Want quick hitch but am confused by choices. Which one?

[oldballs]

I bought the LandPride Cat I QH several years after having a BX2660 and now the B2620. For me the plus side is attaching the heavy implements, such as the Box Blade, Tiller or Aerator. The smaller stuff, such as the Rear Blade, 12" Mold Board Plow , Pine Needle Rake or Trailer Hitch are light enough that I can muscle them on without much effort. The pins on the small implements are not wide enough to fit the QH....even with extended pins. These smaller implements were purchased before my knowledge about a QH was acquired.

I bought the Carter product early on, but it would not fit my Kubota Ballast Box without sawing the upright ears off....and the need for a spreader bar.

Being retired and in no hurry, hooking up is more a matter of grunt that speed for me. Hope this has been helpful.

BTW, when the smaller implements are needed one has to remove the QH..............................Duh-h-h- sucks.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[mmurphydds]

I've got the JD iMatch quick hitch...got it in 2005. It's great...period. Now they make one that has an adjustable top hook for those non-standard implements (although I've not had any trouble with anything I own and have never needed it). The simplicity is great and my knuckles never get bunged up. I've seen other manufacturers' models, and have heard reports that they aren't all "square with the world". I've heard it said you never get more than what you pay for. If you're doing a quick hitch, you need to plan for a hydraulic top link, which I use every time I use the tractor and consider to be as indispensable as the quick hitch. There are many threads here on that topic with excellent guidance.

Best of luck to you...git-er-done!

 

[blackdog2086]

I agree with oldballs (somehow, that just sounds wrong) about the Land Pride QH. I've had their Cat 1 on my JD 4720 for 7 years now, and it works great. It also has the adjustable top hook, which I have only had to actually adjust once. I haven't had personal experience with any of the bargain brands, and hope not to offend anyone who owns one, but I have friends who have ended up spending more money because they eventually just got rid of them due to quality issues. I have a JD I-match cat 2 on my larger tractor, only because it came with it in the purchase. The JD is also a great quality heavy duty unit, but if I were purchasing one as an addition to my tractor, I would've gotten the Land Pride. Equally good quality at a slightly lower price.

 

[PhysAssist]

I agree with oldballs (somehow, that just sounds wrong) about the Land Pride QH. I've had their Cat 1 on my JD 4720 for 7 years now, and it works great. It also has the adjustable top hook, which I have only had to actually adjust once. I haven't had personal experience with any of the bargain brands, and hope not to offend anyone who owns one, but I have friends who have ended up spending more money because they eventually just got rid of them due to quality issues. I have a JD I-match cat 2 on my larger tractor, only because it came with it in the purchase. The JD is also a great quality heavy duty unit, but if I were purchasing one as an addition to my tractor, I would've gotten the Land Pride. Equally good quality at a slightly lower price.

Well, now you gone and done it, you slandered us with the "bargain brands" with your slur about quality issues causing people to ditch a QH, (one which, BTW, which would be much better described as "affordable" than a bargain, given the negative connotations that term has developed and the comparative costs of the ones you and the JD peeps espouse).

Your vague imprecations about quality issues do not ring true when no one on TBN has yet been able to cite one real life example where a HF or other so-called bargain brand has failed in use.

The issues of fitting "all" implements is common to all of the QH's, even Pat's and the ones on the link you posted, but for me, all of my fit issues (so far) were easily fixed without requiring any resizing of the QH! or welding.

It is really hard to beat the $89 +tax I paid for the HF QH, when it does pretty much what everyone else's more expensive QH's do just as well as they do.

 

[blackdog2086]

Well, I didn't want to be a brand basher, but if you insist on a real life example here's one. A close friend of mine with an HF cat 1 QH, cracked the top plate where the bolts go through the hook as well as cracking the weld on one of the bottom hooks. He was using a 5' rear blade plowing snow with his JD 4010. He did manage to repair the damage by welding steel plate onto the top bracket and drilling holes to line up with the original pieces. He also completely removed and re-welded the bottom hook, so in the end, he still had a usable QH. Since I wasn't there to witness it being used at the time it broke, I can't say that it wasn't pushed beyond what it should be asked to do, but I do know my friend well enough to know he is usually pretty careful with his equipment. I'm not knocking "affordable" attachments, as I've been pretty well broke for most of my life, and made do with whatever I had to so I could get the job done. It took me close to 20 years of waiting and saving to get my first tractor, and I still had to make monthly payments. If light duty is all you need, I would have to agree that it would be a waste of money to buy a higher priced heavy duty piece of equipment. Only the OP knows exactly how hard he'll be pushing his equipment and therefore how heavy duty he needs to have. There is a reason that a piece of equipment is made by multiple manufacturers and comes with a very wide price point. Look at an HF QH side by side with an I-match or Land Pride and tell me there's no difference other than price.

