Height Indicator for 3PT (Quick) Hitch

[WranglerX]

Anybody have a mechanical or electronic height indicator for 3 point hitch.... Thinking it might be good when using rotary mower with 3 PT since tractor does not have lockable control for three point and it may be easier to set 3PT to correct height with out always getting off tractor and using gauge block or ruler....

Sort of brainstorming something at this point and looking for ideas... Made mechanical FEL bucket level indicator, and was thinking something similar for height on rear 3PT.... But electronic with an indicator up front (on dash) seems like good idea so one is not always having to swivel in seat or look over shoulder to see indicator...

Dale

 

[XSKIER]

Use a tractor with position control on the three point hitch. Like this:

Google Image Result for https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ublsJIgGo_U/maxresdefault.jpg

 

[WranglerX]

Would be nice except my tractor is red not green and does not have that capabilities....

Dale

 

[Fallon]

Run a chain from the lift arms to the topline. Chain will prevent the arms from going any lower than your desired height. Might run into clearance issues with the PTO shaft on smaller machines.

 

[Xfaxman]

Anybody have a mechanical or electronic height indicator for 3 point hitch.... Thinking it might be good when using rotary mower with 3 PT since tractor does not have lockable control for three point and it may be easier to set 3PT to correct height with out always getting off tractor and using gauge block or ruler....

Sort of brainstorming something at this point and looking for ideas... Made mechanical FEL bucket level indicator, and was thinking something similar for height on rear 3PT.... But electronic with an indicator up front (on dash) seems like good idea so one is not always having to swivel in seat or look over shoulder to see indicator...

Dale

Yep, comes standard on the Toolcat and visible in the rear view mirror:

Zoomed:

 

[kthompson]

Why not use height wheels as on finishing mowers? Rough cut mowers have them on rear of mower. Should not be hard to add to front corners of rough cut mower.

But does your tractor not have position control lift on it? Where you can set the height of the lift and it remains.

 

[CincyFlyer]

Why not use height wheels as on finishing mowers? Rough cut mowers have them on rear of mower. Should not be hard to add to front corners of rough cut mower.

But does your tractor not have position control lift on it? Where you can set the height of the lift and it remains.

Mine has height control, but it will slowly droop unless I remember to lock the needle valve under the seat. And I won't remember. Makes a clatter when the stump grinder really digs in!

 

[WranglerX]

Tractor is MF 1715 (sub compact) and only has up/down control, no position locks of any sort....

The concept I'm looking for is sort of along lines as Xfatman suggests on Toolkat...

Height is stable once I set it, but in some areas on property I may want to lift mow deck for maneuvering and then get it back to desired height with out getting off tractor and measuring it....

Noticed the height gauge for mow deck blade to ground measurement that JD and Oregon puts out and kind of thought if it were mounted on fender and with link to 3 point hitch arm it might work as indicator... On Oregon unit it seems to have movable pointer (reference) and swivel pointer (forget the numbers) and just set up height on flat ground and put reference pointer at correct setting and movable pointer should point to reference pointer when 3PT is at correct height... Or is this all to simple...



Dale

 

[WranglerX]

Why not use height wheels as on finishing mowers? Rough cut mowers have them on rear of mower. Should not be hard to add to front corners of rough cut mower.

But does your tractor not have position control lift on it? Where you can set the height of the lift and it remains.

Will have to think about that, had not crossed my mind before... With that concept I could forgo rigid top link and use chain for lift and just let mower ride on wheels...

Dale

 

[npalen]

xfaxmans indicator on the Toolkat is something that would be fairly easy to retrofit to a 3PH. Lots of farm tillage equipment such as discs and cultivators use similar setups to let the operator know when the desired height is set. It's really not that different from a FEL bucket level indicator when you think about it. Just add some identifying marks and letters.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...ital-readout-3ph-top-cylinder.html?highlight=
This is an electronic indicator that I fabbed several years ago for the top link cylinder. Also fabbed something similar but using a "yardstick type scale" mounted on the cylinder.

There are cylinders on the market that use an internal transducer to send a stroke position signal to an external readout.

SIKO SGH1 - Stroke Measurement in Hydraulic Cylinders / Position Feedback Sensor - YouTube
This is an interesting type that I had not seen previously.