Gale Hawkins
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2009
- Messages
- 11,771
- Location
- Murray, KY
- Tractor
- 1948 Allis Chambers Model B 1976 265 MF / 1983 JD 310B Backhoe / 1966 Ford 3000 Diesel / 1980 3600 Diesel
Cool. Thanks for the photo.
Pat's Easy Change Pat's Easy Change System - Order Online!
- Thread starter Muhammad
- Start date
Farmbitz
New member
Hello rmacAU and everyone in Australia & New Zealand
Farmbitz is the sole distributor for Pat's Easy Change in both Australia & New Zealand.
We are farmers just like almost everyone else on this message board & love the Easy Change.
After we managed to import out Cat 1 Pat's Easy Change Hitches to Australia, we spoke to Pat's and we actually asked "Why haven't we ever seen these in Australia?" The answer was that no-one had ever offered to import it. Well, we jumped at the opportunity because these hitches are just fabulous!
We price the Easy Change at the same level as you could get it from the USA.
So the Cat 1 based on the US price plus the cheapest delivery by US Postal Service to Australia. Plus we add a free Stabiliser Bar.
If you do try to get the complete kit from the USA then the cost from the USA is way more than we sell it in Oz, as the Stabiliser Bar must be sent separately, so it ends up being close to USD100 more than the cheapest USA Supplier who can send it to Australia for the hitches alone. And the US suppliers do not include the Stabiliser Bar in the kit, that's an additional cost.
We also have to charge 10% GST.
It's a little more difficult for the Cat 2. The US Postal service will not carry the Cat 2 as it is way over their weight limit.
If the hitches for the Cat 2 Easy Change were split and then sent separately, the entire kit would be delivered in 3 pieces, which would make it way more expensive than we actually supply it.
It is always difficult to compare a cost in one country for the exact same product as supplied in another.
We are the only distributor who supply Pat's Easy Change Kits in Cat 1, Cat 2 Easy Change and Weld-ons, and we even carry a few Cat 3 Hitches. Each kit comes with a Stabiliser Bar, complete kit to install [bolts, u-bolts, nuts and shims], instructions, and 3 sets of Lynch Pin Washers.
We also have some other great implements for your tractor. The newest item is a PTO Driven Generator, for all those far from home jobs on-farm.
Peter from FarmBitz
Gale Hawkins
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2009
- Messages
- 11,771
- Location
- Murray, KY
- Tractor
- 1948 Allis Chambers Model B 1976 265 MF / 1983 JD 310B Backhoe / 1966 Ford 3000 Diesel / 1980 3600 Diesel
That is good news for those down under. We had to use ours this week getting ready for snow and the kids were gone so I was not looking forward to doing it alone but thanks to Pat's Easy Change kit it was a snap. 
Dan Dargeloh
Member
Re: Pat\'s Easy Change System - Order Online!
I bought a set of Pat's easy change couplers (category 2 to category 1). They went on easy enough, but looked kinda like a cobble job when mounted. Mounting equipment proved to be easier, but not by much. If one has cement to park the equipment on where it will stay level and can't settle, they should work fine. Unfortunately, I don't have that privilege, so it usually took help to get everything hooked up. I will say unhooking was alot easier with the Pat's system. I'm not a hobby farmer, so my tractor gets used and not babied. After some time with a 3pt disc and box scraper behind it, going thru ditches and rough ground, I noticed the snap couplers were loose on the lift arms. The jam bolts that are suppose to hold the couplers tight on the lift arms (also align them) are cheap soft steel and had mushroomed on the ends where they contact the lift arms. On one, the drift pin that holds the shim in the bottom of the coupler had came out with the subsequent loss of the shim. Once the bolts start mushrooming, that really lets the couplers try to sway on the arms (the ball in the arm is wider that the arm, so the couplers try to rock on the arms) and causes even greater mushrooming. This makes the removal of the snap couplers a real pain! I was going to put it back together with grade 8 bolts, but decided if they mushroomed I would be in real trouble and would probably have to use a torch to remove the couplers if needed. Therefore I decided to leave them off and go back to the old way. Now I have a couple of expensive door stops. My advice is if you are going to use your tractor under less than ideal conditions, leave it the way it is. If you are a hobby farmer who enjoys playing with equipment, then the Pat's system will probably make your day!
