Power Take-Off
A PTO is cut for one gearbox aperture, not for a truck in general. Tell us the gearbox and we will tell you which one goes on it.
Made for the gearbox in your truck
Three things decide the unit: which gearbox it bolts to, how the driver engages it, and what it has to drive. Get those right and the rest follows.
PTO Brands
Most truck makers build their own gearbox, so the truck name is the gearbox name. ZF, Eaton and Fast build the gearbox and not the truck — a Volvo or a Hino can be fitted with one. If the plate on your gearbox carries one of those names, look for it under the gearbox and not under the truck.
Other ways to take the drive
When there is no free aperture on the gearbox, or one output is not enough.
What is a PTO?
A power take-off is a gearbox of its own, bolted to an opening in the truck’s transmission. Engage it and it takes drive off a gear inside the transmission and brings it out to a shaft or a pump flange, so the engine that moves the truck can also run a tipper ram, a crane, a vacuum tank or a water pump.
It only turns when the driver asks for it. The rest of the time the gear sits disengaged and the truck drives as it always did.
There is a longer explanation, with photographs, in what is a PTO on a truck.
Choosing one
The questions we ask when somebody calls, in the order we ask them.
- What gearbox is in the truck? The code on the gearbox plate or casing decides everything else. A photograph of the aperture tells us as much as the code does.
- What has to be driven, and for how long? A tipper ram works in bursts; a vacuum pump or a water pump can run for hours. Continuous work wants a different unit from occasional work.
- How should it be engaged? Cable is simple and cheap to fit. Air pressure and air vacuum suit a truck that already has air. Electric puts it on a switch in the cab.
- What is it driving into? A pump bolted straight to the output needs the flange to match — Flange, ISO, UNI or SAE. A shaft output drives something further away.
- What speed does the equipment want? The ratio between engine and output decides the speed the pump turns at, which decides the flow. We work backwards from the equipment.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know which PTO fits my truck?
By the gearbox, not the truck. The same truck model is sold with different gearboxes, and the PTO is cut for the gearbox aperture. Read the code off the plate or the casing, or send us a photograph of the opening, and we will match it.
Can a PTO be fitted to any truck?
It needs a free aperture on the gearbox. Most commercial gearboxes have one or two. Where there is none free, a split shaft PTO sits in the driveline instead and needs no aperture at all.
Which engagement type should I choose?
Cable is the simplest and cheapest to fit. Air pressure and air vacuum suit a truck that already runs air and let the driver work it from the cab. Electric is the most convenient and the most involved to wire.
Can one PTO drive two pumps?
Not directly, but a transfer gear takes the drive from a single PTO and splits it to two outputs, and a split shaft PTO is built with more than one output to begin with.
Tell us the gearbox
Send the truck model, the year and the gearbox code — or a photograph of the aperture — and we will confirm which PTO fits and what it will drive.
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