Okuzeka
Agriculture vocabulary · Farm Machinery

Power take-off

Meaning in agriculture, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In agriculture, power take-off means: A rotating shaft, usually at the back of a tractor, that transfers engine power to drive implements such as balers, mowers and sprayers.

In Turkish: kuyruk mili, PTO, güç alma mili

How it is used

Almost always shortened to PTO ('pee-tee-oh'). Standard speeds are 540 and 1,000 revolutions per minute. Manuals warn about PTO safety, because loose clothing caught on a turning shaft causes serious accidents.

Example sentences

  1. Engage the power take-off only when the implement is lowered and nobody is near it.

  2. The baler runs at a power take-off speed of 540 rpm.

Common collocations

  • PTO shaft
  • PTO speed
  • engage the PTO
  • PTO guard
  • PTO horsepower
  • tractorA powerful farm vehicle with large rear wheels, used to pull or drive machines such as plows, seed drills, sprayers and trailers.
  • implementA piece of farm equipment, such as a plow, harrow, seed drill or mower, that is attached to and pulled or powered by a tractor.
  • balerA machine that picks up cut hay, straw or forage from the field and presses it into tight, tied bundles called bales.
  • sprayerA machine with a tank, pump and nozzles that applies liquids such as pesticides or foliar fertilizers onto crops in fine drops.
  • combine harvesterA large self-propelled machine that cuts a grain crop, separates the grain from the straw and chaff, and collects the clean grain in a tank.

More terms: Farm Machinery

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: