Ball hitch adapter

   / Ball hitch adapter #21  
picked up a-frame 3 point like this from ebay maybe 20 yrs ago. paid about half the price of them now.



Just noticed a coupon discount that brings price 71.99. Not a bad deal. Think I paid around 59.00 from same company around 2005.
 
   / Ball hitch adapter #22  
As far as I'm concerned moving a trailer with a loader mounted hitch is of no concern. The loads are no more then you get digging into and lifting a bucket full of gravel. It is certainly no harder then using a push blade on an ssqa, especially an angled snow blade. Or turning with a bucket loader on the ground.
It's fine pulling straight on or extremely short distances on pavement, however that is usually never the case.

I've seen bent loader arms from doing this at my local dealer this fall. Someone had a ball mounted hitch system and they moved their loaded equipment trailer and a wheel of the trailer fell into a divot and pushed the tractor/loader enough to bend the loader arms due to side loading.
 
   / Ball hitch adapter #23  
Had to have been loaded quite heavily and shoved hard. I've put quite side load on mine with an 8 ft angle blade shoving the tractor sideways with no damage.
 
   / Ball hitch adapter #24  
I have to update my situation. There was a time when I had a trailer that needed a standard 2 3/4 inch ball. That is now gone. I use the tractor to pull around my farm wagon. A "normal" load plus the weight of the trailer - 8K to 10K. Perhaps heavier some times. The farm wagon is rated up to a 20K load. The actual load depends upon where I'm going on the property. I've learned - it's not a good feeling - being pushed by a loaded trailer.

The end connector on the farm wagon tongue will rotate 360 degrees. Just drop a 1" by 8" grade 8 bolt thru the tongue connector and one of the holes on the drawbar. Nylock nut and flat washers finish this connection.
 
   / Ball hitch adapter #25  
Had to have been loaded quite heavily and shoved hard. I've put quite side load on mine with an 8 ft angle blade shoving the tractor sideways with no damage.
Not all tractors, loaders or trailers are created equal. Tough to compare without knowing what combination of those three we're comparing.
 
   / Ball hitch adapter #26  
Like WranglerX said, avoid clamp on hitch mounts. I have one that's basically wasted iron. It clamps on real nice, looks good and presents nothing but danger. Regardless of tight you clamp it, it will swing at will on any tight turns or manuevers.
Stay with any one of the other suggestions on hitch mounts, but please - don't rely on a clamp on mount.

 
   / Ball hitch adapter #27  
A hitch on the 3PT can rise up under the trailer, so you don't have to raise and lower the trailer to match the tractor. However, the 3PT probably does not have downforce, so a poorly balanced trailer can flip the hitch upward, which can go very bad if you're on a steep downhill.

A hitch on the drawbar requires you to lift and/or lower the trailer to match the tractor. It will handle best, though, if you are going far or fast.

A hitch on the FEL can rise up under the trailer, and has downforce to prevent tippy surprises. It makes backing up the trailer easier and more precise. But moving a big distance in the trailer's forward direction means backing up the tractor. I'm contemplating getting a small travel trailer and using the FEL hitch option to maneuver it around my woods for storage....
 
   / Ball hitch adapter #28  
Reminds me of a situation - 1975. We were transporting spruce logs from state land to where we built our log cabin. CJ5 pulling a short but VERY heavily built trailer. Six logs on the trailer. My "idiot" friend insisted on riding on the loaded trailer. I wasn't far from being an "idiot" also. I should have just said - "get in the Jeep or walk the six miles to the cabin site".

It was all the CJ5 could muster to pull that loaded trailer. 24 foot long logs - each 12" in diameter.

Over a hill and on the down side - the trailer cut loose from the Jeep. The safety chains snapped like twigs. The 2" ball hitch failed - big time.

I don't know what kept my friend from being killed. He rode the loaded trailer about 50 feet and then it took off into the birch trees and pucker brush. I think he was saved because he got thrown off. Scratches, bruised & sore - but alive.

He DID come back to help. But only AFTER all 125 logs had been transported to the cabin site. One weekend and he had enough.

Thinking back - it was an unimaginable amount of energy necessary to build that cabin. And each and every specific task had it own - very substantial risk.

Finding the proper trees - felling the trees - using a come-along to pull them out of the woods and get them on the trailer - transporting them to the cabin site - pulling each log up to the cabin site - two-siding and peeling each log. Then making cement and pouring each sono tube.

Hand winching each log - up and onto the cabin. My wife - my son & I got the 20 x 24 - two story cabin completed in the summer of 1975.

Absolutely no method or means of communication to the outside world. Forty miles down pioneered roads to the nearest town.
 
Last edited:
   / Ball hitch adapter #29  

Attachments

  • Screenshot_2024-12-12-19-35-40-667_com.android.chrome~2.jpg
    Screenshot_2024-12-12-19-35-40-667_com.android.chrome~2.jpg
    213.5 KB · Views: 48
 

Tractor & Equipment Auctions

1989 Freightliner FLD120 (NEW CAT 3406A, NEW REAR ENDS, CLUTCH) (A51039)
1989 Freightliner...
80in HD Tooth Bucket with Side Cutters ONE PER LOT (A51039)
80in HD Tooth...
2003 FREIGHTLINER FL80 DUMP TRUCK (A51406)
2003 FREIGHTLINER...
SOLDERING IRONS, GLOVES, AND STANDS (A50854)
SOLDERING IRONS...
UNUSED Grey Corrugated Polycarbonate Roof Panels (A50860)
UNUSED Grey...
2016 Chevrolet Impala LT Limited Sedan (A48082)
2016 Chevrolet...
 
Top