Drawbar Adapter

[ruffdog]

Ah ok something like this. View attachment 601801

It looks like lowering the connection between the tongue and deck with new holes would be the quick way to gain a good 3" of clearance. Tool rental places many times have a mag drill that would make the job easy. Changing the front of the tongue will not alter the geometry between the deck/tongue mount/pto shaft.

 

[aczlan]

It looks like lowering the connection between the tongue and deck with new holes would be the quick way to gain a good 3" of clearance. Tool rental places many times have a mag drill that would make the job easy. Changing the front of the tongue will not alter the geometry between the deck/tongue mount/pto shaft.

That might work if the crossbar is higher than the front of the deck, drill new holes a little lower in the red part.

Aaron Z

 

[ovrszd]

Wish I was a good drawer using "paint" or some other program. I'm left to try to explain my thoughts without the aid of eloquent language.....

Imagine the machinery sitting on flat ground, cutter deck level and at proper height. This "fixes" the cutter gearbox input shaft at a constant elevation. The PTO output shaft of the tractor is also fixed at a constant elevation. The hitch pin is between the two and at a given elevation.

The problem as I understand it is the PTO shaft comes in contact with the hitch near the pin area?? Let's clarify that part first. I went back and reread the original post. I believe this to be the problem???

If so, the hitch mount on the cutter frame modification won't solve anything. As I mentioned earlier the hitch will need enough adjustment to move the gearbox back to the exact elevation it was before. This must be done to get the cutter back to level and the predetermined cutting height.

We can't change the elevation of the tractor PTO output shaft.

Only thing left is to change the elevation of the hitch pin.

Hopefully I'm missing something and this will all work itself out with the modifications that have begun. I'm anxious to see the results.

 

[ruffdog]

You can see where the pto shaft is the closest to the tongue weldment.

 

[Liquidsilver]

Would it not have been easier to put the drawbar in a shorter position and the mount a 2” receiver hitch to the under side of the drawbar and then add a shank that lowered your hitch position?

This is EXACTLY what I was looking to do at beginning of this journey... but the 'Drawbar Adapter' from the title of the post would move the hitch pin MUCH closer to the ground. In my crooked terrain, I'll be I would be dragging the ground with it in some situations where the rear wheels are straddling a hump. This is why we think it'll be best to *virtually* lower the hitch point by putting a bend in the bar.


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The problem as I understand it is the PTO shaft comes in contact with the hitch near the pin area?? Let's clarify that part first. I went back and reread the original post. I believe this to be the problem???

AHA! This is where MY eloquent language has failed us. No, the clearance problem is the gargantuan (eloquent, no?) crossmember further back on the tow bar rises way up and becomes a clearance problem with the center area of the driveshaft. When the tractor crests a hill and the cutter is still downhill, the guard near the middle of the driveshaft is rubbing that crossmember.



This picture shows the spot of contact. As you can see, there's plenty of room at the hitch end and the gearbox end. The middle member is the problem.

Also, If I changed the location of the holes on either the cutter or the sides of the tow bar, it would change the ratio of how the leveling bars work. And the leveling bars can't go closer to the deck because of the top reinforcement on the deck.

Pretty sure I'm on the right track here... and I hope so, 'cause the welder has it now. :-#

 

[ruffdog]

Yep....cut apart and refab your circled area with 5"+ clearance and you should be good to go.:thumbsup:

 

[ovrszd]

Yep. I get it now. My theory is incorrect. The change needs to be made at the cutter. Not sure cutting and angling the tongue will help. We'll see.

Thanks for the clarity.

 

[Liquidsilver]

Yeah, so you could say my money is on the bet that the simple bend in the bar will have the same effect as a lower drawbar, without the ground clearance issue.

Hoping my bet is right... or at least I'll know if I like this welder or not.

 

[Ford850]

Are you having the drawbar bent, or cutting out the horizontal cross bar and forming that to a "U" or "V"?

 

[ovrszd]

I think he's putting a V in the tongue, not the crossbar. But then I just recently understood where it as rubbing.