3pt hitch and log mover

   / 3pt hitch and log mover #11  
He can lift with his setup but pull from the fixed drawbar by creative use of chaining. Theres no way OP should pull from the lower arms unless they are restrained downward ... and lower as you say.

Spyderlk I believe you have overstated the problem. There can be problems pulling from the 3ph but to say never is IMHO overkill. Teens should never drive because they could wreck. Every plow pulls from the 3ph and every farmer has something like HenryIV's little invention. Henry enjoy your hitch, know it limits, but enjoy. Ed
I didnt say never, ... but its hard to determine if a person knows when.

,,, I instead gave an example of the way to make it OK/backtip stable.
 
   / 3pt hitch and log mover #12  
Or not.

You hashed out manure.
The greater the moment, the higher the torque. Moment (distance to axle axis) x Force (tongue weight) = Torque.
You need torque to lift the front, we are rotating around an axle - remember?.

To anyone interested in making a three point hitch, please consider.

1) None of these experts asked what I pull on that hitch, a M1102 almost exclusively. That hitch is 29" off the deck. the lower bar is -10" vert. from that point. and behind the radius of the rear tire. Yes, I want that much ground clearance. How low will it go? Not low enough to flip a tractor with any load I can put in a M1102. Heavier trailers have a lower hitch height. Then drawbar is a dragbar before you'd flip and only a jackass would load that much tongue weight on those lift arms. If the moment forward of the rear axle is 8 feet and about 2000# force vs. 3 feet of moment behind the axle, it would take a static tongue weight of maybe 5300 lbs. to get the nose up. I think I can handle 500 lbs. dynamic huh? The trailer CG is ten inches forward of the axle with a 3000# max payload. If I strike gold and have to get it out in one load and infront of the trailer axle, I can just lower the tongue on my way to the super yacht dealership. Problem Solved. Some of these armchair engineers have watched too many Punjabi tractor pull showdowns on YouTube, and those crazy Sihks are connected with moments shorter than the tire radius.

2) There is a lot more metal around the lift arms pivot than the threads of the bolts holding on the bracket for the swinging drawbar. Think about it. I've designed machines to assemble the axles for this. I know a little bit about torque and force. I know a little about bolted joints too. The most robust part of the casting is exactly where the lift arms emerge from the rear axle. That's where tractors earn their keep, at least that's how they used to do it. Now its light and cheap and well... don't get me started. The only question mark I had was how good my weld penetration is, for I am a novice welder. So far so good.

3) This rig goes into a forest. The rear tires of the tractor don't easily make contact with the trailer in tight turns, because the pivot point is farther back. This is a huge advantage for me and no oversight.

4) Safety? Know this. Only a fool would operate a tractor perpendicular to a grade with a heavy load or attachment on the back, you're just asking to pulled backwards and sideways while the front tires unload a little. on hard wet, frozen, or loose surfaces the risk is greater. Use some common sense and if it "feels" unsafe, don't do it, or buy a Challenger.

5) I make my stuff for me, not for them. Make your stuff for you. If you still don't know what to do, ask an old Iowa farmer.
Despite multiple reads of your post I havnt been able to find any evidence that youre addressing the problem of tractor backtip caused by the pull force the tractor exerts.
 
   / 3pt hitch and log mover #13  
I built a hitch like HenryIV years ago and welded a hook just below the top link for a chain.
I usually hook my logs at the top link to improve traction due to the down force of the load.
True you need to be careful because the tractor can come up due to the high hitch point but dropping the hitch will bring the front back down.
The high hitch point provides traction that allows me to move very large trees and also keeps the butt from digging in.
I have hauled trees so large the only way I could move them was to raise the hitch fully which jerked the log forward several inches then I lowered the hitch which allowed the tractor to gain some ground, I repeated this until I got to easy going.

90cummins
 
   / 3pt hitch and log mover
  • Thread Starter
#14  
I only bring my logs up high enough to clear stumps. Catching a stump with a chained up oak could be pucker moment for me but I put it in 2L and take my time. That is really the most stress I apply to my tractor. I have not pulled on so big that required your solution, but I have a candidate. I'm really surprised my amateur welding held, especially the hooks, they got the least welding as there was the least surface to weld. Welding Tips and Tricks dot com and ChuckE2000 on YouTube helped me figure out the welding technique.

One of the other ideas I considered looked something like a sled with spikes sticking up out of it. This was the method used when logging was done with horses. I decided to be a little more modern after using chains and binders to bring the tractor home and later two M1102s (one loaded upside down and backwards on the other) home. It hit me that I could combine the hitch and log drag requirements with a single attachment. Those hooks fit the chain links and they also fit the trailer chain hooks on the M1102. I saw some designs where the hooks were set like you have them, up high near the top link, so that seems popular too. For the cost of the hooks, you could have both for not so much extra money.

As for the vertical elements , the reason two c-channels were used was to retain the ability of using the attachment with a quick hitch that some fellas are going to. If I had a single vertical element , I would have has to put a pretty big vertical notch in it so the adapter could come up underneath it to catch the pin used at the top link. That would have removed a lot of metal and would have made fabrication more complicated. By using two c-channels I just had to drill two holes and mind the gap ;) There would be no point having a quick hitch if I have to remove it to use my 3pt trailer adapter.

Very fast work hooking up the logs that way, or just lifting them before setting on another log for saw work. I've even considered welding a hitch receiver stub pointing downward in front of the vertical elements to hold a removable subsoiler. First I need to finish the repair of an old bushhog needing a tail wheel attachment, then a box blade but that is what winter is for.
 
