Releasing 3 point hitch ?

[Farmwithjunk]

I'm a rookie. Just bought a Kubota 7500 with a brush hog attached to the 3 point hitch.
Can somebody please tell me what the trick is to disconnecting the hitch from the brush hog ?
After releasing the quick release pins on the two outsidelinks, I can't seem to get the links to move outwards beyond the pins on the hog. The hitch was moved so the hog is resting on the ground. I've tried lifting the hitch a little and that seemed to help remove tension on the links so they could move a little. But I still needed to go about 1/2 inch outwards for the links to be completely free from the hog's pins. And for the life of me, the links won't budge any farther outward.
What is the trick ? It's a pain to keep draggin' that hog behind me... Thanks for any help for this Newb.

Bob

You think a bush hog is difficult to hitch and unhitch.....? Try a plow sometime! With an offset drawbar, they're a bear no matter what you do.

After doing this stuff since I was knee high to a grasshopper, I started to make things as easy on myself as possible.

2 of my tractors have telescopic lower links. (GOOD!)
1 has hydraulic top link (REAL GOOD!)
I keep a 6' pinch bar handy next to the area wher I park all my equipment. (GOOD when you need it)
Also, I keep a 10 lb "dead blow hammer" handy. (That'll fix dang near ANY problem....or at least KILL any problem!)
Find a "sweet spot" where tractor and implement are both level in respect to each other to unhook. That's helpfull when it comes time to hook back up.
Best advice (except for paying for them) get one tractor for each implement you own. Never UNHOOK.

TWO WORDS.....QUICK HITCH.

 

[bloody_peasant]

Peasant -- The adjustable link on some tractors has a pin through it much like a top link has. My old Kubota had a stiff wire loop that unfolded and worked as a lever to move the tubular center section. The whole thing was basically a turnbuckle. If yours has flats, there is probably a wrench that came with tractor when new to fit it. Look in your toolbox and it might be there. Depending on the tractor, you might have a bit of a time finding the toolbox. When I first got my Kubota, it was so covered with crud that I didn't know it was there hiding below the battery and next to my left foot. When I found it, it contained a couple of Kubota wrenches, lots of old insulation, and a dead family of mice. I always kept my chainsaw scwrench in it.

PTOs come in variety of configurations -- independent, live, transmission driven, etc. I don't know what yours is. Your tractor may have some safety devices that keep thing from running when you get off the seat unless you go through a series of deliberate actions. Mine will let me run the rear PTO when not in the seat only if I set the parking brake and put the HST range selector in neutral. If I don't do those two things, the engine dies about 2 seconds after I get up. It will not let the mid PTO run unless someone is in the seat, probably to keep operators feet firmly attached to their legs when using a mid mounted mower.

Hi Rich,

Thanks for the tips, I've gave it a good look over but don't recall any tool boxes, but I'll check out the adj. link tonight.

I'll also have to check and see exactly what my config is as I have forgotten. Its an 87 model and apparently has none of these safety devices. The only safety device beyond the ROPS/seat belt it has is the clutch must be depressed to crank it.

My "mid PTO" is actually a front mounted PTO with a very long belt that runs the MMM. I'm not crazy about that setup.

 

[Soundguy]

It's up to you whether you want to remov ethe lift arms just to attach something.. IMHO.. I'd just keep the wrench handy.. and bunji cord it near the link.. etc.. vs taking it apart to hitch things.

And yes.. you can use that to put an angle on a rear blade.. etc.

As long as you do not have a ground speed pto.. you can run in neutral. ground speed pto's are diffy coupled.. and the pto only turns when the wheels do. I doubt your machine has that. If you have an independent pto.. the clutching won't matter.. save your clutch the wear and tear if it doesn't need to be used..

If you don't have a wrench.. torch one out just to keep with the tractor.. put it in a convienient location..

Soundguy

soundguy,


Yes that is true, I can lift (or let fall) the two arms and they do move together as you described.

