BX2360: Float for 3 point ??

[snpower]

I was looking at another forum and came across a post from a few years back discussing how to make the 3 point on the BX tractors float. I've had mine since Nov. 2010 and didn't think this was a feature/possible? Can someone explain, correct, or enlighten me please? Here is the text from the post:

Q: "...Thinking back to using the rear blade on the main driveway, I recall that I kept my hand pushing the 3PH control toward the "down" position. Does this create a "float" mode for the 3PH? I know that the 3PH lowers only by gravity, but if the control is in the down position, will it also raise if the blade encounters a hill? It seemed to, but I'm not sure, since the driveway is fairly level anyway."

A: "Holding the 3PH control in the down position will allow the hitch to float down when a low spot is encountered. The hitch will float up without any need to touch the control as there is no down pressure on the BX 3PH, or just about all 3 point hitches. You can check this easily with no implement on the hitch, or a very light one. Just try lifting one of the lower arms by hand and you'll see that there's no resistance to upward movement other than weight."

 

[kennyd]

There is no downpressure on the 3PH so it naturally "floats", go try to lift the arms and you'll see what I mean.

 

[snpower]

There is no downpressure on the 3PH so it naturally "floats", go try to lift the arms and you'll see what I mean.

So If I want to say scrape snow to the blacktop I need to hold the black lever all the way down/forward, correct? Otherwise it will rise/fall with the "terrain"?

 

[SeymourBota]

There's no "holding it down". Moving it to bottom position allows the implement to fall to the lowest position, based on resistance.

If you move it to bottom, it will "rise and fall with the terrain". You need enough weight and a good blade edge to scrape.

 

[radioman]

Mostly correct here .. When you let 3 pt down, it stops where it meets resistance like the ground. It may have a little bit more down float but otherwise it kinda like a down stop, will not go down anymore if tractor rear tires goes up a bump lifting the 3 pt implement, it will lift it unless you hold down the 3 pt lever to let implement follow the ground going down. As for the up float, you will ALWAYS have the up float- the is no down force pressure with 3 pt at all.

 

[snpower]

There's no "holding it down". Moving it to bottom position allows the implement to fall to the lowest position, based on resistance. If you move it to bottom, it will "rise and fall with the terrain". You need enough weight and a good blade edge to scrape.

But if I drive over a hump, the box blade or rear blade digs in. This is what I would like to avoid, and am not sure if it's possible on the BX?

 

[PeterK]

But if I drive over a hump, the box blade or rear blade digs in. This is what I would like to avoid, and am not sure if it's possible on the BX?

Sounds like you need to shorten/adjust the top link a couple of turns to tilt the cutting edge of the blade more rearward. This will keep it from catching as easily by scraping over the surface vs cutting into the surface with the blade tilted forward.

 

[radioman]

its not a BX issue. Its the angle of attack from blade of implement caused by toplink length. short or long, or somewhere in between. All tractors do this and using a rear implement is somewhat an art.

If you dont beleive me on the float up, just turn your rear blade backwards so its curved backwards . Drive up and down some hill/bumps and watch relationship of 3 pt and the plane of the tractor body.

You need to antipate the too much cutting/removal and finesse the 3 pt lever up or down according to your desired outcome. With practice and time, you will become good at it and others will wonder how you do it.

 

[gwdixon]

I have a BX2200 and know exactly what you mean.

>When the lever is pushed to "down" it lowers the 3PH until the arms encounter resistance...either from an implement or from the lowest stop if there is no implement.
>Then the lever returns to center causing the 3PH to lock in the lowest position reached. This essentially cancels the "float" ability.
>Holding the lever "down" restores the "float" and the implement will rise and fall with the terrain.
>Very few tractors work this way so some of the responders may not be familiar with the process.
>Some folks have used a bungee cord to hold the lever down while others have adjusted the self-centering springs behind the right rear tire to defeat the automatic return to center feature. The lever can still be manually returned to center.

 

[s219]

But if I drive over a hump, the box blade or rear blade digs in. This is what I would like to avoid, and am not sure if it's possible on the BX?

As mentioned, that's more an issue of adjusting the cutting angle. If you drop the lever all the way to the bottom, the implement will be floating. What it does in float is more a matter of the type of implement and how it's angled.

For example, a box blade is designed to work by removing material from high spots and redistributing it to low spots. So naturally, if you drag it over a hump with cutting edges set to bite, it will try to knock off the top of the hump and collect the material into the box. Rear blade is the same to a certain extent, though it will not collect material the same way.

So this behavior you want to avoid is actually how the implements will work when in float and set to cut!!! If you want them to be less aggressive, for instance to simply ride over a hump, then adjust the top link angle to make the cutter less aggressive.

On a rear blade, shorten the top link to make it less aggressive. On a box blade with dual cutting edges, lengthen the top link to make it less aggressive (so you'll be riding on the rear-facing cutter and lifting the front cutter off the surface -- perfect for smoothing gravel).