BCS - help changing attachments?

[joecoin]

No, don't beat on it. You say you have a 750 model? That should be really easy. Unless you let it sit for years in the rain or something. The dealer you bought it from should support you when you need help. On the 750, make sure the "pin" is up and then wiggle handlebars ONLY UP AND DOWN while pushing tractor away from implement with one hand and holding tiller steady with other hand. Of course make sure tractor is NOT in gear and brakes are NOT on. Mounting and dis-mounting implements is generally very quick and easy and should only take a few of seconds literally. Having said that hay balers and hay rakes can take a little longer. Everything else is a piece of cake so long as its cleaned up and lubed regularly.

Got any tips on separating front mounted implements?

 

[RalphVa]

Hello all, I've had a BCS 739 power safe for about a year and love it. But I hate changing the attachments. I go back and forth between the sickle bar and the tiller sometimes 4 times a week. When I'm hot, dirty and tired it gets to be a PIA. Has anyone made some sort of frame or structure that assists in changing the attachments?

I'm imagining a solid frame that I could drive the attachment into, let the tractor tip down onto it, then flip the release and back the tractor, sans attachment, out - leaving the PTO in a position and angle to be easily reattached when needed.

Joe

Maybe a furniture dolly? It's been 14 years since I had my Gravely, and I was a lot younger then. For the 3ph stuff, I put them onto dollies of some sort except for the back blade, which is light enough to move around.

Ralph

 

[NibbanaFarm]

Here is an implement removal tool I made for my 739. It is very simple and effective. Without it I found it almost impossible to separate the implements from the tractor.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/2-wheeled-tractors/340596-implement-removal-tool.html?highlight=

 

[rickyd79]

Got any tips on separating front mounted implements?

Reading my other comments in this thread (I think there are at least 2 or 3 different ones) covers most of it. But, for front mount implements, make sure to rotate your handlebars over the Implement because this way you can control the tractor AND implement (with your foot, TRACTOR/IMPLEMENT NOT RUNNING!!!!). You won't use your front mount mower with handlebars over the mower, but you just rotate handlebars back once you connect the mower, etc. Moving handlebars over implement makes connecting/disconnecting very easy. Some implements you CANNOT do this however (chipper/shredder, baler, hay rake or similar). Those just require a little more work...one of the reasons I prefer the BIO 80 chipper is because its so much easier to take on/off than the BIO 100/150. Anyway, on your G107D I assume you have quick hitch...one thing about the Grillo quick hitch is they are usually a little tighter than BCS quick hitch. In this case you usually have to wiggle handlebars up and down a bit more and perhaps using a little more muscle pulling them apart (as compared to BCS). But should still be fairly easy so long as quick hitch is clean an lubed properly. I find that using a thick grease on the male and female quick hitch themselves only makes this process a little more difficult at times. At least if you use too much thick grease. Of course your G107D needs grease packed into your PTO slider/engagement area, but you would be fine using a thin lube (Fluid film, spray lithium grease or similar) on the male and female parts of quick hitch. The thinner lubricant helps make implement changing easier. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I will make a video going over quick hitch. Have been meaning to for years but too busy. Will post to YouTube when I get this done. EarthTools does have several videos on this as well and they are good.

Something else to NOTE: When doing the up and down wiggle of handlebars (that I spoke of above), its important to NOTE that its a very quick AND "short stroke" wiggle, as this is what "toggles" between the "binding" of the male quick hitch inside the female. When the "binding" is occurring nothing wants to come apart or fit together. Lastly, MAKE SURE TO CLEAN AND RE-LUBE QUICK HITCH COMPONENTS AT A REGULAR INTERVAL.

For front mount implements that are too tall/big to allow rotating handlebars over them...best bet is to be on level ground and have implement PTO at close to, or just below its normal mounted position. Make sure teeth (on post 1995 BCS) won't hit dead on (adjust them if necessary) and use a bit of momentum to forcefully push the tractor onto quick hitch.

