3 pt. tiller hookup... frustrating

Pirwin21 · May 19, 2009

So I finally received delivery on my L3400 over the weekend and have enjoyed putting a few hours on brush hogging. Then this evening I decided it was time to switch over to the 6' Befco tiller to turn under the garden and start to mix in manure. However when I tried to hook up the tiller, the lower arms just wouldn't move in towards the pins enough to lock on. I am admittedly a novice when it comes to tractors, but am I doing something wrong? Or do I need to adjust something. Again. any help is greatly appreciated!

miker2702 · May 19, 2009

on my bx i often feel as beat up as the ground when hooking up the
tiller. i have no level ground, the arms are so short its a very tight
fit at the pto so often its a battle. im sure most have no problems,
i have thought of a quick change but im tight im still fairly young so
i will hold out.

ChuckinNH · May 19, 2009

I'm pretty new to 3pt attachments too, but here are a couple of things I've learned so far. I took a 1" x2" board, and cut notches in it to keep the lower arms spread wider than the implement. Sometimes you have to loosen the check chains all the way for this. The other thing I learned is that if you lower the 3pt below the implement pins you can easily lift the arms into alignment. Taking extra time to get the tractor aligned as well as possible is a lot easier than horsing the implement around too.

It will come easier as you do it, and I've found that there is some benefit in looking the situation over more carefully as I get older. Some implements I have found that I can kind of straddle the PTO shaft, and be in a much better position to slide it on while holding back the collar. Leverage is your friend, and I keep a steel bar to help encourage things apart, or together.

framer · May 19, 2009

A quick hitch would solve most of that frustration of hooking up tillers.You mayhave to make a few pin modifications after that its easy on and off.Good luck Framer.

savageactor7 · May 20, 2009

Don't get frustrated Pirwin21 you'll figure it out.

Sometimes a spud bar comes in handy to budge bulky things into place carefully. You'll get it on soon but come up with a plan for blocking it up when you decide to take it off.

On our brush hog it was simply a matter to rest it on 2 cedar fence posts for an easier/quicker hook up.

WayneB · May 20, 2009

Pirwin21 said:
So I finally received delivery on my L3400 over the weekend and have enjoyed putting a few hours on brush hogging. Then this evening I decided it was time to switch over to the 6' Befco tiller to turn under the garden and start to mix in manure. However when I tried to hook up the tiller, the lower arms just wouldn't move in towards the pins enough to lock on. I am admittedly a novice when it comes to tractors, but am I doing something wrong? Or do I need to adjust something. Again. any help is greatly appreciated!

On each arm there should be an adjustment turnbuckle, on my tractor it is a square fitting with a nut on each end. As you turn it right or left it will increase or decrease the amount of travel of the arms.

This is also used to align the tiller to the right or left behind the tractor.

Egon · May 20, 2009

the lower arms just wouldn't move in toward the pins enough to lock on.

As per the other fellows. Check out the check chains. Sometimes it is easiest to pull a pin on each one and leave the lift arms free to move. This can make life a lot easier when hooking it up. After the tiller is all hooked up reinstall the check chains and make sure you have the tiller tracking properly for you.

A small lining bar may be of some use for the pin holes[depending on design] as well as a larger piece of pipe that can be use to bar the tiller around a bit.

When parking the tiller support it on blocks set under the skid plates on either side. Make sure these are high enough that no tines will hit the ground.

Pirwin21 · May 20, 2009

I'm thinking it might be easiest to get the tiller on would be to pull the pins on the check chains and then put them back on. Although, do you think it will be that easy to put the check chains back and line up the little pin while there's a tiller hooked up afterwards?

ttstraw · May 20, 2009

I found that by changing the hitch pins on the tiller so the face in made things a lot easier for me, your lift arms most likely want to swing in so it made it easy to back in and not have to worry about speading the darn things. I now just center the tractor, lower the arms as low as they go and back in....lift up by hand and pull the arms on to the pins. But I will say the tiller is the worst thing to hook up of anything I have.

Tom