SMALL Off ROAD Trailers and Wagons. Clevis VS Ball?

[Industrial Toys]

I got this Small Wagon given to me. Maybe eight feet long, four feet wide. It's got a clevis. But often my machines have a ball. The Gator has no receiver, just a 2" ball.

Should I just put a 2" coupler on the wagon? I have little interest in messing around with safety chains around the farm.

Is a coupler, less safe than a clevis? It is easier to hookup, that's for sure.

 

[the old grind]

Hadn't though of safety-chains for OR towing, only use them for roading with ball hitch. Then again, how fast or far do you plan on going?

Could you use one of these? (~ $25 US.) Amazon.com: Yard Tuff YTF-1PH Lawn and Garden Pintle Hitch: Home Improvement

 

[oosik]

I purchased brand new Horst running gear and made a ten ton farm wagon. It has a clevis hitch. It will never be used off my 80 acres and will always be pulled with my tractor.

I've found that a heavily loaded trailer can buck/jump and pull ball hitches apart. View attachment 672974

Riding the safety chains to bring a full loaded trailer to a stop - not a lot of fun.

 

[Industrial Toys]

A clevis is a pain and you always end up looking for a pin, and then it's 1/16" too big lol, the next thing you find is a foot long bolt, 1/4" too small. So you use that.

I pulled that ball hitch off my road dump trailer a little while ago, moving it around with the loader, so I realize how easy this can happen That's what makes me ask. Makes me a little leary about standardizing all off road stuff with a ball hitch.

I kind of like that pintle hitch thing, although i wouldn't give you five cents for the powder coat. Should caontact them and see if I can get one in bare metal so I can put some good enamel on it. lol

 

[ruffdog]

I did retrofit my small garden tractor dump trailer to a ball coupler as that is mostly what I use. Why not?

 

[Industrial Toys]

I guess it depends mostly on , anticipated loads, speed and terrain. I guess I TRUST a clevis, but not a ball, without using safety chains, and I don't want that hassle on the farm. I do like that the ball has no backlash. Trailer ball couplers are just so junky and mass produced. Hard to trust them.

AND, with a wagon, there is NO tongue weight!

 

[MF RED in MT]

A clevis is a pain and you always end up looking for a pin, and then it's 1/16" too big lol, the next thing you find is a foot long bolt, 1/4" too small. So you use that.

I pulled that ball hitch off my road dump trailer a little while ago, moving it around with the loader, so I realize how easy this can happen That's what makes me ask. Makes me a little leary about standardizing all off road stuff with a ball hitch.

I kind of like that pintle hitch thing, although i wouldn't give you five cents for the powder coat. Should caontact them and see if I can get one in bare metal so I can put some good enamel on it. lol

Maybe a 1/2" tack weld holding the ball fixed in place will solve this?

KC

 

[Reb954]

Any of my trailers and implements only intended to be pulled by the ATV, UTV or zero turn mower have a 1-7/8" coupler mounted on them and the ATV, UTV and mower have a matching 1-7/8" ball. That makes it simple and easy to switch between pulling vehicles and implements as needed. I don't worry about chains, none of them are going on the highway anyway.

 

[Industrial Toys]

We had a trailer made in the early 60s out of an old ford step side pickup. It had a cast hitch with a J shaped bolt for tightening the hitch and a wing nut for securing it. I see you can't even buy those anymore. You knew exactly how tight the fit was to the ball! Man, would I love a few of those!

 

[the old grind]

I've yet to see a coupler that doesn't have an adjustment to latch the proper size of ball. I've replaced a few in 30 years after driving over the latches while backing the golf cart or a tractor and breaking them.

Some are loose and need tightened OOB, some are tight and need loosened. Locking nut there doesn't back off and I've never tweaked one more that once after installing or just replacing the moving parts. I've also never had a coupler pop loose that wasn't latched and pinned.

Time to invent something?

 

[stuckmotor]

I used to use a behind the times Allis Chalmers Roto Bailer and combine that had two piece ball and socket hitches. I didn't like having to put a ball on the drawbar and replaced them with clevises as soon as I could.
Ball and socket hitch? - AllisChalmers Forum

 

[Industrial Toys]

Interesting. A friend has an old abandoned Allis, shop with all kinds of stuff there. Guessing, that might be the first kind of thing to go.

The nice thing about the old coupler, is that you verify tension every time you used it. Not just when you thought about it. I confess. I don't think I have EVER messed with the adjustment nut on a modern coupler. Thought it was all lifetime factory calibrated. lol

 

[ruffdog]

Interesting. A friend has an old abandoned Allis, shop with all kinds of stuff there. Guessing, that might be the first kind of thing to go.

The nice thing about the old coupler, is that you verify tension every time you used it. Not just when you thought about it. I confess. I don't think I have EVER messed with the adjustment nut on a modern coupler. Thought it was all lifetime factory calibrated. lol

The coupler on the brand new boat trailer I have was not adjusted to the ball...not even close. There are lots of trailers banging around with loose couplers and they are so simple to adjust.

 

[Industrial Toys]

But why? A 2" ball should be 2" and so forth, not like you wear them down.

 

[ruffdog]

But why? A 2" ball should be 2" and so forth, not like you wear them down.

I think the manufacturers leave it up to the final user to make sure it is adjusted correctly.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I never liked those cheap stamped out hitches, with their chinsy locking parts from the day I first saw one.

 

[ruffdog]

I never liked those cheap stamped out hitches, with their chinsy locking parts from the day I first saw one.

There are different levels of capacity on those couplers. I bought one at the farm store for that little trailer and saw it was rated for more weight than the one on my splitter, so, I swapped them. Like anything, you get what you pay for.

 

[the old grind]

I found another option. Bolt this guy onto whatever 'platform' under a hitch ball with 3/4" stud.

~ $25 US and made here if you don't mind buying imported goods. Amazon.com: Feral Performance ATV Hitch | ATV Hitch Adapter for Golf Carts Garden Tractors Trailers Lawn Mowers Chains and Tow Straps | Spread Eagle Steel 3 Way Hitch Bolt-On Hardware Included | Made in The USA: Automotive



Seems it might work, esp if 'tongue weight' is only the front half of that like on a typical hay wagon.

 

[LouNY]

Almost all that we use on the farm are clevis type hitches and draw pins.
All drawbar pulled implements are clevis, all the wagons are clevis,
When I am chopping the chopper is attached to the tractor with a clevis the wagon attached to the chopper is with a clevis.
In the spring the chisel plow is attached with a clevis and the tandem disk that are pulled behind the plows are on a clevis.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Our JD 6200 has the clevis on the tractor just to mess things up, although I don't use that for small wagons or trailers. I put a Pintle Ring on my Big dump trailer and it fits in the clevis quite nicly and is easier to connect than a straight clevis and draw bar. Plan on adding a Pintle ring to my towed chipper and top dresser, but that's the BIG stuff.