 

[rickyd79]

Here is an implement removal tool I made for my 739. It is very simple and effective. Without it I found it almost impossible to separate the implements from the tractor.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/2-wheeled-tractors/340596-implement-removal-tool.html?highlight=

Nibbana, That's a pretty neat tool! Nice job, very creative. But with all due respect its completely unnecessary unless someone has left tractor in rain for years and quick hitch is seized in place. In that case, yes we have to sometimes remove using a pry bar. But that is an extreme case and fairly rare for us and we work on this equipment 5+ days per week. My reasons for getting into this is to make sure folks understand it is ABSOLUTELY as easy as you see in the BCS videos to take implements on and off, IF all the stuff I talked about in this thread is taken into account by user and user takes some time to practice this. I think what happens is life is super busy for everyone and I doubt folks spend much if any time "learning" how to quickly mount/dis-mount implements. We have a few minutes here and there so we grab the BCS and want to "work" and move on to what's next, and perhaps unintentionally ignore some basics and maintenance aspects which will actually save us time and energy/stamina in the long run.

Back to quick hitch issues...The other issue can be because the quick hitch is installed on implement incorrectly. When installing/tightening the male quick hitch, its necessary to take your female quick hitch (off tractor) and "lock it in place", onto Male QH, with pin "down" while tightening your male quick hitch onto implement. I bet some dealers don't do this at all. Also, there are times when there is a tolerance issue with a brand new male or female quick hitch and even though brand new, I won't use them because they don't fit correctly. So we want to start with a female and male quick hitch that fit together nicely WHILE THEY ARE IN MY HANDS. If user can't get them to fit together (and pin drop) when clean and while in your hands, then you surely won't have an easy time trying to get them to work once installed on tractor/implement. Important to note here...do this testing fitting WITH the 2 bolts in place!!! (while in your hands).
Lastly, and this is NOT something you would find in any BCS manual...It helps ALOT (some implements much more than others, and some implements not applicable, but most BCS brand implements are) to take the 2 bolts that fasten your male quick hitch to implement and take to your bench grinder and take a small amount of metal off the bolt head (around the sides/outer edge of bolt, which decreases overall diameter of bolt head, just slightly). Just take off a very small amount. This is applicable ONLY to BCS quick hitch, NOT applicable to Grillo quick hitch. But the reason to do this is because these bolt heads have to "seat" inside the small holes/openings on your female quick hitch. When you tighten down your male quick hitch, if it moves just slightly to left or right then the bolt heads will rub against the hole/opening in the left/right side of your female quick hitch and make it harder or impossible to mount/dismount Implement. Since there may be too many lawyers out there, I must state the following: "ALL OF MY ADVICE ON HERE (TRACTORBYNET.COM) IS FREE. NO ONE HAS PAID US FOR THIS. IT IS NOT SANCTIONED BY BCS. WE TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYONE PERFORMING OR TRYING ANY OF OUR TIPS WHETHER RESULTS ARE GOOD OR BAD. YOU WOULD BE DOING SO AT YOUR OWN RISK. WHATEVER YOU DO, BE SAFE AND USE COMMON SENSE. WE SURELY DON'T WANT ANYONE GETTING HURT. IN GENERAL ITS NEVER A GOOD IDEA TO MODIFY ANYTHING ON ANY OF THIS EQUIPMENT WITHOUT CONSULTING THE EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER. HOWEVER, HAVING SAID ALL THAT I BELIEVE ADULTS SHOULD DO WHAT THEY WANT WITH THEIR OWN EQUIPMENT AND LIVES. JUST BE SAFE AND KNOW YOU ARE DOING IT AT YOUR OWN RISK IF MODIFYING ANYTHING AND NOT DIRECTED TO DO SO BY MANUFACTURER."

Me personally, I am an authorized BCS and Grillo dealer. Not mentioning this for purposes of sales, only so anyone reading this wonders where we get our information, now they know. We trust in God to provide our sales, so no worries. But hopefully someone reading in this thread might have an easier time with quick hitch going forward.

I will surely go over all this in video form very soon. I understand there are many users who have problems with this, but it should not be that way. I will post in this thread once I get the video. Maybe next week....

