Quick Hitches bending lift arms

[dgdubya]

So I'm at a total loss on this and so is everyone else who has looked at this problem. 2010 New Holland 1520T tractor (overgrown toy compared to my old Farmall 400). I was being stupid carrying, not dragging but carrying a log that weighed in at close to 3000lbs. Hit a bump bent right lift arm (the arm that attaches the attachment) like a banana. NH wants over $300 for an arm so I bought a pair of aftermarket arms at TSC. Hitched up the brush hog and had them bent within an hour. Ok I say, must be defective. Get another arm at TSC and proceed to bend that one too brush hogging a hillside. The original arms were an inch or so shorter and 5/8" thick, TSC arms are 1/2" thick. That's the problem I figure. Get a pair of 5/8" arms online that are the exact same length. Hole configuration is a bit different but the important holes (drop link and chain) are the same. Bent those too. Can't remember if it was plowing or disking, doesn't really matter. So it's back to the net for another pair of arms. Install, brush hog my trails, both arms start to bend....again!

I've tried keeping the chains tight so there's almost no play, loose so the brush hog swings freely (but doesn't hit the tires). Top link is properly adjusted, no weight on it until the brush hog is lifted off the ground. The slightest amount of side pressure seems to bend the arms. Oh, and the brush hog is also a NH, 5' sized for and purchased new with the tractor from the dealer. I've been doing this kind of work for going on 20 years and have never seen anything like this. Any suggestions would be appreciated. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Redneck in training]

So I'm at a total loss on this and so is everyone else who has looked at this problem. 2010 New Holland 1520T tractor (overgrown toy compared to my old Farmall 400). I was being stupid carrying, not dragging but carrying a log that weighed in at close to 3000lbs. Hit a bump bent right lift arm (the arm that attaches the attachment) like a banana. NH wants over $300 for an arm so I bought a pair of aftermarket arms at TSC. Hitched up the brush hog and had them bent within an hour. Ok I say, must be defective. Get another arm at TSC and proceed to bend that one too brush hogging a hillside. The original arms were an inch or so shorter and 5/8" thick, TSC arms are 1/2" thick. That's the problem I figure. Get a pair of 5/8" arms online that are the exact same length. Hole configuration is a bit different but the important holes (drop link and chain) are the same. Bent those too. Can't remember if it was plowing or disking, doesn't really matter. So it's back to the net for another pair of arms. Install, brush hog my trails, both arms start to bend....again!

I've tried keeping the chains tight so there's almost no play, loose so the brush hog swings freely (but doesn't hit the tires). Top link is properly adjusted, no weight on it until the brush hog is lifted off the ground. The slightest amount of side pressure seems to bend the arms. Oh, and the brush hog is also a NH, 5' sized for and purchased new with the tractor from the dealer. I've been doing this kind of work for going on 20 years and have never seen anything like this. Any suggestions would be appreciated. What am I doing wrong?

It is not clear what arms are you bending but I am assuming that you are bending the lower arms that hook to the implement. It isn't also clear which way you are bending them. Horizontal or vertical. There are usually three holes for the lift turnbuckle. In which hole is your turnbuckle? Picture would help.

 

[kebo]

It is not clear what arms are you bending but I am assuming that you are bending the lower arms that hook to the implement. It isn't also clear which way you are bending them. Horizontal or vertical. There are usually three holes for the lift turnbuckle. In which hole is your turnbuckle? Picture would help.

To the OP, welcome to the forum.

Now to the subject... that was the first question that came to my mind too, are the lift arms bending laterally, or bending in the vertical plane? If in the lateral plane, are both bending in the same direction/manner? Pictures of some (paired up) bent lift arms in their normal attached positions would be good here.

I think the original arm that was bent first carrying the heavy log happened when the log went up (after hitting the bump), came back down and it was pushing straight in on the arms and that forced one of the arms to bow (inboard or outboard, he didn't say?). Something had to give from that 3000lb plus load, and it was one of the arms.

