Freedom Hitch ball hitch attachment

[RAllen]

I use the Freedom Hitch System and love it. In their sales lit. they show a ball hitch adapter for the Freedom Hitch. Does anyone out there have the adapter? I understand its merely a steel strap with a hole to mount a ball. Freedom Hitch really screwed up and missed an opportunity. Should have built the adapter with a 2" receiver. If any of you have this adapter, how easy would it be to modify it and mount a receiver? I have never seen one and do not want to order one sight unseen.

Rick

 

[MChalkley]

I have one and use it fairly often. I've got a Convert-a-Ball on it, so I can switch ball sizes easily. It's plenty heavy duty, I think. As for adapting it to a 2" receiver, I'll have to look at it again. I'll try to take a pic of it for you.

MarkC

 

[RAllen]

Mark

Thanks. I don't undertand why they didn't go receiver route. I have one of the platforms that plug into a receiver. It would be a great tool carrier. Additionally, all sort of equipment including winches could be plugged in. I have my eye on a used sprayer that plugs into the receiver.

Let me know

Rick

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by RAllen on 07/24/01 01:15 PM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[JackIL]

Your wishes have been answered!! I just returned from the Lawn, Garden, and Power Equipment Expo at Louisville. Midwest Industries showed the type of Freedom Hitch attachment with a built in 2 inch receiver that you describe. They have both styles of hitches available as of now. In addition they also showed a Boom Pole attachment and a hydraulic top link for the FH. These are not yet shown on their website.

 

[RAllen]

Wow!
Thanks for the information. One about 45 days ago, I called the company and talked with the head salesman. At that time, I asked if the adapter came with a reciever or just the ball attachment. He acted totally ignorant about why a reciever would be a good idea. He asked a couple of questions as to the why of a receiver but was very noncomital. Perhaps they were already considering it but did not want to go public or perhaps I gave them the idea??? Anyway you cut it, its good news, least for me.

Thanks again./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Rick

PS
Just called Midwest and verified Jack's information. The boom-pole or lift arm is FHT20 and sells for $99.00. Will lift 1300lb. Salesman said they got a failure at 2500 lb. The pole is ready to ship now.

The receiver hitch adapter will be ready to ship in 2 weeks and goes for $89.00.

I am ordering both through my local dealer

 

[RAllen]

I tried to order the new Freedom Hitch Receiver Hitch Adapter and the Freedom Hitch Lift Arm accessory from my local dealer. Thats where I got my Freedom Hitch in the first place. Wanted to support them.
They were willing to order the items but stated they had grave safety concerns with both products. Additionally, they stated I would have to pay a higher price that the MSRP because there was little or no mark up in the product. Suggested if I really wanted the items to order direct.

Safety concerns had to do with lifting with 3 point and the possibility of flipping the tractor if the 3 point arms are raised higher than the axel. Now I know not to pull any serious weight from a point higher than the axel but I was surprised pulling a trailer from the 3-point would be dangerous. I do understand a boom pole could easily be misused- too much weight could lift the front wheels but it seems it would be hard to flip the entire tractor unless you were really stupid. /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

Does anyone think pulling from the 3-point to be dangerous. How about the boom pole. I want to use it to position landscape rocks with more precision than with the FEL. Need to do some light logging- skidding timbers should be safer with a boom pole. What do all you experts think?/w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

Rick

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>Does anyone think pulling from the 3-point to be dangerous.</font color=blue>

Of course it's dangerous if you have too much weight too high, especially if you try to take off too fast, hit bumps, etc. with that weight too high. But there are not too many things that you can do with a tractor that are not dangerous if you aren't careful and use a little common sense.

I think you pretty well understand how to properly use those items.

Bird

 

[MChalkley]

Rick - I agree with Bird's summary completely. Ranging well into the speculation arena, I suspect the main problem your dealer has with them was the last thing he mentioned: too little markup.

As Bird said, you have to be careful with a 3-point hitch ball adapter, but what is there concerning the tractor that you don't have to be careful about? I've used mine to move completely furnished 40' office trailers that full-size (gas) pickups found to be a load. Not even a hint of trouble. Just observe the common sense rules you mentioned and you won't have any problems, either.

MarkC