Anonymous Poster
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Any opinions on the "quick attach" 3 pt hitch systems? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Quick Hitches Quick Attach sys for 3pt hitch? Are they good?
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beenthere
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If you look around in this site, you will find a number of discussions about quick attach systems for 3pt's. I think most like theirs very much, as I do. Some have various opinions about the problem of re-fitting non-standard (whatever that might mean) attachments to fit their quick tach systems. Some advocate the adaptor to fasten to the attachment, which adds a bit of cost and weight, but apparently attaches easily. Some like the top adjusting plates that might have to be changed to accomodate different attachments. Each user likely has different problems and different degrees of problems.
For me, the I-match has been a real treat to have on my Deere 4300. I can use it to easily attach or drop my ballast box, grab either the rotary cutter, the carry-all, the rear blade, or just throw the logging tongs on the upper hook to bring logs out of the woods for either lumber or firewood. Its an attachment that I couldn't do without (but did for a number of years).
Hope this helps some. Do a search on some of the words that come to mind, and you will pick up on most of the previous discussions.
For me, the I-match has been a real treat to have on my Deere 4300. I can use it to easily attach or drop my ballast box, grab either the rotary cutter, the carry-all, the rear blade, or just throw the logging tongs on the upper hook to bring logs out of the woods for either lumber or firewood. Its an attachment that I couldn't do without (but did for a number of years).
Hope this helps some. Do a search on some of the words that come to mind, and you will pick up on most of the previous discussions.
MossRoad
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As beenthere mentioned, there are several good threads on this subject. Do a search on "quick attach" or "quick hitch" or "freedom hitch" or "delta hitch" and you'll get lots of good information. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
BeeBop
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</font><font color="blue" class="small">( As beenthere mentioned, there are several good threads on this subject. Do a search on "quick attach" or "quick hitch" or "freedom hitch" or "delta hitch" and you'll get lots of good information. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif )</font>
You forgot the best one...Jiffy Hitch.
You forgot the best one...Jiffy Hitch.
Caretaker
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EagleEye,
I've had a LandPride Model QH-15 3point quick-hitch for a couple of years now. For me, it's the best thing since sliced bread. But read on tho...
First - the purpose of a 3-point hitch is to let you attach something as an integral part of the tractor. You attach something to the 3point, get everything adjusted correctly, and the implement you've attached pretty much becomes part of the tractor. Properly adjusted stabilizer arms keep the implement from swaying, (some can also adjust the left-to-right tilt of the implement,) while a properly adjusted top link sets the front-to-back tilt of the implement. The price you pay for this is going through the attachment and adjusting process. Having Casters on your implements makes it MUCH easier to hook them up - you can easily move the implement to get it lined up, etc. - assuming you have a surface the casters will work on! Some PTO shafts are easier to attach than other - depends on the type of locking collar used, etc...
So the first question is how often do you change the implement hooked to the 3-point hitch, and how hard is it to change implements ? The more implements you have, the more you take an implement off and put it on your tractor, the more useful a Quick-Hitch is. When I decided to get a tractor, I thought that the more implements I could acquire, the more useful the tractor would be. After all, it's the implements (attachments) that give you different capabilities.
A 3-point quick-hitch is basically a 'hook' that grabs the implement. Different designs use diferent schemes to hook the implement. As I recall, the jiffy hitch uses a single triangular-shaped 'male' hook on the tractor, with a corresponding triangular-shaped 'female' hook (socket) on the implement. My QH-15 is shaped like an inverted "U", with 3 hooks - one for each of the pins on the implement.
The biggest problem you run in to with using a quick hitch is that a lot of implements are not quite 'Category 1' (or whatever category 3-point hitch you have). Cat 1 implements are supposed to be 26.75" horizontal distance from lower pin to lower pin - in other words, the bottom hooks of a quick-hitch need to have about 27" between them. The vertical distance between the lower and upper pins (centerline-to-centerline) is supposed to be 18". Of course, different manufacturers make 'em a little differently, and there's the problem. In my experience, it's the vertical distance that's most often changed. The top hook of my QH-15 is adjustable vertically, so I have a little table written on top of it showing where to set the top hook for each implement. My Ballast box is a little short on the horizontal spacing between the bottom pins, so I simply added bushings to each bottom pin to lengthen them. ( I only needed about 1-2 inches.)
