3ph sway chain

[Eric_Phillips]

Last weekend while using the box blade I broke one of the sway chains for the 3ph. It bent and broke where the bolt goes in to the turnbuckle on the tractor side. I am trying to find out why I broke it, did I do something wrong or are S. Korean bolts crap. Has anyone else broken one of these while using an implement? Is there some proper adjustment I should keep it at? Being new to 3 point hitches any suggestions here would be helpful.

Thanks,
Eric

 

[slowrev]

Were you pushing dirt while going backwards ? 3 point hitches are not really designed to push backwards and are weakest when doing this.

Ben

 

[MicroPilot]

Were the chains tightened to keep the BB from swaying?

I was told to NEVER tighten the chains on ground egaging equipment. This allows them some room to slide past hard spots and rocks.

 

[Eric_Phillips]

I wasn't pushing. I had never adjusted the sway chain. I would say it was only about 1/4 out meaning I could lengthen it a lot more. Is there any rule of thumb that should be used for adjusting this?

Eric

 

[Keith_B]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Last weekend while using the box blade I broke one of the sway chains for the 3ph. It bent and broke where the bolt goes in to the turnbuckle on the tractor side. I am trying to find out why I broke it, did I do something wrong or are S. Korean bolts crap. Has anyone else broken one of these while using an implement? Is there some proper adjustment I should keep it at? Being new to 3 point hitches any suggestions here would be helpful.

Thanks,
Eric )</font>

If you use your tractor long enough you are going to break a sway chain or two at some point. My late father-in-law had sway chains and turnbuckles on both his tractors and both had been repaired, and neither were S. Korean origin.

Most often I have seen chains break when there is too much slack. The slack causes more movement and the sudden side to side jolt will put a lot of pressure on the sway chains.

 

[OkieG]

As with Keith B, too much slack on rough terrain with the BB in the air. It slams back and forth and the sway chain can only take so much. If you want the sway chains loose on your ground engaging implements, at least keep them fairly tight when transporting over rough terrain, then loosen when engaging ground.

OkieG

 

[Eric_Phillips]

I did not know I was supposed to keep the sway chains tight. Talking with the dealer when I picked up the new sway chain he commented that I probably had them too loose. They are set almost as tight as they can be already but probably can get about 1-2inches shorter. So I got the new sway chain brought it home and noticed it is longer and beefier than the original one. Beefier is good but longer is going to mean I cannot get it tight. I will call him today to see if they had actually ordered me the correct part. So the saga continues.

Eric

 

[bncsauve]

If I remeber correctly, there is a slight difference in the tightness of the sway chains from raised to lowered as they don't swing on the exact same arc as the lift arms. So, chains tightened to the max when an implement is lowered may be over tightened when raised or vice versa. If you look at the geometry of your lift arms vs sway chains, you may see what I am talking about. I would recommend a little slack whether lowered or raised.

 

[OkieG]

<font color="blue">I did not know I was supposed to keep the sway chains tight.</font>
You don't need to keep them tight. However, less slack during transport, especially over rough terrain, will allow less momentum to build up as the implement sways (slams) back and forth. On even terrain you may not have to reduce slack at all during transport.

A moderate amount of slack is helpful to attach and detach a 3PH implement. Unless there's rough terrain transport involved, I keep ample slack in the chains so I don't have to fiddle with them every time an implement goes on or off.

OkieG

 

[JerryG]

You can adjust them to where they are snug to a little bit loose and they will be alright as long as they don't tighten up when you raise the lift up. Check it with the lift down and also up.

 

[Eric_Phillips]

I just got off the phone with my FarmTrak dealer and he has been very helpful with this sway chain issue. The new one they ordered last week ended up being about and inch longer but much beefier than the original. So before installing it I called him back up and said if the first one bent and broke since I did not have it tight enough and the new longer one fully shortened in only slightly shorter than where the old one was am I going to have a problem. Well he thinks FarmTrak has realized that the original sway chain might have been too weak and replaced the part with this new one. So the dealer is ordering another assembly for the other side to match and covering it all under warrantee. Should this have happened in the first place, maybe not. Do I wish it would have been resolved a week ago, yes. But the dealer is making good on a possibly inferior part. So hopefully now with more attention to adjustment and a beefier sway chain thing will go much better.

Eric

 

[Jagmandave]

Here's how I did mine on my Yanmar. There was no provision out by the wheels to hook the chains to, so I made some links that fit over the 3ph pins and cross the chains. That way they're in the same plane...........

 

[Eric_Phillips]

That looks like a good solution for long chains. Problem is I cannot do what you did. My chains attach to the outside of the lift arms not the inside.

Eric