I bought a set of Pat's easy change couplers (category 2 to category 1). They went on easy enough, but looked kinda like a cobble job when mounted. Mounting equipment proved to be easier, but not by much. If one has cement to park the equipment on where it will stay level and can't settle, they should work fine. Unfortunately, I don't have that privilege, so it usually took help to get everything hooked up. I will say unhooking was alot easier with the Pat's system. I'm not a hobby farmer, so my tractor gets used and not babied. After some time with a 3pt disc and box scraper behind it, going thru ditches and rough ground, I noticed the snap couplers were loose on the lift arms. The jam bolts that are suppose to hold the couplers tight on the lift arms (also align them) are cheap soft steel and had mushroomed on the ends where they contact the lift arms. On one, the drift pin that holds the shim in the bottom of the coupler had came out with the subsequent loss of the shim. Once the bolts start mushrooming, that really lets the couplers try to sway on the arms (the ball in the arm is wider that the arm, so the couplers try to rock on the arms) and causes even greater mushrooming. This makes the removal of the snap couplers a real pain! I was going to put it back together with grade 8 bolts, but decided if they mushroomed I would be in real trouble and would probably have to use a torch to remove the couplers if needed. Therefore I decided to leave them off and go back to the old way. Now I have a couple of expensive door stops. My advice is if you are going to use your tractor under less than ideal conditions, leave it the way it is. If you are a hobby farmer who enjoys playing with equipment, then the Pat's system will probably make your day!
Awsum67gto
New member
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2013
- Messages
- 17
- Location
- Smithdale, MS
- Tractor
- 2002 Kubota B2410 HST, 2012 Mahindra 5035 PST & a Labradoodle named Honey Bear
Re: Pat\'s Easy Change System - Order Online!
I, like Dan Dargeloh, am not a very happy camper with Pat's product.
Pros: I like the stabilizer bar that I bought with the package. It sets the width very easily for hooking up. My rotary cutter was setting on two
4" blocks under one side. I was able to use the hitch to pick up the low side and attach the high side. Worked very well for me.
Cons: This is where my indigestion begins. As stated by Dan, the Gummy Bear bolts used to align and secure the hitch to the lower arm are worthless. I used my hitch for about two days and the alignment bolts as well as the u-bolts worked themselves loose (yes they were tight to begin with). The bolts had mushroomed severely on the ends. Like Dan, I was going to replace the Gummy Bears with Grade 8's, but while trying to remove them one wrung off in the hitch. Now I have a machining exercise that has to be performed. Poor engineering at the expense of profit.
I, like Dan Dargeloh, am not a very happy camper with Pat's product.
Pros: I like the stabilizer bar that I bought with the package. It sets the width very easily for hooking up. My rotary cutter was setting on two
4" blocks under one side. I was able to use the hitch to pick up the low side and attach the high side. Worked very well for me.
Cons: This is where my indigestion begins. As stated by Dan, the Gummy Bear bolts used to align and secure the hitch to the lower arm are worthless. I used my hitch for about two days and the alignment bolts as well as the u-bolts worked themselves loose (yes they were tight to begin with). The bolts had mushroomed severely on the ends. Like Dan, I was going to replace the Gummy Bears with Grade 8's, but while trying to remove them one wrung off in the hitch. Now I have a machining exercise that has to be performed. Poor engineering at the expense of profit.
Gale Hawkins
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2009
- Messages
- 11,771
- Location
- Murray, KY
- Tractor
- 1948 Allis Chambers Model B 1976 265 MF / 1983 JD 310B Backhoe / 1966 Ford 3000 Diesel / 1980 3600 Diesel
Dan and gto my Pat's ECS is a Cat2 to Cat2 on a 1976 265 MF. While I have a very heavy 9' 3PH disk and 8' heavy Bush Hog brand box blade the hard use comes when using mainly a very heavy duty 6' cutter which includes trees that I can ride down with the tractor sometimes. After 5 years mine have not become loose after the initial wear in period of a couple months. After I got the alignment correct and all 16 holes filed with bolts with jam nuts and four jam nuts on the two U-bolts it is still tight because I just walked out to the tractor and checked this AM.
I found the ECS did need to be re-tighten after the first few usages. Pat's Easy Change System is a huge safety feature in our case trying to hitch on hilly locations all of the time (no flat places where we store the equipment outside).
The only negative we have found after 5 years is it did not come with 16 bolts and 20 jam nuts but they were only a couple dollars at TSC. We used grade 3 or 5 (matched with what Pat sent).