Once again, different quick-hitches address the problem differently. The jiffy hitch uses a two piece design, in which the 'male' part is mounted on the tractor, and the 'female' part is mounted on the implement. The implement-mounted part then takes up any deviation from the category 1 specification (within the limits of the jiffy hitch, of course). The benefit of this scheme is that you can attach implements that deviate more from the category 1 standard. The downside is that you have to purchase the 'socket' part for each implement, or change the socket part between implements (which somewhat precludes the benefits of a quick-hitch). Additionally, the jiffy hitch mount may intrude on the space where a PTO shaft would run (not too sure about that, though - you'd have to look at the current model). For my QH-15, I had to modify a few implements in order to make them all work with it - but I do some metal working, so it was just more projects. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
So, which particular quick-hitch you might want depends on the implements you're going to use it with. If you aren't using any PTO-driven implements, need to attach implements that vary greatly from the category 1 spec, don't mind the expense of multiple 'sockets', etc. a jiffy hitch is a good choice. However, if your implements pretty closely meet the category-1 spec or can be easily modified, or if you have some PTO-driven implements, etc. you might look more at the QH-15 or the JD I-Match type hitch. Another thing to consider is that some implements (e.g. bush hog) need to 'float'. Usually you use a floating top-link to get this. (See the QH-15 - the manual is available from Land Pride's website.)
A couple of other points - When I looked at the JD I-Match, it did NOT have an adjustable top hook. The Land-Pride QH-15 does. You should check with JD - I suspect they're going to change that. It adds a lot of versatility, and it's inexpensive to implement. Also, I saw a Quick-Hitch in the Northern Tool Catalog that appeared to be the same as the QH-15. I think that Worksaver has a quick-hitch also - essentially the same as the land Pride. The main thing is to think about whether or not you really need it, and how're you're going to be using a quick-hitch - that will help you decide which one (if any) is appropriate.
Hope this helps - or at least gets you confused on a higher plane! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Caretaker
I've had a LandPride Model QH-15 3point quick-hitch for a couple of years now. For me, it's the best thing since sliced bread. But read on tho...
First - the purpose of a 3-point hitch is to let you attach something as an integral part of the tractor. You attach something to the 3point, get everything adjusted correctly, and the implement you've attached pretty much becomes part of the tractor. Properly adjusted stabilizer arms keep the implement from swaying, (some can also adjust the left-to-right tilt of the implement,) while a properly adjusted top link sets the front-to-back tilt of the implement. The price you pay for this is going through the attachment and adjusting process. Having Casters on your implements makes it MUCH easier to hook them up - you can easily move the implement to get it lined up, etc. - assuming you have a surface the casters will work on! Some PTO shafts are easier to attach than other - depends on the type of locking collar used, etc...
So the first question is how often do you change the implement hooked to the 3-point hitch, and how hard is it to change implements ? The more implements you have, the more you take an implement off and put it on your tractor, the more useful a Quick-Hitch is. When I decided to get a tractor, I thought that the more implements I could acquire, the more useful the tractor would be. After all, it's the implements (attachments) that give you different capabilities.
A 3-point quick-hitch is basically a 'hook' that grabs the implement. Different designs use diferent schemes to hook the implement. As I recall, the jiffy hitch uses a single triangular-shaped 'male' hook on the tractor, with a corresponding triangular-shaped 'female' hook (socket) on the implement. My QH-15 is shaped like an inverted "U", with 3 hooks - one for each of the pins on the implement.
