5000 series drawbar capacity???

[kentuckydiesel]

I found out the other day that the drawbar capacity on my '95 5200 is only 1600-1700lbs. I thought it odd that they made the drawbar this weak, especially considering the 3pt hitch is rated for something like 3400lbs.

Did Deere ever offer a high-capacity drawbar kit for the 5200?

As the tractor is set up to be over 8' wide for my hilly ground, I really need at least a 10' mower...but 10'+ solid deck mowers are terrible to run on uneven terrain. If I get into a 12'+ batwing, I am going to need more drawbar capacity as only the lightest of the light batwings have 1700lb or lower drawbar weight.

I will have my tractor making around 75hp soon (set up like the 5400 which is the same basic tractor with small changes such as fuel system adjustments and a turbo), so hp is a non issue. Between the ballast and the loader, the tractor weighs in at over 8000lbs, plus it now has 10 ply rear tires on it, so weight (aside from the low drawbar capacity) won't be a problem either.

I guess if deere didn't make any higher capacity drawbar kits, I'll have to build my own. Anyone have any input on this subject?

Thanks,
Phillip

 

[buickanddeere]

That is static weight pressing down on the drawbar in situations such a single axle trailer loaded front heavy. Draft load on the drawbar is as much as the tractor can pull.

 

[kentuckydiesel]

That is static weight pressing down on the drawbar in situations such a single axle trailer loaded front heavy. Draft load on the drawbar is as much as the tractor can pull.

That is correct. I am referring to vertical static load. The 5000 series has a low (in my mind) static load capacity, to the point that just about any batwing mower would "overload" the drawbar according to deere specs.

Man, if the drawbar on the 5000 series couldn't pull more than 1700lbs, I would just hang it up!

-Phillip

 

[cowski]

i pull a bush hog 15 ft cutter with my 5510 john deere. never had a drawbar problem.same drawbar as 5200.

 

[Verticaltrx]

IMO, the 'lightest of light' batwings are all you should be considering behind that size tractor. Either one of these new, small 12' models or a 10' with a single wing. The big 15' units are more suited to a 6000/7000 series size tractor that can handle the drawbar weight (and have the hp to run it.) We have a 15' woods batwing and I wouldn't want to try to use it with our 2550 Deere, which is an all around bigger tractor than a 5x00 series. IMO it sounds like you are expecting too much from a small utility tractor.

 

[vtsnowedin]

OK let's consider this question?
If you over load the draw bar on a tractor with a excessive vertical load what fails? Or how do you find out you've gone too far? Do the rear tires pop? does the draw bar snap off of the tractor frame? Does the front end get light or come off the ground. Does The excessive weight push the rear tires into the ground so hard that the engine can't turn them?
Your answer is??

 

[jd110]

OK let's consider this question?
If you over load the draw bar on a tractor with a excessive vertical load what fails? Or how do you find out you've gone too far? Do the rear tires pop? does the draw bar snap off of the tractor frame? Does the front end get light or come off the ground. Does The excessive weight push the rear tires into the ground so hard that the engine can't turn them?
Your answer is??

The answer to all of the above can be Yes!. The immediate danger is failure of the drawbar or drawbar support. The tire capacity is probably well above drawbar capacity depending on tire equipment. The front end could get light, but with extra front ballast, that is probably not an issue. Horsepower is not an issue. The drawbar or support will probably not fail for short term, occasional overloading, but constant overloading or even short term grossly overloading it will cause failure. I have seen it many times over the years. Not necessarily on 5000 series, but on any model. The manufacturers put limits on the capacities for a reason. Some models do offer heavier duty options, but none are listed for the 5000 or 5010 series. The 5025 series does offer a heavy duty drawbar option. The standard duty is the same part as the 5000, 5010, and 5020 series, so I assume the heavy drawbar will also fit earlier models. Not sure of weight rating though. Will try to look it up.

 

[cowski]

larger jd 5000 series pull 15 ft cutters all the time.the standard drawbar is plenty.a medium duty 15 ft cutter weighs around 4000 lbs this would put about 1400 lbs on the drawbar.that is way under max drawbar rating.max drawbar rating is 2470 lbs.the heaviest 15ft landpride cutter rcb6615 weighs 5738 lbs with a hitch weight of 1842 lbs and with a minimum of 50 pto horsepower.well within jd 5000 specs.landpride specifications taken from their literature.jd drawbar specifications taken from operators manual.

 

[kentuckydiesel]

IMO, the 'lightest of light' batwings are all you should be considering behind that size tractor. Either one of these new, small 12' models or a 10' with a single wing. The big 15' units are more suited to a 6000/7000 series size tractor that can handle the drawbar weight (and have the hp to run it.) We have a 15' woods batwing and I wouldn't want to try to use it with our 2550 Deere, which is an all around bigger tractor than a 5x00 series. IMO it sounds like you are expecting too much from a small utility tractor.

Actually, with the exception of the 2550 being an older (and therefore heavier) tractor and having a 4cyl because 3cyl wasn't used yet...it is very comparable to the 5000 series. Ballasted weight is about 8400lbs, about the same as my tractor. HP is around 65, about the same as my tractor. One thing that does stand out is the 2550's 3pt capacity is about 1000lbs less than the 5000 series.

OK let's consider this question?
If you over load the draw bar on a tractor with a excessive vertical load what fails? Or how do you find out you've gone too far? does the draw bar snap off of the tractor frame?

Yes, the drawbar can snap off, but that is hardly a major issue...especially since I am trying to find out how Deere or others have increased capacity prior to going past that part's load limit. BTW, capacity of the drawbar at short setting is about 2500lbs, but most mower manufacturers specify a longer drawbar setting.

Do the rear tires pop?

Haha...absolutely not. Rears are 10ply 18.4-26 (think high capacity).

Does the front end get light or come off the ground.

Say what? People who actually use tractors use ballast. I have 1400lbs of suitcase weights to ballast as needed. For the often heavy loader work I do, I have about 650lbs of liquid ballast in each rear, along with about 1500lbs of ballast on a 3pt carrier which centers the weight about 1' behind the ends of the lower links. Works great!

Does The excessive weight push the rear tires into the ground so hard that the engine can't turn them?
Your answer is??

This is very imaginative, but no amount of weight "pushing down" on the rear tires (short of that which would blow out tires, crush the wheels themselves, or that which was too much for the tractor to physically move in the first place) would ever be so much that the engine could not turn them. Ever seen those videos of groups of people pulling jumbo jets, class 8 trucks, and train cars? It's actually pretty easy to move rolling weight. This tractor pulls a 14' wheel-transport disc harrow through heavy (sometimes wet) soil in 1st gear-high range with no problems. I think it has the ability to get a batwing mower moving.

 

[vtsnowedin]

I wasn't tyring to put any of those possibilities forward as good answers just cover the range of possibilities. Given that good steel today has yield strengths above 70,000 pounds per square inch I wouldn't expect the bar or the mounting bolts to snap nor would I expect tires to fail.
What I expect happens is that the weight on the bar plus the weight of the base tractor and wheel weights adds up to the maximum rated load for the rear axle and any increase above that will cause excessive wheel bearing wear up to and including wheel bearing failure.