After hearing some years ago that Land Rovers equipped with the LT230 transfer boxes can fit a power take off unit, I've been interested in understanding the steps needed to install one in a Discovery. Most of the information available on PTOs is related to Defenders which have a lot more room in the transmission tunnel / underside of the chassis vs. the Discovery. Seems to be more common in Australia but the forums are mostly mum on details of how these units are installed on Discos.

Curiosity got the best of me and I went ahead with the project. I was able to successfully install a PTO unit imported from Turkey so for anyone else interested I can confirm it is possible! I found the install of the PTO unit itself fairly straightforward, however due to the restrictive dimensions of the bodywork of the Discovery vs. Defender I had to cut some material out and form a small box in the rear passenger footwell to accommodate the PTO and a gear pump.

If anyone is interested in the specifics I can do a more detailed post with photos and instructions. My next step is to install the hydraulic gear pump onto the PTO to (probably) run a hydraulic motor shaft off the back and potentially a PTO generator or lawn equipment. Might also do a hydraulic winch or ram. Unlike the original series trucks, the underside of the chassis won't allow a single mechanical shaft to run from the PTO to the rear of the vehicle...

To be completely honest this was more of an adventure to see if fitting a PTO is feasible and since there aren't many consumer vehicles where it can actually be done...it felt like the right thing to do...

 

I asked the question nearly a year ago. Some said it could be down without providing specific instructions. Any additional info you can provide would be helpful.

Thanks.

 

Sorry for the delay - updating with some specifics.

The PTO unit is installed on the back of the LT230 transfer case (i.e., the bolts where the PTO cover is located).

The install on a Discovery 1 (and Discovery 2 I think) is a harder proposition than on the Defender as the LT230 is mounted lower / the floor is higher. So to make it work the floor has to be cut away to allow the top of the PTO to be mated to the transfer case. I was already in the middle of a rust cut-out job and so this wasn't a really big deal. Basically cut away a spot directly behind the center console and welded in a box which I then glassed over and painted.

There are two basic designs of PTO assemblies. One is a smaller unit where the output shaft is directly in line with the PTO cover. The other has a "step down" which projects the output shaft ~6 inches lower. I used the step down unit to permit extra clearance and cut away less floor. PTO units are sold in the EU and UK but I couldn't get any vendors to ship to the US. In the end I went with Kozmaksan from Turkey: https://www.kozmaksan.net/land-rover-pto-shf-28.

I chose a PTO that was activated pneumatically as I already have a set of differential lockers, but you can also get a manual activation option. Would need to run a handle/lever to activate it though.

The PTO joins to the transfer case on the input gear (opposite of the main shaft). The input gear / shaft has two types. Your transfer case will need the input gear with "dog teeth" to interface with the PTO. Part is FTC4850. Mine did not have the dog teeth so I had to change to the FTC4850 part. Wasn't too bad as you can access it and pull it out once you have the PTO cover off. Install of the PTO on the transfer case was not painless and you need to hold the PTO up to the transfer case and run the bolts through. Two sets of hands would help.

Once you have the PTO main body assembled on the transfer case you will then need to place an output option. For example a drive shaft flange or a hydraulic pump. The setup in the Discovery has the stock exhaust directly under the transfer case so running a drive shaft would be pretty difficult. Especially given you don't really have an option to bring it all the way to the back bumper like the classics did with capstan winches. The gas tank and rear suspension is in the way. So I opted to mount an output flange for now but also have a hydraulic pump I'm planning on mounting soon. Eventually hoping to have a hydraulic motor mounted on the rear bumper with a tractor PTO flange. Basically the pump would be mounted to the transfer case, then have hydraulic lines going to the rear bumper with the hydraulic motor. Then could run a PTO generator or other types of equipment. Could also just run the lines back there with quick connects.

Will add photos below. Was a fun pandemic project but now that I've done it, not sure I would do it again unless I had a real use case like a hydraulic pump on the front bumper.

 

 

Wow, that’s a project!
Thanks for sharing.