Potential and Improvement of Maintenance Efficiency of Agricultural PTO Shafts by a New Digital Maintenance Assistant

Power take-off (PTO) shafts are widely used in agricultural machinery to directly power implements with the tractor’s engine. While operating conditions such as dirt, weather, peak loads and utilization greatly influence a PTO shaft’s lifetime, proper maintenance, especially lubrication, is necessary for an appropriate operation maximum lifetime. Hence, this paper evaluates potential saving resources during maintenance by using digital assistant. To simulate study cost of implements, investigation lubrication process was carried out on several test farms. In practice, two extremes common: Either far too much grease best possible or shaft not lubricated at all. annual three scenarios were calculated compared: “Maintenance before usage” “no maintenance” extreme “maintenance according manufacturer’s specifications” assistant optimum scenario. The simulation different shows reduction costs up 93.8%, average lubricants 86.3% labor time 81.8% case specifications”. results work show that there major savings This development could be first step towards digitalization activities