Ahh so instead of a nice easy "crank" I have to fangle with a wrench and a quasi "lock nut". So for attaching and unattaching its probably easier for me to unattach the lift links like I have been instead of messing with the leveling mechanism. Yep I think it is a hex type nut, not round, nor does it have a hole for a screw driver. I'll have to check tonight to make sure. Can I shorten or lengthen this link to create a tilt for my rear blade, so I can for instance grade a ditch?

I think I may have figured out my answer to the stationary pto devices. Will the PTO still turn when the tractor is in neutral? I think I was having a "duh" moment and was wondering how do you operate these things when the tractor is moving LOL. As for the type, I'm going to have to recheck my manual again, I seem to recall reading the PTO could be engaged while in gear, but so far I have always been engaging it with the clutch depressed (and the RPMs down).

Thanks again,

 

[flusher]

What is the trick ? It's a pain to keep draggin' that hog behind me... Thanks for any help for this Newb.

Bob

My trick is to keep my 4-ft KK brush hog parked on dollies on the concrete garage floor. The image shows the front dolly. There's another one to support the rear end of the hog.

The lower 3pt arms each have a sway link that's adjustable via a turnbuckle. I unscrew the turnbuckle completely to get max spread on the lower arms. This gives plenty of room to get the hog hooked and unhooked to the 3pt arms.

 

[daTeacha]

On my old Kubota, pre ROPS vintage, the toolbox was accessed via a small door about 2 1/2 inches square on the left side of the column that supports the steering column and such between the driver and engine. The door was down low, near the frame. BTW, the dealer was able to set me up with a manual for the tractor, which I bought at auction.

My old Cadet 109 has the mower driven by a belt running off the front PTO. Not the best as you say, but easy to work on if needed. I use that thing like a mini bush hog, making trails in the woods, mowing the woods that are becoming pasture, etc. For a 35 year old gasser, it is a very tough little machine, very stable, and very willing to go places it was never designed to be.

 

[bloody_peasant]

On my old Kubota, pre ROPS vintage, the toolbox was accessed via a small door about 2 1/2 inches square on the left side of the column that supports the steering column and such between the driver and engine. The door was down low, near the frame. BTW, the dealer was able to set me up with a manual for the tractor, which I bought at auction.

My old Cadet 109 has the mower driven by a belt running off the front PTO. Not the best as you say, but easy to work on if needed. I use that thing like a mini bush hog, making trails in the woods, mowing the woods that are becoming pasture, etc. For a 35 year old gasser, it is a very tough little machine, very stable, and very willing to go places it was never designed to be.

Hi Rich,

Yeah, mine is an '87 MF 1010, and I actually got the manual for it, but it leaves a lot to be desired. All of the photos are in black and white, small, and some are washed out really bad by what appears to be a very bright flash on the camera so you can't see much detail. You would think that even back in the 80's a major tractor manufacturer would at least be able to publish clear photos and illustrations in their manual. I've got the manual for the MMM and its the same way . I don't see any mention of a toolbox in it either. Either way I've got a wrench that easily fits the jam nut, but I still think it is easier just popping off the link arms. I find I don't have to do this with my blade as I can easily move it around, but with the hog its a lot easier, although I only have to pop off one of the link arms. The only real downside I see is that it increases my odds of losing a hitch pin in the field .

I re-attached my MMM last night for the first time. What a pain. I have to admit that I unattached a few extra things that I didn't need to the first time I unattached it so that added to my grief (like the lift arm that comes from the rear hitch). So are the actions of a newb. I also had to work on the front shield as it was dented in some and made it nigh impossible to remove one of the belts from the pulley. I was able to pound it out some. But hey it was a good educational experience and now I know quite a bit more about how the thing is attached and how the lift works from the 3 pt. hitch.

