Toplink Top link doesn't reach

[RalphVa]

Looks like Greg has given you good information on what TSC has. Orsheln(sp?) also is like TSC in the Oklahoma and Texas areas and probably have an assortment of top link lengths. I use 2 on my soil ripper. One connects to a drawbar hitch; the other runs from the drawbar hitch top link area to the top of the soil ripper. It gives me lots of adjustment to the tilt of the soil ripper, as I have it fitted with disc hillers in the front and ripper tines in the rear.

One thing that I discovered with top links on brush hogs is if the top link is longer than the bottom links, the brush hog won't lift very far. The geometry of the 3ph will want to drive the tail wheel down into the dirt rather than up into the air. I resolved this on my brush hog by moving its bottom pin locations down. This pitched the top link closer to the tractor and made it the same to slightly shorter than the bottom links. Don't know whether you have something like this situation on your shredder links.

Ralph

 

[hayden]

Yesterday I got a call from Salsco. As promised, they are just finishing up the extension bracket and will be shipping it to me today or Monday. So far I'm very impressed with them.

 

[RalphVa]

You need a braket similar to the top link part of my drawbar hitch attached.

I use this to link up with my old JD M soil ripper. The soil ripper attaches to the drawbar and has a top part that attached to the top 2 holes on this drawbar setup, above the top link that comes off the tractor, via another top link. If your top link is too long, e.g. without this in-between link of the 2 top links, lifting the implement will drive its rear end into the ground first before the bottom links end up lifting the implement's front end. It's just geometry at work.

Ralph

 

[40_acre_mule]

Cat 1 adjustable toplinks are so cheap, that I have one for each implement. They come in several lengths, I get the one that most closely matches the working length I need for a specific implement, then I simply leave it permanently pinned to that implement. There are a few odd sizes. But the most common Cat 1 come in 13", 16", and 20" sizes. That's the body length. Approximate eye to eye lengths follow;
13" has a working length of roughly 18 to 25 inches
16" has a working length of roughly 21 to 29 inches
20" has a working length of roughly 25 to 33 inches

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//greg//

I'm with Greg on this one. I have a top link for each implement. They are only $25-$30. The time it saves from having to adjust each time I swap implements is well worth it to me as actual seat time is precious and rare for most of the year.

 

[hayden]

I'm with Greg on this one. I have a top link for each implement. They are only $25-$30. The time it saves from having to adjust each time I swap implements is well worth it to me as actual seat time is precious and rare for most of the year.

But this is exactly why I got a hydraulic top link - so I could adjust it on the fly to any situation without having to have a pile of top links. The issue is that the Salsco 3PH is set up in a non-standard configuration - just enough so that my hydraulic top link doesn't reach even when fully extended. If the Salsco top pin were over the lower pins like it should be it would reach fine, but it's set so far back that it won't.

The good news is that the extension link that Salsco made up arrived today. I won't get to try it out until this weekend, but it looks like it will work fine.

 

[greg_g]

But this is exactly why I got a hydraulic top link - so I could adjust it on the fly to any situation without having to have a pile of top links.

Well, I have a hydraulic toplink as well. But it was clear early on that the HTL was never going to be suitable 100% of the time. That's why I have various sized conventional toplinks as well.

If you want to remain a HTL purist, you're going to have to get something like this fabricated:

But I'm gonna warn you, the price you pay for one of those to be made will probably buy several Cat 1 toplinks.

//greg//