History question, F and Regular

Why was the PTO shaft so short? What implements did they run on the PTO? Were the "shaft extensions" effective? When was the shift made to the larger diameter PTO shaft?
Thanks, Jon

Jon, mostly my info is guesswork. As to the shortness, I suspect that is just where it was "handy" to put it and the engineers just expected pto driven items to have the longer shafts. As to pto driven equipment: pull-type grain binders; (later on pull-type combines); mowers (mounted or pull-type); corn binders; (later on choppers); corn pickers, etc.
As to when they went to the larger size, I believe the first Farmall H's (1939) had the small size and then later (1940???) they had the larger size. I hope this helps. kelly

Mostly cuz in 1924 PTO was a new innovation. There were no industry standards developed yet.

Yep. For most owners, these tractors when new were direct replacements for horses, so back then nobody knew that the pto wasn't "proper".

I believe the "standard" power takeoff dimensions were adapted sometime in the late 1940s. I don't have time to search this now, but someone might be able to come up with something on the net to confirm the date. As I recall, the new standards were known as "SAE....." We have all seen Farmall H and M tractors from the late 40s and early 50s with the little extension box behind the transmission. This was a quick fix by IHC (it worked just fine).
I used two tractors with the old non-standard PTO, an F-12 and an F-20. The machines that were
being pulled and powered had to be adapted to the particular tractor. The mounted mowers had shafts of the right lengths. Pull-behind implements (combines, corn binders, for example) sometimes had a telescoping shaft that could be adjusted forward and aft to give it the right length.
It has been a LONG time since I pulled a PTO-driven combine or corn binder, so if I don't have this right, somebody please correct me.
One of the things I remember well was the shielding, which was rigid, unlike the modern shields which encircle the shaft. Some people couldn't be bothered with the shielding, which sometimes meant serious accidents. Getting your clothing wrapped up in a shaft rotating at 500-plus RPMS could mean getting beaten to death against the drawbar or the machine.