3-Point Hitch Cat 3/2 frame on a 110 gallon sprayer--

[mgraham112]

I was excited to what i thought was a great sprayer at a decent price. It is a bell equipment sprayer and i bought it new. It has 2 boomless nozzles, hand wand, etc. It says it is quick hitch compatible. I bought it new from a dealer down the road. Well, i get it home and realize that the lift pins are a cat 3 to 2 tapered pin and the top link pin is a 1 1/8 diameter and it isn't even close to fitting my quick hitch with a 32" spread between the pins. It pisses me off that this thing is fit for a category 3 and category 2 tractor and it being only 110 gallon. When i looked at it, i saw the tapered pins and just thought it was category 2 to 1, but i cant even use my category 1 with this sprayer unless i modify or go buy some parts. I sent a long nasty email to the manufacturer complaining about the category 3 hookup for a 110 gallon sprayer and i am wondering if any of you agree. I don't mind fabricating a new 3pt frame, but I shouldn't have to and i really should have looked closer at the pins. Is it unreasonable to think that a 110 gallon sprayer would normally have a cat 1 hookup and maybe cat 2, but definitely not cat 3. I'll send pics tomorrow before i get the torch to it.

 

[TheMadOne]

Sometimes guys with larger tractors use smaller equipment too. I've spoken to a farmer who's smallest tractor is 135HP, doesn't mean he always needs or wants massive attachments. Then you have the one tractor farms, that need a tractor big enough to till their acreage, but may only have a small section of pasture. I can't imagine there's to many folk like that out there, which is probably why your sprayer was such a bargain, but they exist.

I don't understand why you're angry at the manufacturer for building an attachment to suit certain customers just because you're not that customer. Seems kind of petty. "You made this thing I want, but not the way I want it!" They're not in the wrong in any way shape or form. The only people you really have any right to be mad at are the dealer who didn't give you the information, and yourself for not making sure before you bought. And even the dealer really isn't to blame if all they did was assume that you were aware of what you were getting. If they don't know that you only have CAT 1 tractors then how are they supposed to know you can't use the sprayer?

 

[oosik]

I'm going to have to agree with TheMadOne. Over the years of looking at/buying tractor implements - its become very obvious that one of the items you must be very aware of is this attachment situation. You can always sleeve down to get to Cat 1 but the "spread" can be a whole different matter.

Besides - if it presents that big a concern - its new, take it back and get a unit that will fit.

 

[mgraham112]

I guess I'm leaning towards where the majority falls. You don't see hardly any tractors over 80hp around here. Granted that is around here. But I can only assume that the dominant size in use and sold in the US is 25-55hp category 1 tractors. If anything I am trying to help the mfg as there have certainly been customers who did not buy or were unhappy about their purchase. It is much easier to convert up from category 1 to 2 and not really possible to convert down. I compare this to having a single axle 5x10 trailer that has a pintle hitch or 2 5/16 ball.... I take blame and I probably still would have purchased the sprayer knowing the modifications, but maybe I would have asked the dealer to cut the tabs off so I don't have to bring the thing home to use the torch.

 

[mgraham112]

I'm going to have to agree with TheMadOne. Over the years of looking at/buying tractor implements - its become very obvious that one of the items you must be very aware of is this attachment situation. You can always sleeve down to get to Cat 1 but the "spread" can be a whole different matter.

Besides - if it presents that big a concern - its new, take it back and get a unit that will fit.

How do you sleeve down to category 1.....?

 

[mgraham112]

I do see what you are saying and there are plenty of operations that do not have smaller tractors. Perhaps that is who the mfg is geared towards.
I still think the reasonable assumption is that a 110 gallon sprayer should be cat 1. The attachment situation is directly related to the implement size 99% of the time just like the trailer ball size situation. I should have checked, but I was more concerned about the nozzles and gpa, everything else was assumed to be standard...

 

[TheMadOne]

The majority of tractors sold in US are CUTS/SCUTS, that's true. How many people who buy such tractors need a sprayer? I'd wager that most people on this forum don't own or need one. The S/CUT buyer is usually doing land improvements and maintaining acreage. Sprayers are not usually considered, at least for people like me who primarily use their tractor to move dirt and haul logs.

And I live in the heart of Amish country, you see basically three kinds of tractors around here, none-because Amish, Old 1066s with steel wheels-because Mennonite, or the English farmers almost all have 100+ HP tractors. I'm one of the very few people who don't farm but own a tractor. In my little hamlet I'm the only one. A lot of my neighbors have more land then me, but simply maintain a small lawn and let the woods do what they will. This is mainly due to the city slicker migration that started in the 90s, when a lot of the old families sold out to yuppies moving from the Main Line.

I'm sure Messick's or Sweets would be able to give you a rough idea of how many sprayers they sell to S/CUT owners, but I bet it's not that many vs. the total volume of tractors that size they sell.

 

[mgraham112]

It's not worth the energy to research. I just didn't know if I was being unreasonable, but the prosecution rests, majority rules.

 

[oosik]

How do you sleeve down to Cat 1? Lets say the OEM on you lower links is Cat 2. Take a Cat 1 pin and an appropriate length of Cat 1 to Cat 2 sleeve - the Cat 1 fits the implement and the Cat 1 pin with the Cat 2 sleeve will fit the lower link. I have to do this all the time on my tractor - both my upper link and lower links are Cat 2 but can be downsized to Cat 1 with appropriate sleeving.

 

[mgraham112]

How do you sleeve down to Cat 1? Lets say the OEM on you lower links is Cat 2. Take a Cat 1 pin and an appropriate length of Cat 1 to Cat 2 sleeve - the Cat 1 fits the implement and the Cat 1 pin with the Cat 2 sleeve will fit the lower link. I have to do this all the time on my tractor - my upper link is Cat 1 and my lower links are Cat 2.

That's the easy one. Let's say the tractor links are cat 1 and the implement is cat 2. Sleeving only works when the implement pins are smaller than tractors which is fine. But my case is the opposite.