Counterweight

[MChalkley]

Wen - I don't think there's any chance that you could get enough upward force on the three-point hitch to cause you any trouble, unless you were going uphill. That's the potential problem that I see - the hitch will raise to accomdate the angle of the tractor in relation to the pipe - and that would be an advantage going downhill and a disadvantage going up. But I would think you'd have to be going up a pretty steep hill before it would cause much of a problem. Of course, the drawbar would still be safer...

Mark
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by MChalkley on 7/12/00 07:58 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[W5FL]

Yeah, that is what I figured too. You really want to be careful with any hookup that causes a lifting moment on the front end. The distance the tractor has to travel to get you in trouble with perfect traction is only a few feet. The drawbar tends to put a down pressure on the front end and that helps in almost all conditions. Don't use the drawbar on a frozen lake. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[TomG]

I'm just thinking the 3ph geometry through. Am I right? The 3ph arms attach to the tractor above the rear axle, so even though a load on the hitch may be below the axle, it's still possible to lift the front end. I'm just trying to figure if pulling something from the hitch is ever as safe as from the drawbar.

As an aide to safety, I have the top plate off my drawbar, and a 1" clevis fits neatly in one to the holes. I leave the clevis there so I am never tempted to hook anything to whatever implement is on the hitch.

 

[W5FL]

Tom,

Pulling implements that are properly designed with the 3 point is safe. The three point actually pulls from about the same location as the drawbar. The lifting arms raise the implement and thus change the center of gravity of the implement. Unfortunately, it is necessary to decrease the stability in order to get the box blade or other implement lifted for transport. When lifted, there is no pulling force exerted on the 3 point. The top link may or may not be in tension during use and this has some effect on stability, but primarily is used to position the implement from front to back in angle to the ground.

The drawbar is always recommended for pulling heavy stuff. When pulling a fertilizer spreader, I may be pulling over 6000# from the drawbar and that is a moderately heavy load particularly over plowed - rough ground. People get in trouble more often with chains tied to heavy or immovable objects and not fully understanding the results of how they couple that load to the tractor and the angle of the pull on the tractor. Chains fastened to buckets can cause the same problem. Common sense helps, but fully understanding where the force goes is even more helpful.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Tom - are you sure your 3pt arms that the implement connect are above the rear axle? I can't recalling any recent tractor that is that way. With Mr. Ferguson's design back in the thirties, they come from below the axle, are you thinking about the arms that lift the implement arms?

 

[gerard]

I didn't explain it well. I wasn't refering to the pipe you actually use as the drag but to another pipe that you could run the chain through where it attached to your drawbar. It would have the effect of making the chain rigid for the first maybe 3ft from the drawbar so if you made a tight turn it would be a pipe (with the chin running through it)that would hit the side of the tire, and that SHOULD just slide off. This would only work if you hooked it up like someone else suggested as far as running the two end chains to a single chain, then the single chain to the drawbar. (The single chain is what would run inside the pipe.) Wish we could draw in this forum!! Picture worth a thousand words............

 

[Bird]

OK, gerard, I've got the picture now. And if you used a big enough diameter pipe, under some circumstances, with some types of tires, it should slide off. However, you might be surprised at some of the things the lugs on R1 tires will catch and lift. I believe I'd just stay with the chain without the pipe.

Bird