My two cents worth. The subsoiler does not have a shear pin and the top link acted as one. If the top link had not broken the mounting point for the top link on the tractor would have been pushed in making for a very expensive repair. I have often wondered when looking at subsoilers without a shear pin or tripping mechanism offered at some retail locations how much damage would occur if a solid object was encountered. I would be thankful the toplink is what broke and explore other options on how to insure when the subsoiler encounters a solid object under ground it trips and does not break the tractor housing.
I used the top hole, if you look closely at the break you will see that it was bent slightly. I understand that the 2 lower holes are for the draft but it seems that every time I adjust the yellow lever the hitch either will not go up high enough or down low enough especially when I am using rear lever for the 3 pt hitch.
Derek, from the looks of your toplink break, I think it was being bent and compressed at the same time. I've attached an illustration of what I think may be the culprit.
When you are shallow with the subsoiler, the compression pressure is straight along the axis of the toplink. As the subsoiler goes deeper into the ground, the pressure becomes not only compression, but a bending force as well. I think your toplink is just not strong enough to take the bending force caused by your subsoiler, especially if you hit a root and it got an impact load.
I don't see how a "bending" would occur as there is no moment connection if the clevis does not bottom out. The force will continue to be exerted straight along the toplink. However, the amount of force on the toplink would increase due to the change in relationship of the length of the "lever" below the 3 point connection and the diminished length above.