Safety

I see tractors on YouTube running machines with the PTO, and sometimes it looks like the shafts are not shielded. Hard to tell from the videos, but it always makes me think of stories of people who have been killed when their clothes get tangled in open PTO shafts. When I was growing up in the 40s, PTO shafts were not of a standard length, so the shields were sometimes a pain to hook up (as I remember, anyway). So, the message is: don't even think of using a PTO if it's not shielded. I love the new-type shields that are free to turn by hand, but are not hooked in anyway to the shaft.
Corn pickers and other dangerous machines: Had an uncle, always in a hurry, lose a couple of fingers (right hand, of course) trying to clear out a clogged corn picker that was running. Same could happen in any number of powered machines, especially the old stuff with belts, shafts and gears exposed and running in the open. If you're new to the old stuff, please be careful. I still have all my fingers, I guess because I always thought of machines the way I'd think of an alligator sleeping next to the road (lots of them in Florida--usually very placid, but who knows how hungry they are?)

I would say just don't go near any spinning shaft. I went to school with one kid that lost his thumb in an auger and another who lost both arms in a self-unloading wagon. Every time I'm anywhere near something spinning I think back to their stories and I have terrible mental images of what would happen if I got sucked in.

There's no reason to be walking over a spinning PTO shaft; Just walk around. Even with a shield, it may not spin as free as you think, plus the U-joints are not shielded much.

That said, I do run some things with bad or no PTO shields. I would replace them if there was a standard part, but unfortunately it means replacing the entire shaft to get a shield the fits. Healthy paranoia and taking your time gives more protection than any shield ever made.

I remember my ag teacher way back when,telling about an incident that he had with one of those old PTO shields. They were open underneath. He said he stepped up beside one and the shoestrings on his work boot flipped up underneath it and caught. Said it pulled all the eyelets right out of his boot.

....so don't even think of using a PTO if it's not shielded.

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Would the safety police be satisfied if I just strip down to my tighty-whiteys instead. That way I wouldn't have nothing dangling down far enough to get caught in a spinning PTO shaft.

Pooh Bear