lynch pin alternative

[RayIN]

One trick I've learned for lynch pins that are holding something like a hitch pin (like on a sprayer, fertilizer spreader, garden cart, etc.) is to install the pin from the bottom with the lynch pin on the top (upside down).

This keeps the lynch pin away from the grass and sticks passing below the machine, so they can't grab the pin and pull it out. Seems counterintuitive because if the lynch pin comes out, you lose the hitch pin, but the chance of the lynch pin coming out is almost zero.

Also, this kind of pin can be more secure/less likely to spring open:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/curt-1-4-in-safety-pin-(2-3-4-in-pin-length)-25080-2001216

I guess nothing is foolproof though...

I've purchased those hitch safety pins from several different suppliers, none are actually ¼"/.25"; they measure closer to .2".
IMO everyone must buy from the same China mfgr. Rural King sells them for $4 ea.; I buy a dozen off Amazon for $8.
Their actual purpose is trailer hitch safety pins.

 

[bigtiller]

I have good luck with a locking lynch pin. but they are a little pricey.

 

[ralphm27]

It never seems to fail, I loose them. This time, on my new flail mower, maiden voyage learning the ins and outs. While I do have some spares, I'm tired of buying them. Anyone use anything different?

In places that routinely lose the pins, I use a bolt, a couple of washers, and two nuts (the second nut locks the first one in place).

 

[Mtsoxfan]

For now, I'm using the very light duty chains that the flail mower pto shaft was secured to packaging to keep pins from being lost should they come off. I used wire for the third one. I like the R clip pins I have on other equipment, but find as I get older, they are getting more difficult to pull out. The ones on the new tractor ROPS are a bear to get off.

 

[NUTTERDW]

I buy Lynch pins by the dozen at flea markets, the last I bought were $4/dozen. I buy a bag every time I attend a flea market if they have them. I must have 4 bags stashed back, as I seldom loose one. The pins I replace get bent, so I replace them before they are bent so much I can't remove it from the hole.
This latest tractor has a heavy sway bar on both sides. I can pin it tight against the implement frame and the pins don't get bent.
I still carry 2-3 spares in the tractor toolbox though.

I also buy them by the bag and keep a bag in the tool box on both tractors.

 

[USN2TN]

Weld a single link of chain to each arm & store them there (can cut link in half of you prefer a cleaner look) .

 

[toomanyBills]

It never seems to fail, I loose them. This time, on my new flail mower, maiden voyage learning the ins and outs. While I do have some spares, I'm tired of buying them. Anyone use anything different?

I was shown years ago, when I was a kid by a tractor dealer my father was buying from. Install them upside down. Up from the bottom. After I started doing that, I can't think of the last time I've lost a pin. I know that it sounds backwards but it absolutely works.

 

[jmc]

40 years ago, when I was new to tractoring, my WWII vet/farmer/neighbor gave me 3 pieces of advice:

Get an engine block heater. That tractor might be your lifeline someday.

Bush hog in first gear only for awhile until you learn most of the hazards.

Don't buy cheap lynch pins.

 

[Fields_mj]

I started out using regular lynch pins and buying them in 10 packs. I'd loose a few every time I bush hogged. I switched to the heavy duty version that have a MUCH stiffer spring, and I think I've only lost one or two pins since then.

 

[Ricklesss]

Locking John Deere lynch pins are the way to go.
Don’t know where I leaned about them or got them but when I ask at different tractor dealers none of them have ever seen or heard of them.
Experienced parts guys too.
I usually end up bringing one back in to show them.
They do not fall off.