Pull from the front or the rear?

[California]

Kind of related: We read here several years ago of an inexperienced operator pulling fenceposts by lashing the post snug against a rear tire and driving forward. One post didn't budge, he couldn't reach the clutch pedal after the nose came up, and the tractor came over and killed him.

Someone commented that lashing the fencepost to the front edge of the tire and driving backward forces the nose of the tractor into the ground - safer, but likely to break something.



A different post commented that rear tires frozen in puddle ice can cause the tractor to walk over backward if it can't break free from the ice.

 

[boomer1025]

The very best answer, call a tow truck, that's what they are designed for. No risk to you or your tractor.

There is nothing to prevent the 3pt and drawbar from rising up and putting the forces above the rear axle under the right circumstances. If you try to pull from the front you will lose a lot of tractive effort from the rear wheels.

Joe

Don't pull with the 3pt raised higher then the tractor mounted draw bar. That's why alot of tractors do a back flip.
If the tractor is weighted properly and pulling from the tractor draw bar the rear wheels should spin or the tractor should stall.

 

[TerryR]

There is nothing to prevent the 3pt and drawbar from rising up and putting the forces above the rear axle under the right circumstances. If you try to pull from the front you will lose a lot of tractive effort from the rear wheels.

If you are using an actual drawbar it has nothing to do with the 3pt, and cannot rise up. It's anchored under the belly of the tractor, and it's height is fixed at the rear where it comes out the back of the tractor. It's designed to pull things, and being below the axle, it exerts a downward force on the front end. If your tractor tries to lift the front end the end of the drawbar moves down and exerts and even larger force to lower the front.

Don't confuse a crossbar mounted in a 3pt hitch with a drawbar. it's not the same thing at all, and can as you say lift up above the axle and contribute to overturning.

 

[TerryR]

Don't pull with the 3pt...

You should stop right there. Don't pull with the 3pt. Use a drawbar for pulling. If your tractor doesn't have one, get one or don't pull.

 

[RickB]

Pull from the fixed drawbar on the rear. Not a crossbar on the 3point hitch. If you were supposed to pull from the front there would be a drawbar there and the seat would probably face the other way. To prevent rollovers just be smarter than the equipment you are using.

 

[Jstpssng]

Drawbar, as everybody else has said. Not only is that where the tractor was designed to pull from; it was also meant to pull forward.
Also, don't get yourself into anything which makes you uncomfortable. Experience comes from ping on the electric fence, but not everybody walks away unscathed.

 

[strantor]

Thanks for all the replies. In light if the last few posts I would just like to point out that if I felt the operation (or any operation) was unsafe I wouldn't have done it. I would have called a tow truck or other professional. I felt it was pretty straight forward with an obvious proper way to do it, so that's the way I did it, and at no point did I feel there was any higher than normal risk. It wasn't until after I was done that people told me that I had done it wrong but what they said didn't seem correct per my understanding so I came here to confirm.

If this was a situation that called for a wrecker then I should probably stop mowing my grass and pay someone to do that too.

 

[AndyMA]

The very best answer, call a tow truck, that's what they are designed for. No risk to you or your tractor.

There is nothing to prevent the 3pt and drawbar from rising up and putting the forces above the rear axle under the right circumstances. If you try to pull from the front you will lose a lot of tractive effort from the rear wheels.

Joe

How does a drawbar rise up above the rear axle when it’s mounted below the differential

Also has anybody drawn out the vector force diagrams on what it would take to flip a tractor pulling from the drawbar?

I’d like to see them for a drawbar under the rear differential


Andy

 

[California]

Also has anybody drawn out the vector force diagrams on what it would take to flip a tractor pulling from the drawbar?

The forces would be extreme. But you don't need vector analysis to imagine the scenario where the rear axle can't move forward (due to the drawbar chained to an immovable object) and a mechanical driveline continues to send torque to the rear axle that has perfect traction. If nothing breaks then rotating the tractor up and over backward is inevitable. I suppose if the drawbar extended out beyond the tires and didn't bend then the rotation would end when the weight of the tractor rested on the tip of the drawbar so the tires lost traction.

 

[travlitt]

If you are using an actual drawbar it has nothing to do with the 3pt, and cannot rise up. It's anchored under the belly of the tractor, and it's height is fixed at the rear where it comes out the back of the tractor. It's designed to pull things, and being below the axle, it exerts a downward force on the front end. If your tractor tries to lift the front end the end of the drawbar moves down and exerts and even larger force to lower the front.

Don't confuse a crossbar mounted in a 3pt hitch with a drawbar. it's not the same thing at all, and can as you say lift up above the axle and contribute to overturning.

I agree with this 100% Always pull from the draw bar and not the 3 point.