why do draw bar hitches have side-side play?

[dmay]

Just a curiousity question but why is it that tractor frame mounted draw bar hitches permit side-side play? Everywhere else in the towing world a hitch with play would be a bad thing requiring replacement. Why standard on tractors? Must be by design but why?

 

[kebo]

I think it's to give a little bit of leeway when pulling farm trailers that have the pivoting front axle. For instance, if one of the front tires on the trailer hits a small stump, it lets the axle (and hence the trailer tongue) jump over just a bit.

That's the best reason I can come up with, will be interested in what others say.....

 

[Egon]

Allows for offsetting towed implement's.

Usually the draw bar is pinned in place for pulling wagons. Makes for much easier backing up.

 

[Mace Canute]

A swinging drawbar allows the operator to offset the path of the drawn implement. A good example of where this might be needed is pulling a plow...you don't want the tractor tires to be half in and half out of the furrow when the plow is positioned correctly to take the right amount of cut.

 

[rockinmywaypa]

I was able to roll over hay windrows with a rollabar rake by swinging the hitch right over to one side. This allowed me to keep the tractor tires off the windrow and still be able to flip the row once over instead of having to roll it a couple times to get from centre to end.

 

[John_in_TN]

Allowing the drawbar to swing also provides a better pulling angle for turning heavy loads - like turning around with a drag-type disk that is still cutting during the turn.

 

[beenthere]

In the older days of pulling ag tilling equipment, the swinging drawbar was necessary to help make a turn. After much of the equipment became attached to the 3ph, the swinging bar was not as necessary.

Pulling a combine, baler, and other row-crop harvesting equipment, swinging the drawbar to one side gave some offset to line up to hay windrows, and corn rows. Moving to the other side, allowed better tracking to go down the road.

 

[SandburRanch]

To road a piece of equipment from one field to another the bar was pinned so it wouldn't swing. When you arrived at the next field and socked it in the dirt it was evident something was wrong when attempting to turn the first corner. That's when one said to self, ya dummie, ya forgot to unpin the draw bar.

 

[Verticaltrx]

Also a swinging draw bar is beneficial when pulling drawn implements on a side hill. You can adjust the draw bar to compensate for side draft to keep the tractor/implement tracking straight.

 

[JoeinTX]

Thus, pulling a towed implement through a field or pasture is not like pulling a trailer down a paved road. Totally different.

Everyone above hit on one or all reasons for the swinging drawbar. We use to swing the drawbar out to pull one-way plows while bringing it back to center for drilling. Some loads you want off-center, others need to be in direct center.

The advent of the mounted implement over the last 30 years has decreased use of the drawbar and need for adjustment, but, by no means completely.