 

[The Deerslayer]

OK, it sounds like I should be interested in the Pat's. I'm looking for experience and you guys have it I'm paying attention.

I have had the Pat's for several years now after dealing with the pain of attaching implements with nothing. I tried the HF QH because of the low cost, but nothing I had would really fit it without modification, and like you, I'm not a fan of needing to do so. The Pat's resolved 90% of the headaches associated with attaching my implements....so well worth it in my opinion. That estimate would be closer to 100% if I had more level terrain in the areas where I have to hook up. I still need to manually adjust to connect at times, but no where near what was required without the Pat's. In the long run, I believe the higher cost was worth it, the quality is definitely there. Best of luck.

 

[bandaidmd]

It's time to get a Cat I quick hitch and I'm 85% of the way convinced I need one. What I want is something that works well, fits most of the stuff I have and is something I can just use without the bending and welding so often written about. User friendly is my motto and I'm trying to skip the learning curve. I don't want to do the Pat's thing because it puts my weight further out. I want a quick hitch.

In reading the posts here over the years I know about Harbor Freight and that some say it doesn't always fit right. Speeco sounded good but a lot of people said it was of hit or miss quality as well. Everyone seems to like the Deere IMatch but I'm not totally convinced I want to spend what it costs and I don't even know how much that is. Surely there are other makers?

Help me out please. What do you have for a quick hitch, how well do you like it and does it work like you thought it would? Would you buy the same thing a second time round or do something different? Do you even need a quick hitch? What else do I need to know or understand?

Any advice appreciated.

Unless your willing to sell all your old non Quick Hitch compatible implements and buy new ones there could always be the chance that a one time mod will be needed. If you can find a piefert still on someones shelf thats about the best there is but they quit making them.

 

[check]

I just got the Pats quick hitch myself, and used it to put my box blade on my BX25 after I removed my rear blower about a week ago.

The system works, but I still had to use those stupid OEM links to adjust the width of my three-point lift arms. And I will need to do it again when I put my blower back on.

My top link had plenty enough thread to extend it out far enough to accommodate Pats system, so that was not a problem. Will see if the power takeoff shaft is long enough when I put the blower back on in the fall.

Pat's system seems sturdy enough, but I am not sure I like the four bolts that are used to level out each grapple. It seems like they may get rusty, and become a problem in the future.

 

[George2615]

Well, I didn't want to be a brand basher, but if you insist on a real life example here's one. A close friend of mine with an HF cat 1 QH, cracked the top plate where the bolts go through the hook as well as cracking the weld on one of the bottom hooks. He was using a 5' rear blade plowing snow with his JD 4010. He did manage to repair the damage by welding steel plate onto the top bracket and drilling holes to line up with the original pieces. He also completely removed and re-welded the bottom hook, so in the end, he still had a usable QH. Since I wasn't there to witness it being used at the time it broke, I can't say that it wasn't pushed beyond what it should be asked to do, but I do know my friend well enough to know he is usually pretty careful with his equipment. I'm not knocking "affordable" attachments, as I've been pretty well broke for most of my life, and made do with whatever I had to so I could get the job done. It took me close to 20 years of waiting and saving to get my first tractor, and I still had to make monthly payments. If light duty is all you need, I would have to agree that it would be a waste of money to buy a higher priced heavy duty piece of equipment. Only the OP knows exactly how hard he'll be pushing his equipment and therefore how heavy duty he needs to have. There is a reason that a piece of equipment is made by multiple manufacturers and comes with a very wide price point. Look at an HF QH side by side with an I-match or Land Pride and tell me there's no difference other than price.

Are you implying that if your close friend had an I match or Land pride that those QH's would have stood up to his tractor and attachment abuse by pushing beyond it past what it is supposed to do. To crack the top plate or the lower hook weld on those would take severe misuse like backing into a tree or getting hung up on something. Apparently you are knocking affordable attachments. I used a HF QH for ten years with no signs of stress or damage to it.

 

[Code54]

Hey Check - One of the guys pointed out these links for my BX25 and I am planing on ordering them - they care called "stabilworks" (they come right up on Google) and they replace the turn buckle links which are a MASSIVE pain. That may make things a lot easier and give you a sliding link with a pin system. On my larger machine it has something very similar standard and they make implement changes MUCH quicker and easier.

On another note, on my old machine I had a PATS system and it worked great, never had to mod anything and helped make things easier. My MX has factory adj. rear arms and make hook ups MUCH easier than solid arms. Easy enough I never even put a quick hitch on.