It’s ridiculous and primitive. And one can only do this with brute strength.
I am not an engineer or a mechanic or know anything remotely automobile related, but I have few questions
1. Why not use powerful magnets to ‘guide’ PTO shaft to the splines?
2. Can it be done with some kind of laser guidance ..like a laser light(think like a low cost cat toy not high tech)
I am exhausted, hurting, smelly, sunburnt and greasy all over and I didn’t even get to attach all of my machines’ implements. I am flabbergasted by the primitiveness of this necessary task of swapping implements.
Any hacks or thoughts or advice?
Questions: How often have you done this before? Have you gone and asked someone with more experience for tips and ideas on how to make it easier? Have you trawled the tractor forums looking for advice? Or are you a new user of a developed technology with 50+ years of service who has immediately decided it sucks and needs rethinking?
I personally agree with you that PTO couplings suck; hydraulic drive is a lot easier from a user perspective, but there are a number of tricks to make handling the job easier. Grease the pins, never drop an implement on the ground but leave it on a pallet you can move, etc. A winch on the tractor can be very useful, especially with a pulley or two on the ROPS.
I think a bit of nail polish on the spline and yolk/cone might help in getting the correct orientation, so at least You will only have to push it on once.
It might be possible to build a tool to clamp both sides, keeping them aligned and have it pull apart or press them together. Something like a porta-power hydraulic ramset would do this but that could be just as much heavy work so maybe more of a scissor jack system would work better.