Application of rotary tillage has been increased due to less tillage passes required, reduced draft, and greater efficiency through reduction in wheel slippage. Early failure of the bearing of tractor power take-off (PTO) shaft was observed in tractors of power range 30–35 horsepower during rotary tillage. An instrumentation setup involving an extended octagonal ring transducer (EORT) was developed and installed at the bottom of the bearing to measure the axial load and the vertical component of the radial load. The horizontal component of radial load was measured by strain gauges. Based on measured loads, the bearing life was assessed. Independent variables were: operating depth, number of blades, gear setting, engine speed, and tyre size. The average axial and radial loads varied from 786–3869 N, and 134–430 N, respectively. However, bearing experienced very high peak loads during each trial. The peak axial and radial loads was recorded between 1081–7534 N and 566–1794 N, respectively. The estimated bearing life based on peak loads was 171.98–28341.39 h. Based on the findings, it may be concluded that the average loads were not sufficient to cause quick failure of PTO bearing, rather sudden peak loads might be the root cause of early failure.

由于减少了耕作次数，减少了吃水并通过减少了车轮打滑而提高了效率，因此增加了旋转耕作的应用。在旋转耕作中，在功率范围为30-35马力的拖拉机中，观察到拖拉机动力输出（PTO）轴的轴承早期失效。开发了一种包含扩展八角形环传感器（EORT）的仪器，并将其安装在轴承的底部，以测量轴向载荷和径向载荷的垂直分量。径向载荷的水平分量通过应变仪测量。根据测得的载荷，评估轴承寿命。自变量为：工作深度，叶片数量，齿轮设置，发动机转速和轮胎尺寸。平均轴向和径向载荷分别在786-3869 N和134-430 N之间变化。然而，在每次试验中，轴承都会承受很高的峰值载荷。峰值轴向和径向载荷分别记录在1081–7534 N和566–1794 N之间。基于峰值载荷的估计轴承寿命为171.98–28341.39 h。基于这些发现，可以得出结论，平均载荷不足以引起PTO轴承快速失效，相反，突然的峰值载荷可能是早期失效的根本原因。