The four bolts with jam nuts in the four bottom holes prevents the lost of the shims very well in our case. The eight bolts with jam nuts in the second and third holes from the bottom bolt holes hold the hitches in place because they actually tighten down on the OEM lift arms. In our case the top four bolts only contact on about only half of the end of the bolt with the OEM lift arms so that does tend to mushroom the ends of those four top bolts and their usage would be optional in my view in our set up.
It seems mushrooming comes from the add on ECS ends working so that is why it important to shim so when pushing or pulling equipment there is no real forces forcing the hitch ends up or down and that one does not use the tractor unless all straight and U-bolts are tight before each use.
Alignment is the number one thing that has to be done right and even with a tool and die background it was somewhat trial and error on the initial install. I think I spent about three hours on the initial install of just the ends because of shimming and reshimming to get the correct alignment.
I know with very heavy equipment alignment and fully bolting all holes using jam nuts was a requirement in our case. Until I went with the 20 jam nuts in our case nothing would stay tight with the use of the bush hog that makes the front end very light with 5 standard size suitcase weights out on the front end. I know ours have stayed tight for the past four years without any re-tightening.
Call Pat and see if you can not get missing shims. TSC, etc will have the bolts you will need. When you get and keep the bolts tight the mushrooming should stop based on our experience.
The up and down alignment is critical when used in an abusive way like we do with heavy equipment flopping from one side to the other when turning on steep hill sides.
Being physically limited due to arthritis and having the wife or kids help me hitch because it is never on level ground I can tell you it is much safer for my helpers now that we have Pat's ECS and if I added a tractor I would add a Pat's ECS.
Best of luck with getting them initially aligned and tight. Recheck after each hour of use until they are never loose. Since often the bush hog stays on all summer I try to glance at them each time I grease but they have stayed tight after going with the 20 jam nuts using 16 bolts in our case for 4 years now.
I found the ECS did need to be re-tighten after the first few usages. Pat's Easy Change System is a huge safety feature in our case trying to hitch on hilly locations all of the time (no flat places where we store the equipment outside).
The only negative we have found after 5 years is it did not come with 16 bolts and 20 jam nuts but they were only a couple dollars at TSC. We used grade 3 or 5 (matched with what Pat sent).
The four bolts with jam nuts in the four bottom holes prevents the lost of the shims very well in our case. The eight bolts with jam nuts in the second and third holes from the bottom bolt holes hold the hitches in place because they actually tighten down on the OEM lift arms. In our case the top four bolts only contact on about only half of the end of the bolt with the OEM lift arms so that does tend to mushroom the ends of those four top bolts and their usage would be optional in my view in our set up.
It seems mushrooming comes from the add on ECS ends working so that is why it important to shim so when pushing or pulling equipment there is no real forces forcing the hitch ends up or down and that one does not use the tractor unless all straight and U-bolts are tight before each use.
Alignment is the number one thing that has to be done right and even with a tool and die background it was somewhat trial and error on the initial install. I think I spent about three hours on the initial install of just the ends because of shimming and reshimming to get the correct alignment.
I know with very heavy equipment alignment and fully bolting all holes using jam nuts was a requirement in our case. Until I went with the 20 jam nuts in our case nothing would stay tight with the use of the bush hog that makes the front end very light with 5 standard size suitcase weights out on the front end. I know ours have stayed tight for the past four years without any re-tightening.
Call Pat and see if you can not get missing shims. TSC, etc will have the bolts you will need. When you get and keep the bolts tight the mushrooming should stop based on our experience.
The up and down alignment is critical when used in an abusive way like we do with heavy equipment flopping from one side to the other when turning on steep hill sides.
Being physically limited due to arthritis and having the wife or kids help me hitch because it is never on level ground I can tell you it is much safer for my helpers now that we have Pat's ECS and if I added a tractor I would add a Pat's ECS.
Best of luck with getting them initially aligned and tight. Recheck after each hour of use until they are never loose. Since often the bush hog stays on all summer I try to glance at them each time I grease but they have stayed tight after going with the 20 jam nuts using 16 bolts in our case for 4 years now.
gwdixon
Elite Member
I've had a Pat's on every tractor I've owned over 30 years (except the backhoe). Never had a problem. But, like Gale, I took a lot of time to install them correctly and then tightened the fittings regularly for the first month, or so.