   / 3pt hitch and log mover #15  
I only bring my logs up high enough to clear stumps. Catching a stump with a chained up oak could be pucker moment for me but I put it in 2L and take my time. That is really the most stress I apply to my tractor. I have not pulled on so big that required your solution, but I have a candidate. I'm really surprised my amateur welding held, especially the hooks, they got the least welding as there was the least surface to weld. Welding Tips and Tricks dot com and ChuckE2000 on YouTube helped me figure out the welding technique.

One of the other ideas I considered looked something like a sled with spikes sticking up out of it. This was the method used when logging was done with horses. I decided to be a little more modern after using chains and binders to bring the tractor home and later two M1102s (one loaded upside down and backwards on the other) home. It hit me that I could combine the hitch and log drag requirements with a single attachment. Those hooks fit the chain links and they also fit the trailer chain hooks on the M1102. I saw some designs where the hooks were set like you have them, up high near the top link, so that seems popular too. For the cost of the hooks, you could have both for not so much extra money.

As for the vertical elements , the reason two c-channels were used was to retain the ability of using the attachment with a quick hitch that some fellas are going to. If I had a single vertical element , I would have has to put a pretty big vertical notch in it so the adapter could come up underneath it to catch the pin used at the top link. That would have removed a lot of metal and would have made fabrication more complicated. By using two c-channels I just had to drill two holes and mind the gap ;) There would be no point having a quick hitch if I have to remove it to use my 3pt trailer adapter.

Very fast work hooking up the logs that way, or just lifting them before setting on another log for saw work. I've even considered welding a hitch receiver stub pointing downward in front of the vertical elements to hold a removable subsoiler. First I need to finish the repair of an old bushhog needing a tail wheel attachment, then a box blade but that is what winter is for.

Do mean by chance ChuckE2009?? I follow him. He's got alot of great projects.

I could be wrong I didnt go to YouTube and search ChuckE2000
 
   / 3pt hitch and log mover #16  
Teens should never drive because they could wreck. Ed
Sometimes when safety of teens driving tractors comes up, I think about a story in one of my jr. high literature books. It was about a kid around 12 or 13 driving a cultivator tractor. I remember thinking how much nicer it would be to be driving the tractor than sitting in school. Views on safety have changed since those days.
 
   / 3pt hitch and log mover #17  
The hitch is purdy and that looks like a mighty good old dog, too.:)
 
   / 3pt hitch and log mover #18  
I've skidded logs out of the woods for 35 years. I use nothing but the 3 pt. I've also seen a guy killed when his tractor flipped and broke his neck. Details make all the difference and blanket statements may be ok but their application may be meaningless or spot on depending on the myriad of things differentiated from one person's situation to the next. Why have I never come even close to flipping my tractors pulling stems from the 3 pt w/o front loading the bucket? Why did the guy get killed that day when using his 3 pt just as I have? Accidents usually happen with a lapse of clear thinking.

Now please do not say I'm an accident waiting to happen or else you could say the same thing that because I've driven cars for over 50 years, I'm an accident waiting to happen. If I happen to get dead skidding like this, I'll check in an tell you how I did it.

Personally, I enjoy seeing how others may do stuff and I applaud the resourcefulness evident in engineering as Henry4 shows.. That's all it is for me.
 
   / 3pt hitch and log mover
  • Thread Starter
#19  
Yes, you are right. ChuckE2009 - YeeHaW!
 
   / 3pt hitch and log mover
  • Thread Starter
#20  
Yes I thought about those hooks, especially because I couldn稚 get a good bead on the inside of the eye. However on the outside I got in with 7018 pretty good.

So I took the tractor into the woods and tried to break the hooks off by putting one hooks at a time under a tilted pine stump and tried to lift it. and the tires started to compress under the load and I decided to spare the hydraulics and stop. Oh ..yeah, Im still not dead, and don't tell child protective services but I decided to put the wife and son and dog in the back of the trailer connected to the Pintle Hitch of Certain Death for an Autumn ride.

I suggested to my wife that she "move rear of the trailer axle as to not overload the tongue weight capacity of the tractor."

Then it happened....




When I was again able to stand upright again, I realized that my 5'10" Swede wife born on the plains of Nebraska and raised on a cattle ranch was not interested in my mansplaining about weights and measures. Obviously she had some experience with her two older brother's body bag in the barn too. Sleeping on the couch only has made it harder for my ribs to heal, and the coffee she gives me makes my gums bleed and I sometimes go blind for a little while. I'm sure it will blow over.

But seriously, since then I learned to weld into corners with 7018 using AC not DCEN. Seems the magnetic forces in the inside corners make it hard to lay in a good bead. Switching to AC on recent projects for inside corners gives me a better bead. I have a short winter down south so a repaint and a ROPS to attach a radio, beverage gimble , fire extinguisher and light bar is required

Going for something like this, that guy is in a ZZ Top cover band in Mumbai.
 

Tractor & Equipment Auctions

2014 Dodge Charger Sedan (A44572)
2014 Dodge Charger...
Cummins Turbo Diesel Engine with Transmission (A44571)
Cummins Turbo...
2025 BisonTek BT360 UNUSED Riding Skid Steer (A47484)
2025 BisonTek...
2025 Wolverine VR-11-66W Vibratory Roller Attachme (A47484)
2025 Wolverine...
2018 Ford F-550 4x4 18ft Rollback Tow Truck (A44571)
2018 Ford F-550...
2025 AllMetal K2119 UNUSED Double Garage Metal She (A47484)
2025 AllMetal...
 
Top