Drawbar ignorance

[Laminarman]

I will claim plebian, rookie ignorance as to what the hell I'm supposed to do with my drawbar. I've wrapped rope around it, wrapped chain around it, put one of those TSC $12 hook thingy's on it only to find my chain with clevis hook won't fit through it. My bar sticks straight out the back. Can they be mounted differently? I thought I saw one mounted horizontally spanning the distance of the two lower link arms in a diagram.

I assume I can put one of my balls on it (that don't sound right) to tow a common vehicle trailer. Any help appreciated.

 

[rockyridgefarm]

I have a 2" trailer ball on mine, works fine for me

 

[OkieG]

Believe it or not, the drawbar on the back of your tractor is called a "swinging" drawbar. I have a "thingy" on mine, too. I use it to secure the back end of my tractor when trailering. Also, used with a short chain, it can keep the 3ph from raising up when towing something. The attached picture shows the swinging drawbar and thingy on the right. A 3ph frame with hitch ball is left. The chain connecting the two keeps the towed implement from raising.

By the way, if you remove the thingy, and loop your chain through and reattach to the drawbar, the size of the hook on the end of the chain won't make any difference. That's what I have to do with my tie down chains to secure the tractor to my trailer.

OkieG

 

[greg_g]

Towing. Like you said, trailer ball for ball couplers. Some towed implements have pin couplers, C-type couplers, ring couplers. Ball in drawbar hole for ball coupler. Ring couplers and pin couplers go between the top and bottom holes in the drawbar, with a vertical pin through all. Use of C-type may require taking the L-shaped section off the drawbar, then vertical pin through all. Vertical pins are further secured with hitch pins. Even though I don't use one, I think it can be set up to accomodate pintle hitches too.

Hope that wasn't too confusing.

//greg//

 

[greg_g]

I don't believe that's what he's talking about Okie. See my attachment.

//greg//
Pendulum DrawBar

 

[OkieG]

Hi Greg,
I know it sounds crazy. I picked up the "swinging drawbar" moniker from another thread here on TBN. I may be wrong, but if I understand it right, that fixed, immoveable, heavily bolted and pinned, won't bulge an inch, pendulum drawbar on the back of our tractors has farm heritage as being called a swinging drawbar. Maybe someone could chime in here and clarify. My picture, though, is of the fixed "pendulum" drawbar at the back of my tractor.

By the way, how did our fixed drawbars come to be called pendulum drawbars? I believe in some farm applications the drawbars could be swung and fixed to the left or right, perhaps to offset a towed implement? Our "modern" fixed drawbars may be just a position limited version of the more mobile original. Could "swinging" = "pendulum"? Heck, now I'm getting confused!

OkieG

 

[greg_g]

Ok Okie, I'll buy that; a pendulum swings. And the Jinma graphic I uploaded is not fixed. It can be extended, pinned to the right, pinned to the left; pendulum.

But my response was based upon your attachment. Perhaps you simply uploaded the wrong photo then. Cuz what I see looks a whole lot like a three point hitch adapter (trailer mover).

//greg//

 

[ronjhall]

OkieG

A swinging drawbar refers to a drawbar that swings. When I was a teenager I ran a Farmal H that had a swinging drawbar. On tractors the bar would swing in the direction of a turn. This would allow the tractor to turn shorter and the implement would also turn sharp. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
I have attached a picture of one that I found on EBay. The one on the "H" had a wider swing than the one in the picture.

 

[Egon]

Ron:

For some impliments like ploughs we used to have to pin the drawbar in an off center position so the tractor wheels were in the furrow.

Egon

 

[DocHeb]

My TC40D has a Drawbar that can "swing" if I remove two pins, or is fixed if I leave the two pins in place.

The drawbar is the safest point of attachment to be used when using a lot of traction to pull an object. The drawbar is attached below the axles, so it does not work as a lever-arm helping to turn a tractor over. (Oh-boy, the physics teacher always told me that his class was important, and here my "C's" in physics are coming to light!). The best thing is pictures - see Display of Stability Data for Safe Tractor Operation from Penn State, and go down to the videos of "Rear Overturn - Incorrect Hitching Above Axle".

The three-point drawbars are often used with hitch balls to move trailers. They are handy since the 3pt allows up-and-down movement of the ball to allow easier attachment. When using the 3pt drawbar, keep the arms and drawbar as low to the ground as possible. This example of a 3-point hitch to 2" Receiver Adapter is made by Bad River Products.

Oh - I've also hooked chains and ropes to my drawbar.