On my M7040, I bought the custom-made CAT 2 slide-in model that has no fittings. It just replaces the whole end section on the lower arms. The OEM slide-out feature is lost since the Pat's are fixed.
Sooooo...I ordered the CAT 2 weld-on Pat's ends and sold the fixed Pat's to a member on here. Then the OEM balls were cut off the OEM sliding ends and the Pat's were welded in their place. Now I have the sliding ends and the Pat's. Couldn't be happier.
If you feel comfortable doing the cutting/welding then you'll have a permanent solution and no adjustment or bolts to deal with.
Disclaimer - You have to have a capable welder and be a capable weldor.
On my M7040, I bought the custom-made CAT 2 slide-in model that has no fittings. It just replaces the whole end section on the lower arms. The OEM slide-out feature is lost since the Pat's are fixed.
Sooooo...I ordered the CAT 2 weld-on Pat's ends and sold the fixed Pat's to a member on here. Then the OEM balls were cut off the OEM sliding ends and the Pat's were welded in their place. Now I have the sliding ends and the Pat's. Couldn't be happier.
If you feel comfortable doing the cutting/welding then you'll have a permanent solution and no adjustment or bolts to deal with.
Disclaimer - You have to have a capable welder and be a capable weldor.
GManBart
Elite Member
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2012
- Messages
- 4,967
- Location
- Detroit, Michigan
- Tractor
- Massey Ferguson 241, Kubota SVL90-2
Re: Pat\'s Easy Change System - Order Online!
Lower grade bolts isn't really poor engineering....poor hardware selection maybe, but not poor engineering.
You say the system worked very well for attaching an implement right after saying you were unhappy with the system....that's pretty contradictory.
In reality, you're unhappy with a couple of lower grade bolts....that's reasonable, but also a super easy fix. Call Pat and see if he'll credit you for the better nuts, and bolts. I agree better hardware could be used, but the system itself works well.
Lower grade bolts isn't really poor engineering....poor hardware selection maybe, but not poor engineering.
You say the system worked very well for attaching an implement right after saying you were unhappy with the system....that's pretty contradictory.
In reality, you're unhappy with a couple of lower grade bolts....that's reasonable, but also a super easy fix. Call Pat and see if he'll credit you for the better nuts, and bolts. I agree better hardware could be used, but the system itself works well.
Dan Dargeloh
Member
Re: Pat\'s Easy Change System - Order Online!
If I were to try to use "Pat's" again, it would have to be the weld on style, that would eliminate all those "adjustments", necessary to make the slip on version "fit". These slip on ones, not only look rinky dinky when installed, but I really don't like all the "adjustments" that are required and can't really believe they are going to stay tight under the conditions they will be subjected to, even with hardened bolts. A heavy load on the rear going thru ditches puts a LOT of side thrust on things, no matter how careful you are. I've got some fairly rough ground, which can really put things to the "test". I think I'll stay with the way Deere built this thing and just put up with the inconvenience of hitching up to 3 point equipment from time to time. Too bad the manufacturers don't make snap couplers an option. I'm sure it would be VERY popular, especially on these smaller tractors.
If I were to try to use "Pat's" again, it would have to be the weld on style, that would eliminate all those "adjustments", necessary to make the slip on version "fit". These slip on ones, not only look rinky dinky when installed, but I really don't like all the "adjustments" that are required and can't really believe they are going to stay tight under the conditions they will be subjected to, even with hardened bolts. A heavy load on the rear going thru ditches puts a LOT of side thrust on things, no matter how careful you are. I've got some fairly rough ground, which can really put things to the "test". I think I'll stay with the way Deere built this thing and just put up with the inconvenience of hitching up to 3 point equipment from time to time. Too bad the manufacturers don't make snap couplers an option. I'm sure it would be VERY popular, especially on these smaller tractors.
Awsum67gto
New member
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2013
- Messages
- 17
- Location
- Smithdale, MS
- Tractor
- 2002 Kubota B2410 HST, 2012 Mahindra 5035 PST & a Labradoodle named Honey Bear
Re: Pat\'s Easy Change System - Order Online!
Obviously GM did not have poor engineering on the ignition switch problem that caused 13 deaths and resulted in their recent recall, just poor hardware selection.
Obviously GM did not have poor engineering on the ignition switch problem that caused 13 deaths and resulted in their recent recall, just poor hardware selection.