Three Point Hitch Mod

[gpick]

I have a New Holland industrial tractor with a Cat 2 hitch and a Gannon box scraper. I am looking for an easy way to attach a Cat 1 rotary cutter. I can attach the Cat 1 if I change the width of the trailing links but to do requires a good bit of bolting and unbolting and a 5' pry bar. The standard Cat 1 hitch width is 26" and the Cat 2 is 32. Has anyone widened their Cat 1 brush hog hitch?

 

[SPYDERLK]

Wont the lift arms pivot inward to accomodate the narrower width or are they blocked by something not adjustable. 26" is abnormally narrow. Center to center on the balls is usually more like 30" on cat1.
larry

 

[gpick]

I got the 26" off a chart. The A-frame is bowed out now, but the outside dimensions of the mounting tabs is 27" plus the thickness of the A-frame risers, braces and lift pin shoulder gives me 29.5". My Gannon hitch can be 32", 36" or 40" and uses clevis pins. I use the 32" otherwise the stablizers will rub on the tires. There is no play in these stabilizers. Works great when you are using the Gannon as a bull dozer but is a real pain to hitch the cutter because of the lift pins. I want to get the cutter set up with the same width as the Gannon so I can use an Easy Hitch. Looks like I may able to use a Cat 1 to Cat 2 draw pin and shim it out a bit if it is long enough.

 

[boggen]

cat 1 on a cat 2 tractor. my first re-action. is the cutter heavy duty enough. and are you more likely to just tear up the smaller size cutter.

other words.
--cat 1 stuff, tends to be lighter duty metal, gear boxes tend to be for smaller size tractors.
--cat 2 stuff tends to be heavier duty metal, and gear boxes setup for higher powered tractors.

did a quick google search for "gannon hitch" and selected images as results.

going to assume long haul you would be better off modifying the 3pt frame on the cutter for size needed for your tractor.

or sell the cutter you have now. and spend the extra for a larger size cutter that your tractor will be able to handle. perhaps bat wing style ((double decks)) bush hog / rotatory cutter.

or look for a different cutter. that might be easier to weld on some tabs or extend pins. that connect to the lift arms on tractor. and same for the top link.

if ya posted pictures of the hitch on tractor and setup on cutter. folks might be able to help ya better.

also if ya posted make/model of tractor and cuter, folks might be able to help ya better.

 

[gpick]

The tractor is a New Holland 545D, 4wd with PTO. The cutter is a 25+ year old 6 ft King Kutter. It is pretty beat up but works. The main problem it has is the stump jumper is frozen on the shaft and the key slots for the blade bolts are rounded out where they don't keep the bolts from turning. I am mowing rocks, stumps and logs with this beater until I get things cleaned up. Then I will get a new cutter.

I just need to solve the hitch matter so it doesn't take me an hour to change implements. Will post pics tomorrow.