3-Point Hitch help - 3-point hitch control lever question

[dieselsmoke1]

and when the tailwheel goes down ( and the freeplay is exhausted) the toplink is now in negative compression If you have draft sensing hyds, and they are adjusted correctly, then when the toplink is in negative compression.. this will be sensed as high draft.. it will think an implement is being sucked deeper intot he ground.. and will lift the mower..
Soundguy

Our experience must be with different equipment as I am familiar with operation which is opposite as what you describe. In my experience Compression, not tension, on the top link will cause the draft to kick in and the lift to rise, as in a bottom plow sinking too deep or a subsioler catching a root. So when the tail wheel moves up, the compression on the linkage bar goes up and the lift arms raise to equalize the setting. My observation is based primarily on use of several MF's with separate draft and position controls. Maybe others are different.

 

[Soundguy]

My guess your wobble is coming from the 40 year old mower that is more weld than original mower.. not from anything else.. like original design... which.. it sounds like there is little left of.

-NONE- of my 3pt mowers have ever had these wobble problems... Including the big 10'er I've mowed with the last few years.

As for the position of the arms.. Actually.. arm position can make a difference on draft control systems that only use 1 control handle for the draft sensitivity, and 3pt lift height.. vs systems that use a different handle for lift height, and a seperate for draft sensitivity. In the 1 handle systems, if you need the lift arms in some state of lift.. then defacto.. you have set the draft more sensitive.. as you approach the top of the quadrant.. this can make a jumpy lift if not ballanced correctly.

I can make my 2n lift go up and down as you speak, just by pusing or pulling on the toplink. No rocked science involved there.. just geometry.

At this point.. I'm going to bow out of this part of the discussion. It really doesn't matter to me that a small % of the population prefers to mow in draft control, and think it is better, vs just about everybody else.. etc. It's your opinion.. you are entitled to it.. It's america.. so have at it. ( if draft control was so great for mowing.. N and fergy owners would not have come up with position control schemes. .. besides the fact that most of my tractor manuals state to choose position control for mowing, and draft control for ground engaging implement... .. but hey.. they are the manufacturer.. what do they know? ;->

Soundguy

Dang, I've been hooking up to this hog for 40 some years, worn out 4 sets of blades, replated the deck with 3/16" and cut strips from a motor grader blade to make new skids......and I've been hooking it up wrong all this time.

The top of the hog A frame is rigid. The linkage bar is rigid. Compression on the linkage bar combined with gravity on the center tail wheel creates a balance of sort and will allow the hog to wobble a little, in so much as the loose motion in the lift arms will allow. Add a little vertical tug on the lift arms via the draft, not nearly enough to lift the hog, and the problem goes away. The hog stays level and floats over uneven terrain with no operator interaction as would be required using fixed position control.

Regarding needing to constantly adjust the draft setting, not the case. Remember, draft does not care about the position of the lift arms in the range of motion. It reacts to compression on the top link receiver, nothing else. Assuming top link compression load remains constant, draft will exert the same vertical lifting force on the lift arms be they 3" from the bottom or 3" from the top of range of motion.

IMHO most folks do not know how to use draft or how sensative a good system can be. Take a 135 for example, if working correctly and adjusted properly, a person can stand behind the tractor and cause the lift arms to raise and lower with just the pressure on one hand on the top link receiver. This is easy enough to verify if there are doubts.

Never thought I wanted a floating top link before, but my current piece does not have draft control on it, so I'll probably rig one up and use position control. I'll be pleasantly surprised if I'm as satisfied.

I have no doubt the methods described by posters here will work. I also have absolutely no doubt the method I described will work. Comes down to what you're working with and how you want to do it.

 

[dieselsmoke1]

Sounds good. We all adapt as best we can to the equipment and conditions at hand and to each his own solution.

Thanks for the discussion.

 

[Soundguy]

Our experience must be with different equipment as I am familiar with operation which is opposite as what you describe. In my experience Compression, not tension, on the top link will cause the draft to kick in and the lift to rise, as in a bottom plow sinking too deep or a subsioler catching a root. So when the tail wheel moves up, the compression on the linkage bar goes up and the lift arms raise to equalize the setting. My observation is based primarily on use of several MF's with separate draft and position controls. Maybe others are different.

Not to kick the horse so to speak.. but rather just for info./ clarification. My draft experience comes mainly from JD and ford/NH equipment. On those.. negative compression on the draft sensing toplink is what causes the lift to rise.. compression on the toplink relaxes the lift. As for the root analogy.. It has been my experience that a plow tip encountering a root either pops out over it on it's own, or dives under it, thus putting negative compression on the toplink, and thus activating the lift... Same thing usually happens though.. root breaks, or tractor hangs due to the lift not being able to lif tthe plow out as it is firmly embedded under the root... or the plow tip breaks or trips..

A quick read of my ford op manuals confirms this working.. at least for ford anyway. My fords and jd I use are all single control draft, while my NH is 2 control draft.. etc.

Soundguy

 

[dieselsmoke1]

I understand. Apparently there is a significant difference in the way different manufacturers address draft operation. I was not aware of this, thanks for the info.