have 3 good ones and I’m sure they are like $5 to order (plus shipping) so now I’m tring to figure out how I can make one or get something to work in its place.

Here’s a picture of the shafts without the covers and you can see the grooves that these bearings ride in on the ends of the shafts.