B7800 3Pt Hitch Position Indicator

[Fjord]

Here is something I made to make using the 3Pt hitch easier.It is really cheap and easy to make.It consists of a small metal box which houses a tape measure. A piece of string fastened to the end of the tape measure passes through a couple of small eye bolts, and a small clip on the end of the string clips on to the retaining ring for one of the upper lift arm pins.As the 3Pt is raised/lowered it retracts/extends the tape measure. A small loop of electric fence wire tacked on just below the tape box provides something to read the tape against(like the cursor on a slide rule if you're old enough to remember).
10" of tape extension equals 20" measured at the lift pins. The whole thing fastens on using one of the ROPS bolts with a big hole fitting over the head of the other bolt (like the slow moving vehicle sign bracket). Ideally the string would be fastened to something tacked onto the end of the pin to negate any effects of the pin turning, but I've used it a bit and the pin doesn't seem to turn much and it seems to be very repeatable. While it isn't position control it does allow me to see how much I'm raising or lowering and to come back to a known position if I have to raise for some reason. If anything gets tangled up in the string - big deal.....it's a piece of string and a $2 tape measure. I hope I can figure out how to send the pictures or none of this will make any sense.

 

[MFL]

Well Done! For me, as well as a lot of other B7800 owners, the lack of position control is the only drawback to this tractor. I'm constantly amazed at the problems that are solved here at TBN, and how ingenious the solutions are.

A simple, elegant and effective solution

 

[Fjord]

Hi again. I just cut off the angle bracket and replaced it with a piece of 3/4" x 3/4" angle iron mounted lower down to neaten it up and hide the string a little bit. Don't know if anybody else is interested in this thing but thought I'd post the picture just in case.

 

[williet]

Will you share some drawings with the rest of us ... or maybe just make some up and sell them.
I don't have my tractor yet, but the B7800 is where I'm headed and from all I've read ... you've solved (or at least made much better) the only problem with it.

Thanks!

 

[Fjord]

Thanks for the comments.The main thing you need is the piece of 2" x 1/8" flat bar x 20 1/2" long. The centre of the bottom hole is 5/8" up from the bottom and it's 15/16" diameter.The two holes are 2 15/16" apart and the top hole is about 9/16" diameter. The material is thin enough that I was able to drill the big hole using a step drill.I put a bit of a bend in it so when the bolt is tightened up it pushes tight against the ROPS and doesn't vibrate.Thicker material might be nice but you might run out of threads on the bolt and if you put in a longer bolt somebody might say you modified the ROPS.(and if it was the wrong grade of bolt they'd probably be right) .Once you have this piece made you can just start adding things on until you've got something that works.I used small angle iron to support the horizontal run of string , but a piece of 1 x 1/8 flat bar would work just as well. The box I made to house the tape measure is 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 1 1/2" 22ga steel and the tape rattles around in it a bit. I'm not even sure that it's necessary - you might be able to make something that utilizes the belt clip on the tape measure. For the small eye bolts I just had some of the kind with wood screw threads on them, drilled a hole and put the thread through welded it from the back and then ground the weld off flush. For the string I got some nylon string that's used for marking out footings and block walls -very strong & very flexible.You can drill a small hole in the clip on the end of the tape measure, thread the string through and tie a knot in it.Then you need a small clip on the other end of the string to fasten to the ring on the lift pin.That extra little bracket on the side of mine is just beacause I had it mounted to the slow moving vehicle sign before but it's way too awkward to look at back there. I left the bracket there in case I want to add a cup holder or something later. Nothing on this thing has to be very precice,you can just hold it up until it looks about right then mark it and tack it in place. I do ALL my welding at the bench to avoid the chance of a spark jumping on to the seat of my new tractor. I'd be glad to answer any more questions but I think once you start making it you'll see there's really not much to it ( and you'll probably make some improvements). I keep thinking I should come up with something that looks more professional than a piece of string tugging on a tape measure but then I might not be able to say that "it's really cheap and really easy to make".

 

[TonyReynolds]

To quote a recent beer commercial, "brilliant".

 

[Northland]

Great thinking Fjord - you are going to be a terrfic resource, particularly for the B7800 owners here

Please do draw out your solution if you can

 

[Fjord]

Thanks for the positive comments.I think I could make some sketches with dimensions etc. quite easily . Just not sure how to post them. Maybe scan them and send as attachment? or maybe just draw them on a really big piece of paper and take a picture. It might be a few days now that I've had to go back to work after having a few days off over Christmas, but I'll try and get something out soon.

 

[Northland]

Thanks for the positive comments.I think I could make some sketches with dimensions etc. quite easily . Just not sure how to post them. Maybe scan them and send as attachment? or maybe just draw them on a really big piece of paper and take a picture. It might be a few days now that I've had to go back to work after having a few days off over Christmas, but I'll try and get something out soon.

Yes, please draw it and then scan and attach it when you can. I am going to try hooking up your 3 pt spreader as well

 

[Fjord]

Here are some sketches of the individual pieces and the assembly. Bear in mind that the materials I used were just whatever I had laying around, so others may work just as well.Of course the dimensions of the tape box will depend on how big your tape measure is. I had to put some wooden shims in to stop the 10 ft x 3/4" tape measure from rattling around too much.Just tack everything first to make sure it fits. The size of the 9/16" mounting hole is a guess because I didn't have the right size and just kind of reamed it out with a 13mm until it fit.I got a small clip for the string at the hardware store but you could probably find something that would work in your fishing tackle box. Let us know if you make one, if it works, or if you've made any improvements.