I think there's something else going on that the OP just hasn't figured out yet. Maybe it's the way he's turning (sharp, fast turns?) and the tractor and attachment are exerting a lot of side forces and the lift arms are taking all the stress? That's all I got.

 

[Fawken]

Gosh, the lift is the strongest part of most Fords and Shibaura Fords especially. Mine has had more weight on it than I'm going to confess to. Enough top lift the tractor even with three ~200 lb men on the loader bucket. Arms didn't bend and mine is a small tractor. I'm guessing I've had ~2000 lbs on that box blade using the trailer ball to move a man-lift that was on the front of a 30' dovetail.

Something's not right. Your relief pressure and position control linkage may be all out of whack. The loads you describe will not bend linkage, but the lift hitch could if the pressure is way too high and/or the position control valve is bummed.

 

[tman1020]

Post some pics. I can't envision it well enough to help diagnose.

 

[boggen]

are you turning sharply while rotatory cutter (laymen terms = bush hog, bush hog = trade name) is down? are tail wheels or like hitting anything? tree stumps, logs, ditches?

3pt hitches are excellent BUT. if you have something ground engaging, example a disc, plow, middle buster, box blade, rear blade, etc... this can include a rotatory cutter as well. and make a sharp turn. the lower lift arms of the 3pt hitch can bend. most ground engaging equipment, you will need to raise up off the ground before going into a sharp turn.

pulling a log, and again going into a turn, the tree most likely never gave, and something had to give. so lower lift arms of the 3pt hitch bent.

3pt hitches can also be damaged by backing up into something and/or having something engaging the ground. all the linkages get into a bind. and things can break / bend.

3pt hitches are made to pull / drag. pulling allows all the linkages freedom to move without getting into a bind. you can do some turning, but not a whole lot. trying to make 90 degree sharp turns can be deadly to 3pt hitch pending on what ya doing.

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1/2" vs 5/8" alone doesn't really state much, there are many different grades of metal. cheap could mean cheap. vs higher end grade metal. higher grade and thicker = expensive. but without specs of metal no real way to tell between what they are selling, and just tossing a higher dollar sign on stuff, vs actually higher grade metal.

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are you trying to use a quick hitch or something like that? between 3pt hitch and attachments?

are you using telescopic lower lift arms, and not collapsing them and putting a pin into them once you hook up?

some 3pt hitch attachments come with CAT 1 (category 1) 3pt hitch hook up points, and CAT 2 hook up points, are you connecting 3pt hitch lower lift arms / top link in correct spots?

are you running to fast (to many MPH / to much ground speed) over rough ground and causing things to "bounce" and put extra strain on things?

did you correctly cut down if need be the PTO shaft (shaft between rear end of tractor and what ever you are connecting to)? don't assume dealer did it. and PTO shaft is bottoming out. ((very doubtful this is issue, but if ya taking things apart, measuring, shrugs, something to check))

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will push for "pictures" as well. both of stuff you have previously bent, but also how you have things hooked up on rear end of tractor. and then having something connected to the 3pt hitch.

 

[dgdubya]

Ok, here are some pictures. As you can seen they're bending horizontally where the turnbuckles attach.

 

[Fawken]

Your linkage is set up completely wrong. Those turnbuckles are supposed to be on the inside of the arms. Or they can stay there but you need turnbuckles or chains on the inside too. The ones on the inside are most critical. Also can't tell if you have turnbuckles on both sides but they have to be there- on both sides.

 

[tman1020]

Wow that is very puzzling. The aftermarket ones that you purchased must not be the same caliber as the stock ones. I could see where you could bend them if you were discing and turned without raising the disc. Also if you were bush hogging and your tail wheel hung up in a rut or something as you were turning possibly. But I feel that even with those situations the links that you're using must be subpar compared to the original stock ones. From the pictures it does look like there is a lot of space between where the turnbuckle connects and the end of the link. This would contribute to additional leverage to bend it. Does it compare equally to the location where it connects on the stock links?

 

[Fawken]

I also see the lift linkage arms are in the wrong hole. They go on the inner hole and should be close to vertical when the implement is at rest. The turnbuckles are in the hole where the lift linkage should be and vice versa.