Work Truck Power Take-Offs: Things to Consider

When choosing a power take-off, there are several specifications to consider to ensure the longevity, efficiency and uptime of your equipment. Make sure you take these essential details into consideration:

1. Your transmission
   You will need to know the make and model of your transmission before choosing a PTO because it will have a particular opening where the PTO itself can be mounted. Not just any power take-off will work with every transmission. You can easily find the make and model on the manufacturer’s tag on the transmission (Vehicle Service Pros).

2. Your Equipment
   Before finalizing your decision, determine what equipment the PTO will be powering. This could be anything from a snow plow, air compressor, vacuum pump, crane, lift, hoist, or other auxiliary equipment.
   
   From here, research the operating characteristics of both, the equipment and the power take-off. A few important characteristics to consider are:
   
   Shaft Rotation: the rotation of your equipment and the rotation of your PTO must match. Some gear pumps allow you to change the rotation, but this isn’t always guaranteed. There are two options: engine/clock-wise, or opposite engine/counter clock-wise.
   
   Input horsepower required of driven equipment:
   
   Horsepower = torque (T) x rpm / 5,252
   
   Speed of equipment and speed of engine during operation:
   
   PTO Speed = equipment speed / engine speed
   
   Torque rating: is this a continuous- or intermittent-duty application? A continuous application is defined as more than 5 minutes of operation every 15 minutes.

3. Your Vendor
   When choosing a vendor, it is vital to select someone trustworthy and reliable. This will increase the likelihood that your PTO is accurately chosen and installed, and will require less maintenance in the future.

4. Maintenance
   If you accurately spec and install your PTO, it will usually last the lifetime of the vehicle and require little maintenance, depending on the use, application and environment. To ensure longevity out of your PTO, Work Truck Online recommends performing the following tasks regularly:
   
   Checking for leaks and replacing seals
   Removing and cleaning the pump
   Inspecting gears for nicks and/or metal shavings (especially if the PTO noise becomes too loud or irregular)

5. Other Helpful Resources
   Muncie Power Products
   Vehicle Service Pros
   Work Truck Online
   
   

   You can narrow down the right PTO for your work truck application using our Muncie Power PTO Designer.