Oddly enough one side of the MMM doesn't seem to lower as far as the other via the scissor like arms on it. I'm not sure if its being bound up somewhere or what. I reattached the forward arm to the more forward hole and this seems to have helped. See the attached very primitive image. The inner arm (blue) attaches to the front of the MMM via a clevis pin through a mounting bracket (brown). The arm has a long slot that at that point that is supposed to slide along the pin as it "scissors" up and down. The manual says its supposed to attach to the most rearward hole (the left one of the 2 bright green holes). However on the right side of the MMM this limits the up and down movement so much that the wheels hardly touch the ground. I switched to the more forward hole and it seemed to increase the motion.

Related to all of this might be the fact that on the left side of the MMM, the big bright red round bracket that the inner arm slides onto (via the fork at its upper left end) is missing and has been replaced with a large hitch pin. This allows a little more lateral movement than normal.

 

[bloody_peasant]

Soundguy,

As long as you do not have a ground speed pto.. you can run in neutral. ground speed pto's are diffy coupled.. and the pto only turns when the wheels do. I doubt your machine has that. If you have an independent pto.. the clutching won't matter.. save your clutch the wear and tear if it doesn't need to be used..

My manuals indicates my PTO is gear driven by the transmission and requires the clutch to engage. It was the front PTO with its electrical switch that doesn't require the clutch. But dang it, I forgot last night to try it and see if my PTO would actually run when in neutral.

 

[bloody_peasant]

My trick is to keep my 4-ft KK brush hog parked on dollies on the concrete garage floor. The image shows the front dolly. There's another one to support the rear end of the hog.

The lower 3pt arms each have a sway link that's adjustable via a turnbuckle. I unscrew the turnbuckle completely to get max spread on the lower arms. This gives plenty of room to get the hog hooked and unhooked to the 3pt arms.

I like the dolly idea, if I had a concrete floor to store it on

However on my little tractor even with the sway links fully loosened the tires are too narrow to fit the 3PH on to the hog (the tires actually get in the way). Thus I have to pull it over one way, attach one side, then pull it the other and attach it. Quite the pain.

Another problem I am having when attaching/unattaching the hog. My PTO attachment link for the hog is too long after I've attached it to the 3PH. I slid it as short as it would go (unless some of the plastic housing is getting in the way) and when attached to the 3PH its too long to fit onto my PTO by just a couple of inches. So I have to back up to within a couple of inches of where I need to be to attach the 3PH, shut down & get off, then attach the PTO, then start it up, and back up those last couple of inchese, shut down again, get off and attach the 3PH.

When removing, I have to do the reverse. Is this a normal problem or is there a simple solution?

 

[Soundguy]

Soundguy,



My manuals indicates my PTO is gear driven by the transmission and requires the clutch to engage. It was the front PTO with its electrical switch that doesn't require the clutch. But dang it, I forgot last night to try it and see if my PTO would actually run when in neutral.

I think you are safe.. a tranny driven pto should run in neutral.

Soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

Be carefull.. you pto shaft sounds too long. This can lead to problems like the pto shaft pushing tha back bearing carrier of your tractor pto stub into the diffy.

Sounds like you need to trim a couple inches off each side of the pto shaft then slide them back together..

You should have at least an inch or two of clearance on the shaft at its colapsed point, awith the lift raised.. any less and there will be stress on your tractor pot / binding.. etc.

Soundguy

I like the dolly idea, if I had a concrete floor to store it on

However on my little tractor even with the sway links fully loosened the tires are too narrow to fit the 3PH on to the hog (the tires actually get in the way). Thus I have to pull it over one way, attach one side, then pull it the other and attach it. Quite the pain.

Another problem I am having when attaching/unattaching the hog. My PTO attachment link for the hog is too long after I've attached it to the 3PH. I slid it as short as it would go (unless some of the plastic housing is getting in the way) and when attached to the 3PH its too long to fit onto my PTO by just a couple of inches. So I have to back up to within a couple of inches of where I need to be to attach the 3PH, shut down & get off, then attach the PTO, then start it up, and back up those last couple of inchese, shut down again, get off and attach the 3PH.

When removing, I have to do the reverse. Is this a normal problem or is there a simple solution?