Pat's Easy Change For those who use Pat's Easy Change System (PECS)
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Ron JD670
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- Jacksonville in S. Oregon
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- for Cristmas 2011 found used Joh Deere 670 w/ 40 hrs and options
Traxx said:
I received a set of Pat's - PEC - a couple weeks ago. Heavier than I expected Great construction. Installing was not to complicated it was not obvious which shim gave me the best fit went with the thinker one. Found the hole on the shim off center so had to cut 1/4 inch off one side. Made my own Stabilizer out of a piece of welding rod. Works OK but might look to improve it over time.
Hooked up the box blade was easier than the old method. Took a little more effort to line the tractor up to the BB but I'm still an armature. I had to use the PEC to push one side (the lower side since I don't have real level ground) of the BB to get them lined up. Once I jockeyed into position it popped into place like magic. Despite the maneuvering it certainly beat trying to leverage the attachment to line up with the lower arms and at the same time force them on to the pins as I did before.
I Took it out between rain showers today and did a first pass on grading my road and improving the drainage. Thank you to two other threads.
Beginners guide to using a box blade
Rear Blade: How to grade a driveway
Did I say thank you!!!!!!!
Every thing went wonderful until the top link separated. Partly due to operator error. I had bought a new top link from Harbor Freight thinking it would be long enough. In my excitement to start the road work I leveled the BB per the other threads but did not measure how close to the limit I was (almost 32") on the top link. I also thought I had locked it apparently not after a hour of work I tried to lift a full BB of soil from the ditch and the BB rolled under the 3pt. I was able to drop and roll forward and reconnect the top link but not at the angle I would like. So I will be shopping for an extra long top link (36" to 38" at least). Any recommendations????
Quite pleased with the road grading started raining just as I finished.
A couple final notes I think I need to fine tune the PECs position with the BB in place because it appears the Lower arms twist a bit inwards under load so the BB pins are not square in the PECs
Also I am going to see if I can buy and bend some larger washer an pop rivet them to washers for the PECs to make it even easier to hook up. Just an idea at this point not a solution.
Thanks to all at TBN for the great ideas and community.
greg_g
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First, you're not likely going to find a Cat1 toplink that will adjust out that long. Safely anyway. They're usually marketed by the length between the two swivel eyes when they're adjusted to the shortest length. So going by marketed length, the longest generic Cat1 I've ever seen was a 20 incher. That means you'd be lucky to get 32 operationally safe inches out of it. Longer than that and you'd have to buy a tractor-specific toplink, and they're comparatively quite expensive.
Sounds to me though, that you're trying to use your boxblade like a pond scoop.Toplinks extended to such extreme lengths are just screamin' to get bent (or fall apart like you experienced). Instead of investing in another toplink search, have you considered buying/borrowing/renting a pond scoop for that particular application?
//greg//
gwdixon
Elite Member
RonJD670:
You've run into one of the weaknesses of the PEC. The additional 4", or so, added on to the length of the lower arms puts the top link out of whack (too short).
My PEC are slide-in so it is not a problem. That doesn't help you however.
What I did with by old PEC was to weld in a piece of round tube on the top link.
The top link can be cut apart with a pipe cutter and a 4" - 6" piece of round tube welded in. A welding shop can do this for you if you don't weld. The longer insert will give the top length threads more bite.
To alleviate greg_g's concern you could buy a Cat 2 top link and do the same thing. A couple of Cat 2 to Cat 1 bushings could be tacked in to make useable for Cat 1. However, I don't think it is necessary - the extended Cat 1 that I lengthened has held up quite well.
You've run into one of the weaknesses of the PEC. The additional 4", or so, added on to the length of the lower arms puts the top link out of whack (too short).
My PEC are slide-in so it is not a problem. That doesn't help you however.
What I did with by old PEC was to weld in a piece of round tube on the top link.
The top link can be cut apart with a pipe cutter and a 4" - 6" piece of round tube welded in. A welding shop can do this for you if you don't weld. The longer insert will give the top length threads more bite.
To alleviate greg_g's concern you could buy a Cat 2 top link and do the same thing. A couple of Cat 2 to Cat 1 bushings could be tacked in to make useable for Cat 1. However, I don't think it is necessary - the extended Cat 1 that I lengthened has held up quite well.
