Clamp on hitch receiver, whatam I missing?

   / Clamp on hitch receiver, whatam I missing? #1  

Dragonpharm

Bronze Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2020
Messages
73
Location
Pekin, IL
Tractor
Mahindra 1538 with backhoe, Massey Ferguson 156 gas
I have a clamp on receiver that I'd like to use to move my cargo trailer and 2 horse trailer. It hasn't gone well when I've used it. No matter how tight I clamp it, it promptly slides around in use. What could I be missing? There is literally just one screw clamp and I would have thought it was idiot proof. Apparently it isn't and it's making an idiot out of me. Anyone have a suggestion? I feel like I'm missing something obvious. It is very tight prior to use. I can't move it by hand. Horse trailer is super light Brenderup 2 horse. Haven't even tried the tandem axle cargo trailer.
 

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   / Clamp on hitch receiver, whatam I missing? #2  
The part that goes against the sharp edge of the bucket needs to be much wider. And if your bucket has a "step" under and behind the cutting edge, the receiver needs to grab onto that edge.

I made my own with one of these:


Two half inch bolts through drilled holes hold it tightly to the bucket, and it takes less than a minute to mount it. Because of my lightweight bucket, I need to brace it to the upper center of the bucket, at a D-ring I installed. I can see the ball when I am sitting and the bucket is flat on the ground
.buckethitch1.JPGbuckethitch2.jpg



Bruce
 
   / Clamp on hitch receiver, whatam I missing? #3  
While bcp's solution certainly looks strong and effective, there are simpler ways of securing your receiver. I have one from Titan that looks identical to yours.

First, the advantage of putting it on the loader bucket is that you can adjust the height without using a riser under the ball. Just use the loader joystick. It works nicely for hooking up and unhooking the trailer, as well as for keeping the trailer tongue level while navigating uneven ground. You really should not need to brace the receiver back diagonally. That's overkill.

You need to look at two things. The first is the side view. You might need to weld or epoxy or bolt a spacer to the receiver somewhere in that slot area, so that the receiver fits more snugly to the edge of the bucket. This will make the clamp more effective.

The second thing is to keep the receiver from rotating side to side at the bucket edge. If it rotates like that, eventually it will loosen the clamp. I fortunately keep a Piranha toothbar on the bucket, and the receiver is stabilized against side-to-side movement by the teeth. I did have to weld on a bolt to the receiver as a sort of shim to make the fit more snug. You could instead weld a piece of angle iron or c-channel onto the receiver to bear against the bucket edge to prevent rotation. You might even be able to stabilize it by putting 2 c- clamps on the bucket edge-- one on each side of the receiver, to block it from rotating. I tried to avoid drilling extra holes in the bucket itself.

So basically you need to analyze how it's moving, and then improvise a few common-sense fixes to prevent those movements. I found that my first attempts were too elaborate, and simpler was better.
 
   / Clamp on hitch receiver, whatam I missing? #4  
I have clamp on forks that use basically the same tightening method.

I've only used them a few times, but to help reduce the side to side movement and loosening issue, I put a piece of wood between the clamp and the bucket so that the clamp tightens onto the wood instead of the bucket directly. Seems to help a bit.
 
   / Clamp on hitch receiver, whatam I missing? #5  
I have a clamp on receiver that I'd like to use to move my cargo trailer and 2 horse trailer. It hasn't gone well when I've used it. No matter how tight I clamp it, it promptly slides around in use. What could I be missing? There is literally just one screw clamp and I would have thought it was idiot proof. Apparently it isn't and it's making an idiot out of me. Anyone have a suggestion? I feel like I'm missing something obvious. It is very tight prior to use. I can't move it by hand. Horse trailer is super light Brenderup 2 horse. Haven't even tried the tandem axle cargo trailer.
yep, I have one of those clamp on receivers from Titan also. 'As bought', it is not satisfactory - not at all. I'll try some of the mods mentioned here and see if that doesn't make it a worthwhile purchase. So far - no...
 
   / Clamp on hitch receiver, whatam I missing? #8  
Looks interesting, but could you please explain it a little more?
 
   / Clamp on hitch receiver, whatam I missing? #9  
If you found a very much shorter ball hitch that would help by reducing the leverage that wants to twist this hitch off of the bucket while turning.
You could first try drilling new holes in the pictured hitch with it pushed into the bucket hitch as far as you can.
With no visibility for connecting, at this point I'd rather just use the drawbar on the back that you can see than this expensive looking gizmo that seems to require shims and wood blocks to make it work. Not real handy imho.
20220313_114708.jpg

Edit; I didn't mean to be so "sour" about your hitch but just looking at it I see multiple bad design ideas as to it's use and convenience.
 
   / Clamp on hitch receiver, whatam I missing?
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Thanks for the replies. It moves mostly side to side. I'll try some shim materials to see if it will stay put before attempting something more permanent. Tightening with a cheater pipe didn't help. It was super tight until the trailer moved about a foot. Very aggravating. From the positive reviews I thought it would be easy. Nothing ever is that easy, lol

Using drawbar isn't really an option. Not interested in dropping the backhoe to move a trailer once in a while.
 
 
 
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