My Harbor Freight Quick Hitch

[J_J]

The inside clearance is different for the two HF hitches. 27 1/2 in, and 32 3/4 in.

 

[Window Geek]

History!
You're not looking at hours of work. I have both Cat 1 hitches, narrow 26 1/2 and wider 27 1/2" (now 28").
I bought the bigger one for my blade and rake work. It was just that little bit too narrow to work. Another hitch that's STILL too narrow! Using a car jack and blocks, I spread first the left and than the right leg out about a 1/4" each. The blade drops in like a champ now. I'll post pics if you need them. I didn't hurt any welds doing this. The last 6 inches of the drop legs are parallel without being cross welded and will yield to a little bit of a slant without messing things up. You just have to shim the space with a scrap piece of 2 x 4 so that it doesn't collapse. If you have a rolling floor jack, you've got all the power you need to do this.

Paul

Ok fellas......need some input here. I got a HF quick hitch a few days ago to hook up and transition between my back blade and spreader for winter road maint.

The daggone qh doesn't fit. I haven't checked my KK box blade or Bush hog squealer yet, but my Bush hog 6ft rear blade hitch points meet the outsides of the j hooks on the qh almost perfectly, thus it won't hitch up. My Tractor supply spreader fits, but of course the hitch points are pretty narrow leaving me needing longer pins to meet up with the qh j hooks.

.....

I What mods did you do?

 

[JohninCT]

I bought the bigger one for my blade and rake work. It was just that little bit too narrow to work. Another hitch that's STILL too narrow!

I've got the same problem! Bought the 27 1/2" HF quick hitch and it was too narrow to fit my countyline box blade. I spread it open with a bottle jack and got the lower hooks to line up. Bought a Cat 1 to 2 top link bushing to replace the bushing on the bolt below where the top link pin goes. Go to hook up and the tip of one of the lower hooks hits a piece of steel bracing . Get the grinder out and grind down the interference. Go to hook up again and it appears that top bolt/bushing is just a little too far back! When hitch is lifted and bushing slides down the top hook ramp it gets part way and the front edge of the "A" frame jams up against the bolts on the top hook. Won't let hitch come up far enough to let the pins engage top and bottom. Arrrgh!

Took the hitch off the tractor an shoved it back into the garage. Will hook up the regular way or will get me lower hooks only system like a Pat's. I had a Pat's on my other tractor and while not exactly hitch and go it wasn't the level of frustration that I've gotten so far with this Harbor Fright little gem.

 

[Window Geek]

John,
Try a bigger hammer, really. Those little plates that come out above the hooks get in the way? Whack 'em with the 3 pound hammer. Just don't bend the pivot pin area near the top. You can always grind the hooks a little too. There's plenty of meat on them to spare. I did that with my narrower hitch to get the rototiller to fit just right. It's really snug when I hook it up and doesn't shake during tilling.

 

[California]

Arrrgh!

Aren't Industry Standards wonderful?






That's why there are so many of them!

 

[Runner]

"Go to hook up again and it appears that top bolt/bushing is just a little too far back! When hitch is lifted and bushing slides down the top hook ramp it gets part way and the front edge of the "A" frame jams up against the bolts on the top hook. Won't let hitch come up far enough to let the pins engage top and bottom. Arrrgh! "

I had the same problems. I modded mine by cutting notches out of the upper hook brackets. I also eliminated the bolts by cutting off the ends. Once I had the hook where I needed it, I put the remainder of the bolts back in and puddle-welded the ends to keep them in place.

Finally, I bevelled the edges of the hook brackets to give a little more room at the upper attachment point.

Regular iMatch works better for me.

 

[eastexan]

Has anybody found a way to make the quick hitch fit a pond/dirt scoop without some major cutting/welding/fabricating?

I've done a lot of tweaking here and there to make all my other implements fit the quick hitch, but am kind of stumped at the dirt scoop.

Ronnie

 

[iamhistory]

I don't know if the mods are worth the hassle. I have mine back in the truck and am debating on taking it back.

Why did you guys keep yours when it didn't fit? Did you want to try the mods and see what happened? What if you didn't do any mods and still tossed the hitch back in the garage?

Just curious about why you guys do what you do........I tend to end up doing similar things.

 

[Runner]

In my case, I knew I was going to be modding the HF quick hitch when I bought it because my intent was to mount it to my loader quick attach points.

My thought was that since I'd be cutting and welding on it anyway, I might as well start with a cheap one. However, the end product would fit all my attachments better if I'd used an iMatch.

 

[zman007007]

If anyone is that fed up with one I may buy it, if price and shipping to S.C. is right. I am planning on buying one. I can do fabrication. Let me know. zman