Is an H pto shaft guard worth anything?

The shield has 2 purposes. The first was to cover the stub PTO shaft coming out of the tractor so things such as ropes, pant legs, etc would not get caught in it while the PTO was in gear. The second purpose was to secure the shields that were covering the PTO shafts of the implements that you attached to the tractor. These shields were made of metal and covered the shafts on the implements. There was a latch and spring arrangement that went into the slot on the the tractor shield. It was really a Rube Goldberg affair, but was the standard for safety until the PTO shafts with the plastic shields came along. I'd leave it on the tractor for two reasons. The first being that it does cover the stub shaft and will keep feet and other things out of harms way. The second being that old guys like myself know that was the way the H's, M's and other tractors were equipped.