3-point hitch top link issue

[Ken45101]

This top link is just a bit too wide to fit into the proper spot on the Kubota, perhaps an eighth of an inch. I'm guessing that means it's the wrong one, yet going on line with TSC doesn't tell me what the right one should be. Is it possible it's because it's aftermarket? Supposedly these are all pretty standard according to the guy that sold it to me.

Yes, top links are petty much standard....EXCEPT Kubota does it different I guess there isn't enough demand that many third parties make replacements to fit the oddball Kubota dimension.

If it is for something where you do not need rigidity (like a bush hog), you can just use a length of chain with some quick links for the ends. Or you can do like I did and replace it with a hydraulic toplink, about the same price as the Kubota toplink (Assuming you have a spare hydraulic valve to use, otherwise the cost goes way up.)

Jeff9366, thanks for the historical information, especially the part about 9n WWII production. Very interesting.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

All Kubota B series and smaller use a 1 9/16" wide ball swivel at the tractor end of their top links. Who knows why, but they do. :confused3:

 

[tcreeley]

I put a hydraulic toplink in back at the start of the winter. I like it.

 

[mikerose]

Thanks to all who replied, including the person who mentioned that I can just use the pins from the link on the top connector to attach the barrel/weight with a short length of chain--brilliant!

I do have an additional question about how to use the rear hitch from a hydraulic standpoint. Based on experiments yesterday, although I do have a choice about whether to power the rear PTO or not, it looks like the rear hitch always goes up and down in unison with the cutting deck. Assuming I have that right (and please correct me if I'm missing something there), then of course the weight needs to be well off the ground when the cutting deck is down. That also means that the only way to remove the weight would be to set it down on something higher, like some cement blocks. Right?

 

[Happy Gilmore]

An Anglo-Irishman named Harry Ferguson invented the Three Point Hitch after WWI. He took out numerous international patents on every development through 1935.

It is the Three Point Hitch that made the modern "lightweight" tractor possible. Mounted implements transfer weight to the rear tires through the Lower Links and to the front tires through the Top Link, improving tractor traction by multiples. Before Ferguson, "light" tractors were six tons, priced proportionately, and still lacked traction.

Henry Ford was the first person to license Ferguson's Three Point Hitch in the USA, in October 1938, which led to the Ford 9N. When WWII started for the US, and many farmers went to war, Henry Ford sold Ford tractors in the 100,000's, to replace labor. Steel was continually allocated for tractor production during the war. No steel was allocated for civilian automobiles.

Ferguson's patents also covered Draft Control and Postion Control. About the only "modern" aspects Ferguson did not invent are Four Wheel Drive, Power Steering and the Power Take Off (PTO).

The last of Ferguson's Three Point Hitch patents expired in 1955. Today Ferguson's Three Point Hitch is standard on tractors all over the world. No one has been able to improve on its principles.

It is worth reading about Ferguson on Wickipedia.

LINKS:

TractorData.com - Three-Point Hitch

Harry Ferguson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cool bit of information :thumbsup:

 

[jeff9366]

I just finished a biography of Henry Ford; I INVENTED THE MODERN AGE.

Henry Ford and Harry Ferguson were similar eccentrics, with at times bizarre outlooks on consumers and manufacturing.

 

[Grandad4]

Thanks to all who replied, including the person who mentioned that I can just use the pins from the link on the top connector to attach the barrel/weight with a short length of chain--brilliant!

I do have an additional question about how to use the rear hitch from a hydraulic standpoint. Based on experiments yesterday, although I do have a choice about whether to power the rear PTO or not, it looks like the rear hitch always goes up and down in unison with the cutting deck. Assuming I have that right (and please correct me if I'm missing something there), then of course the weight needs to be well off the ground when the cutting deck is down. That also means that the only way to remove the weight would be to set it down on something higher, like some cement blocks. Right?

One would preferably configure a tractor for mowing OR for a 3 point attachment, but not both at the same time. When you're mowing, you don't want the extra weight of an implement hanging off the back needlessly compacting the soil and limiting your maneuverablility. Conversely, when you're working with an implement, the mowing deck can only get in the way, drastically limits the ground clearance and is at risk of damage from rocks, curbs, stumps or whatever else might be in your path. Of course it's possible to save the trouble of removing the mower deck when doing other work, but I've always found it more productive to get the tractor properly set up for whatever type of work is to be done. Removing/reattaching the deck is a minor chore that doesn't take much time or effort once you've done it a few times.

 

[mikerose]

The counterweight is to balance the bucket in front properly. No way I'm going to be taking that on and off. I don't have a huge lawn, so it's no problem to mow with the loader in place.

 

[BlacknTan]

Mounted implements transfer weight to the rear tires through the Lower Links and to the front tires through the Top Link, improving tractor traction by multiples.


It is worth reading about Ferguson on Wickipedia.

LINKS:

TractorData.com - Three-Point Hitch

Harry Ferguson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the life of me, I cannot fathom how a top link, more often in tension than compression, transfers weight to the front wheels!

I find that Wikipedia often contains as much fantasy as fact.

 

[bcp]

For the life of me, I cannot fathom how a top link, more often in tension than compression, transfers weight to the front wheels!

I find that Wikipedia often contains as much fantasy as fact.

I can't find that in either of the linked articles or the Wikipedia article on the "Three-point hitch."

???

Bruce