Drawbar limits

[Soundguy]

I'm fabricating a bracket right now that used the fender mount bolts on the axles trumpets.. and then suspends an underslung steel bar between the two.. then have a drawbar point off of that for an old 46 ford I have ( The fender/axle bolt mounts are where the NH dealers place the rops connections when they retrofit... so I take that to mean that that is the strongest -available- connecting point on the back of the tractor..'

I'm not sure what these tractor manufacturers were thinking putting drawbar mounts into cast iron diffy bottoms.. that in some cases are 1/2" thick ...

For instance...a friend with a ford 1210 ripped a quarter sized hole in his diff where a bolt pulled out of the cast.. sticking your finger in there, it is a 1/2" thick casting?!?!?! what engineer voted on that design!?!?!

Soundguy

 

[Phred]

You may be right that the mount could break first.

My point is that if the traiiler is so heavy that it breaks the draw bar / draw bar mount then you need either a bigger tractor or a lighter trailer.

If the drawbar is not up to the load what about the tractor's brakes?

Fred

 

[Soundguy]

I agree.

Soundguy

 

[rambler]

One break can be a flaw in workmanship somewhere. If you are breaking several, you are obviously overloading your tractor & are putting people in real danger. Drawbars should be able to take the full pull of the tractor & then some, but they are not so strong at taking _weight_ wich is totally different than pulling power.

CUT's are especially light on this detail.

You are overloading the weight limit of your drawbar. Do something differently. It is dangerous this way.

--->Paul

 

[KubotaSteve]

I used to have a 7200DT and the bolts on my drawbar kept coming loose and the threads were in horrible shape. i replaced them and used loctite to keep them in. It worked fine and other than loose bolts I never had a problem with the drawbar. It appears whoever owned it before me really abused the drawbar because part of the rear end housing was broke off (I couldn't see it until I was up under it one day) and I would venture to say if one was to continue to rip with it the case would break open the rest of the way.
Keep in mind that the tongue on most trailers is slanted down to the drawbar and that intensifies the weight on it especially going over bumps.

 

[Steve_Miller]

Sorry I haven't been replying lately but I couldn't log on for some reason or other for a couple of weeks. I've been rereading my posts and I never did describe what actually broke. It was the pocket that the drawbar slides in and out of. The pocket assembly is bolted by three bolts underneath into the rear housing and then it protrudes up and there are two 'L' types legs that protrude up each side and this is where the swaybar rod goes thru and then the pocket is out behind. Its breaking between where the bolts are and where the swaybar rod goes thru. To me it looks like there is metal fatigue as the bolts have never came loose, but the rod holes have some play allowing the pocket to flex at the point between. As long as I remember this movement (play) has always been there. As far as the drawbar being out too far it is the factory drawbar and it has one hole in each end, the one on the pocket end is about 3" in and the one for the ball is right out to the end. As far as the drawbar weight (tongue weight) I'm guessing that I have never had anymore than 300-400lbs on it at the worse case, other than your normal pulls and strains of rough terrain. Hope this gives you a better picture of what is happening.

Thanks Steve

 

[Soundguy]

If 300 pounds of tounge weight is ripping the pocket open.. whoever is gluing it back together isn't a good welder. That or the welded pieces is so far gone that it needs a replacement.. not a repair. The fact that it has play, and 'flexes' isn't a good sign.. whether it has been that way for 20ys or not. It is just going to keep breaking as it has.. and one day, it's gonna take a piece of the rear case with it.

Soundguy

 

[5030]

I second that. I'd completely remove the pocket and fab up a new one. Make it a little thicker too.

Any good fab shop can make you a new one or you can make it yourself. If you were close, I'd make you one for a couple of beers, that is.