 

[Maine Hills]

AI've had to pry my Berta flail mower off of my BCS 749 using a wood 2x4 wedged between the tractor tire and edge of the flail mower. A combination of wiggling the tractor up and down along with gentle prying separates the tractor and mower. That's on a tractor and mower which have never been left out in the rain and both parts of the hitch are well lubricated. (I have not "left tractor in rain for years and quick hitch is seized in place.") The difficulty appears to happen because of combination the the mower is supported by the roller and rolling to follow the tractor, and the mower is cantilevered off the tractor which causes binding in the hitch. Interesting with the caster wheels in place at a height where the mower sits almost aligned with the tractor I can separate flail mower and tractor by just wiggling the handle bars.

 

[rickyd79]

AI've had to pry my Berta flail mower off of my BCS 749 using a wood 2x4 wedged between the tractor tire and edge of the flail mower. A combination of wiggling the tractor up and down along with gentle prying separates the tractor and mower. That's on a tractor and mower which have never been left out in the rain and both parts of the hitch are well lubricated. (I have not "left tractor in rain for years and quick hitch is seized in place.") The difficulty appears to happen because of combination the the mower is supported by the roller and rolling to follow the tractor, and the mower is cantilevered off the tractor which causes binding in the hitch. Interesting with the caster wheels in place at a height where the mower sits almost aligned with the tractor I can separate flail mower and tractor by just wiggling the handle bars.

Hi Maine Hills. Keep practicing and you will get it. They say practice make perfect, right. Additionally, I suggest reading all my comments in this thread Maine Hills, as I am confident one of the tips I mentioned will help you. But if you prefer the 2" x 4" method, then do what you are comfortable with. I will say that BCS flail mowers specifically can be a bit more tricky than some other implements when comes to mounting/dismounting. The Berta flail mowers are a breeze, but that is because there are no bolt heads that have to line up and fit through the holes on the left and right side of female QH. If you have the Bladerunner model, I have found that putting the caster wheels in the stowed position usually helps. Also, and I may not have mentioned this yet, being on flat ground REALLY helps. But most of our real life situations don't include flat ground. Yes, of course this is a "weight and balancing" issue, which is why you wiggle up/down on the handlebars to help facilitate the process of mounting/dismounting implements.

 

[NibbanaFarm]

rickyd79, Yes, if I understand what you're saying, it is the case that the heads of the bolts mounting the male QH to the implement bind in the clearance holes in the female QH when the two are assembled. I saw this in an Earth Tools youtube video. That could be a problem. Presumably, if this were the case though, it would not be possible to wiggle the implement when the two were assembled.

I have tried to adjust this but have been unsuccessful. I can take another look. My equipment is stored inside and maintained. My dealer told me only to use light oil on the mating surfaces as the tolerances are so tight that grease will make them difficult to assemble and disassemble. Maybe I just got a female QH that is on the tight side of tolerance. Don't know. Very difficult on all 5 implements.

 

[rickyd79]

rickyd79, Yes, if I understand what you're saying, it is the case that the heads of the bolts mounting the male QH to the implement bind in the clearance holes in the female QH when the two are assembled. I saw this in an Earth Tools youtube video. That could be a problem. Presumably, if this were the case though, it would not be possible to wiggle the implement when the two were assembled.

I have tried to adjust this but have been unsuccessful. I can take another look. My equipment is stored inside and maintained. My dealer told me only to use light oil on the mating surfaces as the tolerances are so tight that grease will make them difficult to assemble and disassemble. Maybe I just got a female QH that is on the tight side of tolerance. Don't know. Very difficult on all 5 implements.

