A neat idea, but the number of possible failure modes coordinating the shift is troublesome. To minimize both mechanical and electrical transients, I would probably want to put the PTO motor(s) in coast and dead band during the shift, and re-enable the PTO motor controllers after the shift is complete.
I've thought of alternate uses of this mechanism:
- If you used two of these and linked the PTOs together, you could make a drive system that shifted from 2 3-CIM shafts to 3 2-CIM shafts, which might be useful for some articulated drive styles, such as a Nonadrive or a (just thought of this) "TanKiwi".
- The concept (though probably not this implementation) could also be used to couple and decouple the forward and rear wheels for an octanum or decanum implementation.