3 pt hitch bent

[Soundguy]

I think I would weld a piece of flat to the bottom of theat 3pt lift arm bracket, and have an ear turn up on each side with a support hole in it for the rod. The have another piece of flat travel from the top of that ear, back over to the bracket, and be joined there.. same on each side. I'd do that even if I swapped the chains to the outside edge. Perhaps add some angle welded to the front of that bracket that would come back and travel up the backside of the pto housing, and make use of some of those rear facing studs as mounting points ( maybee even add a flip up pto shield ), and use that to strengthen the oem lift bracket that is under the diffy right now.

Soundguy

 

[project_X]

You're right there is much less force on mine, because they are much shorter. I don't like my chain configuration, I have two holes in the plate (not the bottom one in my drawing, but the intermediate one). They do tighten as you get higher, but I have come to a reasonable balance. I am going to add to tabs on the inside of the pins (between the shoulder of the pin and the body that they hold to). This will bring them inline with the regeometry. All in all, it is a pretty cheap and simple fix, $6 for the pins, a welded plate acorss the top of that U channel, and a couple of tabs. Don't for get the welded reinforce ment mine was bent when I got it, so I put it back and welded a support.

Once I modified it a little, I haven't had any problems.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[Jagmandave]

You could simply cross those chains, that's kinda how mine was. But on mine, the pins for the lower arms were bolted thru the holes that your bar goes thru, and I kept bending those ears. So, I had a piece of really thick wall tubing threaded inside to match the threads on the pins, and welded the tube thru those ears, spreading the load. Then I made a couple of small brackets and attach the chains by looping the bracket over the pin before sliding the lower arm on. I then cross the chains, cinch them up and everything stays put. Also, like someone else posted, the second illustration would cause the chains to tighten and loosen as the arms go up and down. Sliding the bracket over the pin keeps everything in the same plane of motion.

 

[FLinTexas]

Jagmandave, do you have a picture of the new version with the reinforcing rod?
That sounds like it may be the easiest way out.


Tnx,
Leon

 

[Jagmandave]

Sorry I didn't reply sooner, with the software and upgrade issues going on here, I just stayed away for a few days to let them get things sorted out. If I can figure out how, I'll post up a pic of mine.......this first pic is of how it was. You can also see the loops I made for the chains, and how they hook over the pins just inside of the arms.

 

[FLinTexas]

The arms on my tractor won't fit that close to the center. There''s too much metal around the ball. Did you have to grind yours for clearance?

Leon

 

[Jagmandave]

Yes, actually, I did have to round the corners off a bit so they could pivot up and down, but I don't think it compromises the strength any....you can see it on the arm on the right.

One advantage of having the chains on the inside, if your pins on your implements are also on the inside because of the narrow track of the tires, it makes it easy to change implements without having to loosen the chains first.

 

[Jagmandave]

Here's a pic on my new and improved lower pivot arm pins. You can see the tube I threaded and welded to those ears. I don't think I'll be bending them anymore.............

 

[FLinTexas]

I couldn't see how I could grind enough off my lift arms for them to fit close to the center. I decided to try to build some supports for the end of the arm as someone suggested earlier. I haven't mounted the sway chains yet, but here's a picture

 

[Jagmandave]

I think your supports are a good idea, and will transfer most of the stress to the rod itself. You may bend it, but if so it's easily replaced.......