Lower Link Drawbars...Whats the point?

[agford4x4]

What purpose to these serve exactly? I have used one with a ball for moving a trailer, which sucks, because i have had it turn and drop the trailer once. The 'locks' they sell won't work with my tractor since i have flexible end links. I have thought about using a clevis on it for dragging big trees around to locations on my place that are easier to cut, but i don't like to do that for fear of damaging something if i am not exactly straight in front of the tree, yanking it at a 90 degree angle.

Is there any solutions for either of these? I have thought about using the fixed drawbar, but the thing is 1.5" thick, and i don't have a clevis that will go around that or a ball that is long enough to go through it.

 

[Bird]

The cheapest solution is a hitch ball with a long enough shank to go through that 1.5" drawbar. There are lots of places you can buy them, of which trailerpart.com is just one. Another way is to build or buy a 3-point hitch such as the one shown here.

 

[bcsawyer]

we use them a lot and they work well for pin-type trailers-which most of ours are- and they do pretty well for pulling logs, etc... I have built some 3pt ones for ball hitch trailers and for our grain drill which has a short throat on the hitch and keeps you from turning very short. They are convenient because a lot of times a belly bar would get in the way of an implement and it is quicker to change a 3pt drawbar. Also, some older tractors, such as our MF 35 don't have belly bars.

 

[agford4x4]

well, i have one, and i have a clevis that attaches to it. Is this somethng that is safe for pulling heavy logs? Im not pulling tree out of the ground, im just needing to hook up to a tree or log that has fallen and drag it to a location that is more suitable for cutting and working with it.

I don't want to damage by 3pt or the bend the drawbar. A clevis for my FIXED drawbar would be ideal, but one of that size is close to 30 bucks, and i just can't foot that right now.

 

[bcsawyer]

I'm not going to tell you to do it, but I pull heavy logs to my sawmill all the time with a 175 MF and a lower link drawbar. It works pretty well because you can hook the chain short and lighten up a little on the front of the log so it won't drag and it makes it easy to pull.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Why don't you just buy a bigger clevis? Your tractor dealer and TSC should carry them to fit your drawbar.

 

[Chuckatuck]

I've used a ball (bought it a Lowes) and chains with good success. Just brute force pulling, no lifting or anything. The worst part is the rut you leave in the ground as you drag the heavy log to its destination. No problems here.

 

[agford4x4]

Why don't you just buy a bigger clevis?

Because the one for the lower link drawbar is 14 bucks and the one for the ACTUAL draw bar is 32 bucks.

I guess i could just put a ball on the regular drawbar and wrap a chain around it and the ball and use that.

Will that be safe?

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Wow, that seems quite expensive. I bought a small clevis for my truck last year and I don't recall it costing very much. But I also bought a box of clevis's, hooks and pulleys for $5 at an auction last year also. It gave me another large clevis as I try to have at least one on each tractor. In that box was a clevis for a John Deere plow that I sold on ebay for $80

I still have an assortment left in the box for future uses.

As for your current problem, I have never been fond of wrapping chains around hitch balls and I would just use the 3pt drawbar. It will allow you to shorten the chain and lift the log so it doesn't dig into the ground as you pull the log thru the woods. And keep visiting farm auctions as you will find great deals on things like this.

 

[Leejohn]

If you use your 3pt, just don't lift it to high and start pulling.

Lee