Losing toplink pins while brushcutting

[Strider]

Hi beenthere,

I tried your suggestion today with one of the spare shear bolts I keep for the mower, and it didn't fall out, but it looks a little small for the holes in the yoke and the toplink bushing - maybe I'll get a bigger bolt or...

Inspector507, What a great idea! I might just get me a small padlock for the existing pin, and put the key on the ring with the Kubota key.

Thanks everybody else for the other suggestions - they sound like they will work fine too. Knight9, I should have done a search first. /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif Thanks for the other thread.

 

[JimMc]

Just another possibility. We had problems losing pins in shipping on our products. Hard to believe, but they would vibrate out while riding on the trucks. We began using hairpins, but instead of inserting them to the detent position, we pushed them all the way to the end loop. If you look at Gary in Indiana's box blade pics, you can see the scarifier pin retained in this manner. So I tried brush cutting this way and lo and behold, no more lost pins. Long explaination for something simple, but it works.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Here's the pic you mentioned. After reading your post I had to go back and check it out myself. I really didn't give that a thought one way or the other and didn't even remember it that way until I looked again. It sure seems like pushing the pin on further like that would work.

Of course, when I turned my scarifiers around I only put the pins in the conventional way. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Soundguy]

Here's what i use. The toplink pin has an attatched chain with a spring clip ( and standard pin ) on the chain. The spring clip locks the pin in place. I guess that a strong branch could still rip the chain off, etc.. but it is better than nothing.

Soundguy

 

[BTI]

Have the ship them right to you. If your time is worth anything and your gas I know is worth something, it'll be worth it./w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif BTW I love those little tidbits you put in the Off topic category. Keep it up.
BTI

 

[jtn]

Strider,

Try one of these:

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.pivotpins.com/catalog/RueRing.shtml>http://www.pivotpins.com/catalog/RueRing.shtml</A>

By the way, are you a Tolkien fan or is your screen name a coincidence?

JT

 

[GarageSmoker]

Heck..I lost the pin holdong the back tire of my bush hog on day two. Didn't realize it and fortunately it happened just as I was coming in for a break. Went for a walk with the wife to show her what I had accomplished the past couple of hours and came across the tire. #%$&*^??? I asked? Dashed up to the tractor and discovered to my dismay it was mine.

Remebering this thread I looked up at the top link and %$#^%*(*^$!!!! Sure enough the I had the same problem there as well. Spent the first hour this morning getting a supply of pins. Put some tie wraps around them so they would get lost if pulled out. They lasted 10 minutes...

Good news is today went well. But darn that tire is heavy!


GS

 

[TresCrows]

That has been happening to me also. Today, I made sure the pin was in because I figured I must be just forgetting so I made a special point to put the pin in, well, it ain't in there anymore, so beats me how that flip over lock pin could get out of the toplink pin hole???????????? I always preflight/postflight my tractor so I was beginning to think I was having a brain cloud but fortunately it is not me after all--it is coming out somehow!!! Next time I will safety wire the sucker in and see how it likes that. J

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

You don't suppose this is why Tractor Supply always has shelves full of all of the various sizes of these pins, do you? /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[TimSullivan]

I saw the pin get pull right out of the right side of my bush hog today. I wasn't using it and it was just on the tractor. I was too lazy to take it off while I was moving some logs with the FEL.

I was backing up and the side of the cutter was sliding along a wild rose bush. A branch flipped up the ring and out popped the pin.

I took the chain from the tool box and pulled the bush out. I do not have too many of these left. I have been pulling them out for two years.