Discouraged by the work involved changing implements

[coobie]

The post hole digger is the one that kills me. I hang it from a tree limb now by the middle of the boom and it seems to help allot.

Here is a few pics of my post digger stand with wheels & land plane cart.

 

[C4Ranch]

When I had a B7500, attaching was significantly more difficult than my current setup with telescoping lower arms and pin adjustment vs turnbuckle.

If you have the ability to convert your lower links and turnbuckles that would be my 1st step.

My next improvement is having the ability to float both my top link and side link TnT. This along with telescoping arms makes it easy to hookup even if your ground isn't level.

as for my PHD, I spray wd40 on the slip collar and keep is on a simple 2x4 stand with casters to wheel around and align the pto.

With my current setup i dont see need for a quckhitch thenagain, Never having a quick hitch or the like I don't know how much better it would be but they won't work with my hydraulic Gannon box blade.

YMMV.

J

 

[tcartwri]

Here is a few pics of my post digger stand with wheels & land plane cart.

I like that. Pretty small footprint too.

 

[Alan L.]

Alan, being an older guy than you might I offer a couple of ideas I use. I have a flail mower, rototiller, box blade, post hole digger, etc. I use a pair of moving dollies under each of the implements. This allows me to move the implements around by myself to align to the tractor for 3 point hookup. For the PHD I use a heavy duty hand truck which has the PHD strapped to the truck and the drive shaft hook to the top of the truck with a strap. Have a board attached to the bottom of the hand truck for the auger to rest on. This allows me to move the PHD by myself.

I use Fluid Film on the pto shaft. Just spray it every time you hook it up. The biggest problem is getting the pto output shaft splines aligned to the drive shaft. I used a black marker to mark the driveline splines. This allows me to rotate the tractor's pto shaft by hand to align to the driveline.

Hope these tricks help.

Regards,
Jack

Those are some good ideas. Got any pics of the PHD on the hand truck?

 

[Alan L.]

Buy <$200 pin-adjustable rigid stabilizers, which replace turnbuckles, from Mark Hodge. I used STABILWORKS mech on my B3300SU with great satisfaction.

Age: 66 1/2

LINK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeh23Csx1QM

Actually I am fortunate enough that the stabilizers are in fact pin adjustable from the factory. Don't have telescoping lower links however.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I bought a quick hitch shortly after I bought my tractor. I could see that with me changing implements up to 4-5 times a day that this was going to be a time saver. The next thing I did was put a spliter on my rear hydraulic outlets and add a hydraulic top link. I modified a regular 3.5 inch cylinder to use as a top link by shortening the stroke and welding 3 point hitch ball joints on each end. Then over the years I modified each of my pieces of equipment to fit on the quick hitch. It's the best thing I ever did to make hooking up easier. I can use the hydraulic top link to move the implement around so that it just all slides into place. The PTO on my John Deere rototiller was terrible to hook up because the spring on the collar was a lot stronger than I was. So I took it apart and put in a lighter spring. End of that problem!! The only implement that I take the quick hitch off for is my Lawn Genie. It's a bit heavy for my tractor and the closer I can hook it up the better. I only use it in fall to clean up leaves so it's not that big an issue. My PTO shafts get sprayed with WD-40 as it doesn't collect dirt the way grease does.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

quick hitches are a mixed bag, I have one customer who bought a system called the Delta Hook and it works really well and way more consistently than a 3pt quick hitch.

 

[murphy1244]

quick hitches are a mixed bag, I have one customer who bought a system called the Delta Hook and it works really well and way more consistently than a 3pt quick hitch.

And waaay more money too!

 

[jeff9366]

quick hitches are a mixed bag, I have one customer who bought a system called the Delta Hook and it works really well and way more consistently than a 3pt quick hitch.

At some point, with aging, we have to consider the opportunity cost of NOT having a really good QA system like the Delta Hook.

One overnight in the hospital for dehydration, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, possible heart attack or stroke will cost more than a Delta Hook QA system. Plus you lose quality time and then you have to argue with spouse about getting back out there.

I am only installing LED bulbs in my lighting fixtures. LEDs cost more initially but I will not be on a ladder changing light bulbs high up again, in this lifetime, after the LEDs replace the last filament bulbs. One ladder fall can be a major life style altering event. There are LED replacement bulbs now for almost everything except fan light bulbs and three-level-intensity bulbs.

Same idea as adding a good Quick Attach.

We need to be proactive on aging changes; not having a major incident before making sensible changes.

 

[jenkinsph]

With several years of participation on TBN threads on the quick hitch topic I wonder why so many people are reluctant to try them. What really gets me is how much homeowners will spend on a small tractor with fel that could get by without it then try to be "thrifty" and pass on the quick hitch. I am stunned by the people who build dollies, use pry bars and cheater pipes on a regular basis and are satisfied with that. I may need to make more implement changes than some here but I don't dread it any more and can usually change from a landscape rake to a landplane or rear blade in a minute or so. Definitely makes my day a lot easier.