Farm safety research has shown that a high percentage of Irish farm accidents are PTO-related. Against the background where nearly 200 people have lost their lives through farming accidents since 2004, the importance of safety around the use of the PTO shaft cannot be taken for granted.

Research has also shown that there is a direct relationship between the majority of PTO-related accidents that occur and farmers that are under time pressure. Traditional PTO guards that are standard on nearly all new machines sold in Ireland are considered to be cumbersome to work with.

They can take a long time to disassemble or reassemble. And while they provide protection against PTO accidents, the guards do not allow farmers to conduct necessary regular PTO maintenance in an easy or efficient way.

All PTO shafts require ongoing, regular maintenance in the form of greasing and bearing maintenance. Busy farmers with less time to carry out this task take shortcuts when it comes to reassembly of a PTO guard.

Many farm safety experts believe that this is a major contributing factor to the high numbers of PTO-related accidents on Irish farms.

The Reliance Bearing & Gear Co Ltd, based at Eastgate Business Park, Cork (www.reliancebearing.ie), Ireland’s importers of the Bare-Co PTO guards, will be showing its range and explaining the simplicity of the system at this year’s National Ploughing Championships, on stand 435, row 27.

The Bare-Co PTO guards are designed, manufactured and patented in Australia by Allan Bare. Bare-Co PTO guards will do the exact same job as a traditional PTO guard, that is to prevent a PTO accident from occurring and to save lives. The difference is that they are easier to use.

Allan recognised this global safety issue regarding PTO shaft safety many years ago and has spent even more time perfecting what is now known as the Bare-Co PTO Guard.

The Reliance Bearing & Gear Co Ltd believes that there are five main benefits from using the BareCo PTO guard.

This guard uses a lever lock system, which allows for a PTO guard to be removed in seconds, allowing for quick PTO maintenance to occur regularly. The BareCo PTO guard will fit a large majority of PTO shafts used on Irish farms today and it is now available for both wide angle and standard shafts. The guards will allow for easy access to all grease nipples on wide-angle shafts and lastly, they can be re-used over and over again.

And for the very first time in Ireland, Reliance and Bare-Co is inviting anyone at the Ploughing to visit their stand to take on the Bare-Co challenge.

The fastest person over the three days to disassemble and reassemble a Bare-CO PTO Guard will win a prize consisting of a €200 voucher for Hotel Kilkenny.

In addition, free t-shirts will also be given out on a first come, first served basis.