3pt hitch with downpressure???

ledebuhr1 · Nov 2, 2003

Does anyone know if they have the same downpressure as they do lifting pressure?? I wonder if any of them could lift the rear tires of the ground.

KubotaBling · Nov 2, 2003

If the cylinder was same size. Assuming it had 2 i'd say at least 1000# even small lawn/garden lift cylinders are rated at 500# so 2 small ones would be at least 1000 assuming there larger i'd say 1500-2K # ??

art · Nov 2, 2003

Wildman, Thats I think what is called a top-n-tilt kit for using box blades and that type of equipment. It doesn't really give you down pressure but does improve the chances of doing the job a lot faster.

Wildman1 · Nov 2, 2003

Art, that correct. The hydraulic top link that he has is in addition to the down pressure kit.

Soundguy · Nov 3, 2003

I've seen aftermarket 3pt kits for antique tractors that were power up/power down if you wanted to pay for the double acting cylinder and valving.. but those were all retro kits for old farmalls and john deere's without lift.. etc.

Soundguy

ledebuhr1 · Nov 3, 2003

Thanks.

Im assuming they dont put downpressure from te factory because of liability. They dont want people putting so much stress on the 3-pt hitch that something breaks.

Ill ask my dealer about having one installed/

JackIL · Nov 3, 2003

I recently retired as an engineer with John Deere and have just checked with the current engineering staff on this question. No John Deere agricultural tractor manufactured in Waterloo, Iowa, has a 3 point hitch plumbed to provided down pressure. The source of confusion may be that the external lift cylinders appear to be 2 way cylinders. However one side of the cylinders is just plumbed to vent and therefore provides no down force capablity.

If there were down force capability, the support forces and therefore the traction forces on the rear wheels would be reduced--hardly what a tractor needs to pull.

I don't know what kits might be offered for compact tractors to provide down force, but they are not approved for full-sized ag tractors.

JackIL

davebar · Nov 3, 2003

I have a similar problem and was told that down pressure kits are not available under about 30hp. I have some very hard clay and in digging 90+ holes I found that rocking back and forth while "drilling" the hole would help some. Also lifting the front end with the loader (curl the bucket if necessary) often times provided the extra pressure need to get the auger to bite into the clay. Some of my holes however required a good rain to soften things up enough to get anywhere. If you have water avail you might fill the hole with water and come back to it. Some of my holes didn't get to full depth until the 3rd or 4th visit.

I also sharpened and ground a v cut in each tooth of the auger that did not seem to help to much though. In doing that it occured to me that an auger with only one tooth should have twice the cutting pressure and an auger with two teeth and might be able to break thru where a double tooth wouldn't. Anybody tried this or know for sure?

dave

ledebuhr1 · Nov 3, 2003

Dont large road graders and belly blades on plow trucks have down pressure?? If it would work on thoes, why not a CUT.

MossRoad · Nov 3, 2003

<font color="blue">Dont large road graders and belly blades on plow trucks have down pressure?? If it would work on thoes, why not a CUT. </font>

Think about where the blades are on graders and belly blades on trucks. If you lift the vehicle with the blade, the weight will be distributed between the blade and the rear tires. You'll still have traction.

On a tractor, however, if you lift the tractor with the rear blade, the weight will be distributed between the front tires and the blade. You will be taking traction off the rear tires.

But for a post hole digger, this would be OK.