Hi NibbanaFarm. Since you are telling me all 5 implements are difficult, what I would do is remove the female QH from the tractor and one of the male QH from an implement. Pick an implement that would be (in general) an easy one to mount/dismount. A tiller or similar. Clean them up completely (both quick hitch), then lube with "Fluid film" or similar. Don't skimp on the lube in this case since you are having issues. Then test fit the 2 "in your hands". Make sure you put the bolt heads in place on the left/right of the male QH and make sure they remain "seated" when you slide the male into the female quick hitch. The male should slide in easily with no binding. (NOTE: If you did this same thing WITHOUT the bolts in place you should be able to easily spin the male quick hitch inside the female QH 360 degrees). Next drop the pin. once the pin is dropped in place AND the bolt heads of the male QH are "in the holes", there should be a small amount of "wiggle". Meaning with the pin in place, you should still be able to "twist" the male quick hitch in place slightly. (If you can't, see my earlier post in this thread about what you can do to the bolt heads). If you can do all of the above without issues that is good. Next re-install the male quick hitch on the implement. Use the female quick hitch as "guide". put it on the male quick hitch and drop pin while you tighten the male quick hitch (10MM allen and 19MM wrench). While you are tightening continue to check for "wiggle" between the male and female quick hitch. We want there to be some, just like when you test fit with them "in your hand". Once male is snug, remove female QH and do final tightening but only "turn" and put torque on the nuts themselves. Meaning, you don't want to turn the allen bolt on the outside of the quick hitch because this could cause the male quick hitch to move slightly and throw everything off. Again test fit the female to the fully tightened male and see how it fits. Should still have a slight "wiggle" although may be a little less than when test fitting in your hands. This is OK. But if there is NO wiggle, then fitting implement to tractor (depends on implement) may be harder than it should be. Put your female back on tractor, lube both male and female properly. Test connect implement to tractor. If all of your "checks" above were good, implement should mount easily and dis-mount easily. Practice makes perfect, or at least close. If when you test fit the male into the female "in your hands" it does not fit well, I would test fit a 2nd male to determine if there is an issue with the male or the female. When I test fit for my customer and run into quick hitch that are too tight, I just put them aside and pick another one. Eventually I will deal with the ones that are "tight", but no time now.

One other thought...this is not that common, but once you test fit your male/female "in your hand", before re-installing on implement, take the male QH and test fit it to the tractor WITHOUT the female on. The teeth of the male QH should easily fit inside the teeth on the tractor. If they don't, this could be causing problems as well. I have seen this happen before, but not usually with BCS brand male quick hitches or implements. Specifically its happen with R2 Rinaldi brand quick hitch for current model (post 1994) tractors. Although rarely.

Regarding lube: "Light oil" is fine, something like Fluid Film or a thin spray lube/grease. Something like WD-40 is useless in this case. Yes, I don't like using grease on the male/female either...too tacky. But I do dab some grease inside/around the "teeth" on the tractor. Just a small amount.

 

[joecoin]

Reading my other comments in this thread (I think there are at least 2 or 3 different ones) covers most of it. But, for front mount implements, make sure to rotate your handlebars over the Implement because this way you can control the tractor AND implement (with your foot, TRACTOR/IMPLEMENT NOT RUNNING!!!!). You won't use your front mount mower with handlebars over the mower, but you just rotate handlebars back once you connect the mower, etc. Moving handlebars over implement makes connecting/disconnecting very easy. ...

Of course your G107D needs grease packed into your PTO slider/engagement area, but you would be fine using a thin lube (Fluid film, spray lithium grease or similar) on the male and female parts of quick hitch. The thinner lubricant helps make implement changing easier. ...


Something else to NOTE: When doing the up and down wiggle of handlebars (that I spoke of above), its important to NOTE that its a very quick AND "short stroke" wiggle, as this is what "toggles" between the "binding" of the male quick hitch inside the female. When the "binding" is occurring nothing wants to come apart or fit together. Lastly, MAKE SURE TO CLEAN AND RE-LUBE QUICK HITCH COMPONENTS AT A REGULAR INTERVAL.


...

I will get the grease off the coupler and put some thin oil on it. Hope that works for me, as I really wouldn't want to have to rotate the handle bars every time I change a mower. The Grillo handle bar system takes a lot more time to rotate than the BCS does, as far as I can tell.

I have chained my Zanon mower to the wall and pulled like **** to get it off. Used a crowbar too many times to separate it form the tractor. By the time I have it off and the other mower on I'm too beat to mow!


Thanks for the advice.