JD Quick Hitch

[Musdalen]

I'm a new owner of a JD 3039R. It seems to be a great machine so far as one weekend of working with it has shown.

There are a couple of things however that I wish were different and one of them stands out as maybe my own fault. With the machine I ordered a JD(Frontier) Quick Hitch. I know I have avoided mowing and some other chores just because I was lazy about not wanting to swap out whatever was on the rear end, for whatever was needed for the current chore. The QH seemed like just the fix.

Stupid me assumed that all my already owned implements were all of the same dimensions. I thought that category one hitches would all be the same. Foolish me. On my old 8N, I never realized that the differences could be substantial.

Anyway, on the JD QH, the biggest problem is the elevation of the top link pin relative to the left and right lift arms. With the QH at maximum height the vertical distance between the hooks is 17".

My 60" rotary cutter is 21.5".

My old 72" blade is 22"

My ballast box is a marginal 18.25" which sits in the hooks but isn't really supported by all three. Given that it will soon weigh 1000#, this may or may not be adequate. Opinions are welcome.

What good is a QH if all the implements it is supposed to work with are different? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?

Are there other QH designs that have a quick adjustment (what little adjustment there is on the JD QH is NOT quick)?

Or am I just missing something that is incredibly simple?

Any of these will hook up fine without the QH, but it would be nice to have something easier, of course. Suggestions?

 

[beenthere]

Best advice I can offer is to have each implement taylored to fit your quick hitch.. Worth it in the end. I did, and now don't have to look back and "wish" they were easier to hook up.
Also, where possible, built a stand to drop the attachments off for easy hook-up.

There are alternate combinations, such as adjustable top hooks.. but then you are "adjusting" rather than quickly hooking up and "going".

Wish you well on your decisions. Make it fun.

 

[Musdalen]

Your advice is probably pretty good. But it certainly is not easy. I don't have the tools (welders and cutting torches and skill for them) to do it.

 

[bcp]

What good is a QH if all the implements it is supposed to work with are different? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?

Don't blame the quick hitch. For many years, implement manufacturers have been ignoring the standards and building implements any way they wanted. I suspect they established dimensions in order to minimize scrap. With the standard 3 point hitch, it didn't matter if implements differed by several inches here and there.

The usual solution for non-welders with too many non-standard implements is to use quick connectors on the lower links, and often a longer top link to match. A little slower than a proper quick hitch arrangement, but still much easier than putting round pins in round holes.

Here's one of the more popular ones.

Pats Easy Change 3 Point Hitch System

Bruce

 

[Wagtail]

Hopefully 'They' did explain that all of the 3PH implements will require "bushings" for both of the lower connections/'pins'. I also needed to get specific, longer and capped, bushings for my "iMatch" ballast box.

Fortunately, all of my implements (purchased new) fit my iMatch... with one exception. [of course, there's always one exception] My ballast roller/aerator experienced a problem that you're having with the top hook. I solved that with an extension + I added a curb-chain to keep it from popping out.

 

[Texasmark]

I'm a new owner of a JD 3039R. It seems to be a great machine so far as one weekend of working with it has shown.

There are a couple of things however that I wish were different and one of them stands out as maybe my own fault. With the machine I ordered a JD(Frontier) Quick Hitch. I know I have avoided mowing and some other chores just because I was lazy about not wanting to swap out whatever was on the rear end, for whatever was needed for the current chore. The QH seemed like just the fix.

Stupid me assumed that all my already owned implements were all of the same dimensions. I thought that category one hitches would all be the same. Foolish me. On my old 8N, I never realized that the differences could be substantial.

Anyway, on the JD QH, the biggest problem is the elevation of the top link pin relative to the left and right lift arms. With the QH at maximum height the vertical distance between the hooks is 17".

My 60" rotary cutter is 21.5".

My old 72" blade is 22"

My ballast box is a marginal 18.25" which sits in the hooks but isn't really supported by all three. Given that it will soon weigh 1000#, this may or may not be adequate. Opinions are welcome.

What good is a QH if all the implements it is supposed to work with are different? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?

Are there other QH designs that have a quick adjustment (what little adjustment there is on the JD QH is NOT quick)?

Or am I just missing something that is incredibly simple?

Any of these will hook up fine without the QH, but it would be nice to have something easier, of course. Suggestions?

I have what's listed and I tune here to help new neighbors with their 4052 applications. I was going to get a QH from a couple of suppliers and they were the 3 point style like JD and chose not to for your reasons. I measured my equipment, as antique and various as it is and it just wouldn't work.

In contrast I invested in a pair of Pat's Quick Hitch Couplers from Agri Supply Co. for about $150. With that you do your own spacing of the lift arms (with a removable, variable width, spacing bar), and do your own top link attaching but they work great. The hookup is extended a couple or so inches requiring your 3rd member to be longer and you may need a 27" (TSC) rather than the normal 24 inch.

 

[KennyG]

I'm wondering about your dimensions and how accurate they are. Not trying to be critical, but those are extreme from what I have seen in the past.

The Cat I 3 point hitch "standard" (which isn't really a standard) is to have the top pin centerline 18" above the lower pin centerlines. The Quick Hitch standard (which is an international standard, althought not everyone adheres to it, is to have the top pin 15" above the lower pins. Adjustable QH, like the new JD, should adjust from 15" to 18". A properly built implement will have top pin locations both 15" and 18" above the lower pins.

There are exceptions. Your rotary cutter may be intended to have a flexible link between the hitch top pin and the cutter pin, which you can buy or easily fabricate. In my case, my box blade, boom pole and trailer mover are all built exactly to the QH standards. My log splitter and snowblower have the pins at 18" and can't easily be modified so I just move the hook. Do a little searching for QH modifications. I replaced the bolts with pins and moving the hook takes less than a minute.

Don't worry about your weight box. Even if it's a little off (if you measure center to center, I would guess it's really 18") all the weight is intended to be picked up on the lower pins. The upper pin is only intended to control forward/backward motion so it shouldn't pick up weight.

Good luck.

 

[Musdalen]

Kenny, the measurements are within a quarter inch. No question about that. The cutter does have a flex link. If I take it off and use the lower pivot where it attaches to the cutter, I can probably make the mower work.

The weight box will probably work as is but the top hook will only control front and back and it does bother me a little, but I'll live with it. the top link pin will sit an inch above the hook's bottom. I've tested this one empirically as I'm the process of building the ballast.

The real problem is the blade, which I really like and use a lot. I don't know what make it is, but it is old and suits me well, except there is no way to make it work at 17" without a bunch of metal fabrication. It is also the 3pt implement that I use the most, though the ballast box will be swapped on and off a lot too, now that I have an FEL and grapple. So, it's the blade and the ballast box that needs the QH the most. One will works, sort of, the other not at all.

 

[beenthere]

Show us some pics of your blade, and we maybe can offer some advice for you.

And for the ballast box (mine is Deere so it fits the iMatch), do you have the bushing that fits the top hook? Bushings are used to fit the hooks that are not, as near as I can tell, cat. I diameters.

 

[Musdalen]

beenthere,
Your suggestion for pictures is a good one. I'll do that tonight when i get home.

The QH came with two bushings that make the Cat 1 pins fit the fatter (cat 2?) hooks. But where were only 2 bushings one for each lift arm. Nothing for the top link. The bushings are a bit long so that I can't get lynch pins in place, but I figure I can grind them down as needed. I'll buy a few more bushings eventually, if I stick with the QH. Right now, I'm leaning towards returning it, if I can .