The biggest problem you run in to with using a quick hitch is that a lot of implements are not quite 'Category 1' (or whatever category 3-point hitch you have). Cat 1 implements are supposed to be 26.75" horizontal distance from lower pin to lower pin - in other words, the bottom hooks of a quick-hitch need to have about 27" between them. The vertical distance between the lower and upper pins (centerline-to-centerline) is supposed to be 18". Of course, different manufacturers make 'em a little differently, and there's the problem. In my experience, it's the vertical distance that's most often changed. The top hook of my QH-15 is adjustable vertically, so I have a little table written on top of it showing where to set the top hook for each implement. My Ballast box is a little short on the horizontal spacing between the bottom pins, so I simply added bushings to each bottom pin to lengthen them. ( I only needed about 1-2 inches.)
Once again, different quick-hitches address the problem differently. The jiffy hitch uses a two piece design, in which the 'male' part is mounted on the tractor, and the 'female' part is mounted on the implement. The implement-mounted part then takes up any deviation from the category 1 specification (within the limits of the jiffy hitch, of course). The benefit of this scheme is that you can attach implements that deviate more from the category 1 standard. The downside is that you have to purchase the 'socket' part for each implement, or change the socket part between implements (which somewhat precludes the benefits of a quick-hitch). Additionally, the jiffy hitch mount may intrude on the space where a PTO shaft would run (not too sure about that, though - you'd have to look at the current model). For my QH-15, I had to modify a few implements in order to make them all work with it - but I do some metal working, so it was just more projects. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
So, which particular quick-hitch you might want depends on the implements you're going to use it with. If you aren't using any PTO-driven implements, need to attach implements that vary greatly from the category 1 spec, don't mind the expense of multiple 'sockets', etc. a jiffy hitch is a good choice. However, if your implements pretty closely meet the category-1 spec or can be easily modified, or if you have some PTO-driven implements, etc. you might look more at the QH-15 or the JD I-Match type hitch. Another thing to consider is that some implements (e.g. bush hog) need to 'float'. Usually you use a floating top-link to get this. (See the QH-15 - the manual is available from Land Pride's website.)
A couple of other points - When I looked at the JD I-Match, it did NOT have an adjustable top hook. The Land-Pride QH-15 does. You should check with JD - I suspect they're going to change that. It adds a lot of versatility, and it's inexpensive to implement. Also, I saw a Quick-Hitch in the Northern Tool Catalog that appeared to be the same as the QH-15. I think that Worksaver has a quick-hitch also - essentially the same as the land Pride. The main thing is to think about whether or not you really need it, and how're you're going to be using a quick-hitch - that will help you decide which one (if any) is appropriate.
Hope this helps - or at least gets you confused on a higher plane! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Caretaker
JDGREEN4ME
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I would not want to be without mine /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
OP
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Re: Quick Attach sys for 3pt hitch? Are they good
Caretaker, thanks... I really appreciate the explanation .... I'm being quoted about $450 for the LandPride QH15. Does that sounds about right to you?
Caretaker, thanks... I really appreciate the explanation .... I'm being quoted about $450 for the LandPride QH15. Does that sounds about right to you?
OP
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Re: Quick Attach sys for 3pt hitch? Are they good
Eagleeye -
You may want to search the forums for quickhitch - seems like the TSC/Northern tool version appears a bit better built than the Landpride unit and is less than $200.00
Eagleeye -
You may want to search the forums for quickhitch - seems like the TSC/Northern tool version appears a bit better built than the Landpride unit and is less than $200.00
MarkV
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Re: Quick Attach sys for 3pt hitch? Are they good
EagleEye, Tractor items seem to cost more in the N.E. but that is $150 higher than I have been quoted around here. Look a bit more locally or order from one of the Internet dealers, there are several good ones on the site. Even with shipping I believe you can do better.
MarkV
EagleEye, Tractor items seem to cost more in the N.E. but that is $150 higher than I have been quoted around here. Look a bit more locally or order from one of the Internet dealers, there are several good ones on the site. Even with shipping I believe you can do better.
MarkV