Home-Built U-Joint Part Of First-Ever PTO?

Home-Built U-Joint Part Of First-Ever PTO? AG WORLD Ag World 14-4-20 "I am sending along a photo and letter written to a farm magazine in 1961 concerning what might be the first-ever tractor pto built by my father-in-law Harry Knox add his brothers. All three brothers are now deceased and when their family had a farm sale some years ago, this joint, which was part of the pto assembly, was in the iron pile. I rescued it and still have it in my possession. I think it derserves a spot in the Agricultural Hall of Fame," says Gilbert O. Miller, Mitchell, S. Dak. Here's the letter Harry Knox wrote to THE FARMER Magazine in 1961: "We might have the `missing link' in the history of the tractor-powered pto. We used a universal joint of our own making (pictured) to drive a two-row cornpicker in 1921. .The picker was a combination of two Deering single-row machines mounted in a single frame and pulled by a steel-wheeled `Uncle Sam' tractor. "Power was delivered to the universal joint through a Model T ring-gear, mounted beneath the tractor. A short, flat belt connected the ring-gear drive to the regular belt pulley on the tractor. The universal was mounted on center, both horizontally and vertically, in the tractor hitch line. "Designers from IHC saw the machine in operation and immediately altered their plans for the regular Farmall. They incorporated the idea of a built-in power-take-off'in their 1923 models. "Our first pto drive was not entirely satisfactory, on account of the closeness of the belt in front of the steel-lugged wheel. So, we revised it the following year and made it a `live' power-take-off. This was accomplished by taking the power from the front end of the engine through a roller chain, hooked to a jackshaft mounted alongside the tractor frame. Another roller chain was required at the rear of the tractor to get the power from the jackshaft down to the universal joint at the hitch center line. A separate clutch was provided for this jack-shaft drive. "Three of us (brothers) were involved in the construction of the picker, universal joint and pto. Arthur was the `brains' be-hind the project. Edgar and I assisted him. "There were no patents taken out. The universal joint could have been patented, but we decided it was too complicated and cumbersome to be a salable item, even though it had two distinct advantages over conventional types: First, it took a much sharper angle without jerking, and second, it required no slip coupling to compensate for variances in spacing between tractor and drawn implement. "We did not consider the pto to be a strictly new idea with us, because we had read about it being tried on steamers back in the 1890's. However, as far as we know, this was the first installation of its kind to be successful enough to induce manufacturers to adopt the idea and use it as a built-in feature of tractors." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gilbert O. Miller, Rt. 4, Box 281, Mitchell, S. Dak. 57301.

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.