Drawbar towing.

[LouNY]

Did my first welding in ag class in school, didn't buy my first welder till I was in my later 20's. A Lincoln AC buzz box. They are much less expensive now days, get an arc welder and some scrap and go for it. As my father would have told me you can't learn any younger. The new inverter arc welders are relatively inexpensive and with u-tube and practice anything is possible.

 

[jack32008]

Yeah, I took a 3-month Welding Class onboard a Nuclear-powered Cruiser while serving in the Western-Pacific (WESTPAC) in the early '80 while deployed in the US Navy. There it was just 'stick' welding. I passed the course, but to this day I don't know how I pulled that off.

I have a nice Eastwood MIG welder w/gas setup somewhere in the shop, and I still 'suck' at welding. Now that I'm retired, I should take your advice and start practicing in my spare time.

Have a good day and THANKS for the inspiration!!!

 

[nknelsen]

Sold my BX 25 "starter" tractor and upgraded to new L6060 with cat 1 3 pt drawbar hitch supplied by dealer. Tnought I was getting a cat 2 drawbar atrachment. The cat 1 has eleven 3/4 inch holes. I want to attach both 2 inch and 2 5/16 balls for moving wood chipper, splitter, empty flatbed trailer ( approx 3000 lbs with no load ). Tractor rear wheels are loaded. 2 inch ball is available with 3/4 shaft but smallest 2 5/16 ball comes in 1 inch shaft and up. So, can I drill one of the holes up to 1 inch or will I weaken the drawbar significantly? Are there other options, perhaps a way to attach a 2 inch hitch receiver to this drawbar? I have front pallet forks that I could possibly weld a receiver hitch to. Appreciate all thoughts, comments. Thank you.

I bought one of these, it allows for any ball or pintle attachment and allows me to hook on, lift and move most any trailer without getting off the seat. I modified this unit to fit quickly onto a three point hitch quick attachment. I love the versatility it allows.

 

[troverman]

There is no limiter built into the tractors 3 point to stop the arms from lifting from an external source. The hydraulics will only lift so far but the arms can usually be forced past that point easily.

Below is a pic of my L4060 when it was brand new. How would the travel of the hydraulic cylinders not limit the ultimate travel of the 3-point lift arms? In the background you can see the gooseneck I mentioned (its also generally how I move my tractors around). Being a dovetail, even if it did lift, the dove would be digging into the ground pretty quickly. Using 4x4 also still allows braking in the event the rear wheels lifted off the ground. In my case, the rears are loaded and as I said, I wouldn't be taking this up or down a steep grade unless I figured out how to wire in a trailer brake controller.

 

[ttouring]

Sold my BX 25 "starter" tractor and upgraded to new L6060 with cat 1 3 pt drawbar hitch supplied by dealer. Tnought I was getting a cat 2 drawbar atrachment. The cat 1 has eleven 3/4 inch holes. I want to attach both 2 inch and 2 5/16 balls for moving wood chipper, splitter, empty flatbed trailer ( approx 3000 lbs with no load ). Tractor rear wheels are loaded. 2 inch ball is available with 3/4 shaft but smallest 2 5/16 ball comes in 1 inch shaft and up. So, can I drill one of the holes up to 1 inch or will I weaken the drawbar significantly? Are there other options, perhaps a way to attach a 2 inch hitch receiver to this drawbar? I have front pallet forks that I could possibly weld a receiver hitch to. Appreciate all thoughts, comments. Thank you.

Do you need the 2 5/16 ball ? Of so you considered something you can bolt on the draw bar to add a 2 5/16 ball to ?

 

[LouNY]

With just external cylinders it may, have you ever lifted it to it's max and then walked around and tried to lift a lift arm more?

 

[4Liberty]

What would you like to know. It was my second design for a three point trailer hitch.

My first was just a ball for a qooseneck on a quick hitch and we would wrap a chain around and down to the drawbar for safety
View attachment 849623

This was the second build for handling most all trailers, the yellow legs are just pined so they are easy to remove or repin with the base higher in the air. They can be removed or left on as desired and they also help hold the hitch up for hooking up to the tractor with or without a trailer attached.
View attachment 849624View attachment 849625


There is no limiter built into the tractors 3 point to stop the arms from lifting from an external source. The hydraulics will only lift so far but the arms can usually be forced past that point easily.

Which is why I always recommend a chain from the hitch down to a solid part of the tractor to prevent the three point from being lifted past it's design height.

For clarity I had a three point type mount like some have pictured. In my situation chains or not same ending, unless the chains were short enough to keep it from lifting at all. When it pushed up the ball broke when the arms slammed against the top travel of the lift arms. They stopped the trailer didn’t. The purpose of my post was simply to beware of what can happen. Chains or not I’ll still back down hills with stuff attached to the lift arms like that.

 

[LouNY]

I have not had any problems using a chain as a limiter. I normally set the chain so it is getting tight at the top of the lift travel. It would take quite a lift to go any higher as it would have to be lifting the rear of the tractor. I have spun out with the tractor while backing up hill.

 

[JBacon52]

Sold my BX 25 "starter" tractor and upgraded to new L6060 with cat 1 3 pt drawbar hitch supplied by dealer. Tnought I was getting a cat 2 drawbar atrachment. The cat 1 has eleven 3/4 inch holes. I want to attach both 2 inch and 2 5/16 balls for moving wood chipper, splitter, empty flatbed trailer ( approx 3000 lbs with no load ). Tractor rear wheels are loaded. 2 inch ball is available with 3/4 shaft but smallest 2 5/16 ball comes in 1 inch shaft and up. So, can I drill one of the holes up to 1 inch or will I weaken the drawbar significantly? Are there other options, perhaps a way to attach a 2 inch hitch receiver to this drawbar? I have front pallet forks that I could possibly weld a receiver hitch to. Appreciate all thoughts, comments. Thank you.

This is my solution..

 

[JBacon52]

I added a 2 foot long, 2" hitch draw bar to the Cat1 drawbar, along with extra steel, then built a set of forms around it, and filled the forms with concrete. No trailer I have towed has been able to lift the 1300 pound counterweight.View attachment 841552View attachment 841553

In a former life, I was a lead form carpenter, working on highway bridges, I approve of your job!

 

[LouNY]

W

This is my solution.. View attachment 849664

With no fixed drawbar it could be difficult to get a safety chain on that to prevent the trailer from lifting the lift arms. If you want to see what I mean raise your 3 point all the way up then give a good upward heave on that trailer ball and see what happens.

 

[bcp]

W

With no fixed drawbar it could be difficult to get a safety chain on that to prevent the trailer from lifting the lift arms. If you want to see what I mean raise your 3 point all the way up then give a good upward heave on that trailer ball and see what happens.

Put a chain where the red line is (or farther forward if there are more places on the lower link), on both sides. That should prevent a lift.



Bruce

 

[hslogger]

I pull with the standard draw bar that is attached to the rear axle. Why risk potential damage/accidents using a 3-point arm drawbar. And all the other paraphernalia that is needed to help make it safe.

On the other hand - the only thing I have to pull - a farm wagon. The tongue of my farm wagon - attached to a 3-point drawbar - could raise to any height and not be of any concern. My farm wagon tongue is jointed where it attaches to the wagon. Raising the tongue would have no impact on the farm wagon or the tractor.

BTW - after YEARS of practice - I'm finally getting better at backing this wagon.

View attachment 839377

the best thing for backing a farm wagon is A TEAM of HORSES! I have one of the OMNI MFG three point adapters that bolts to the iron drawbar and attaches to the top link. It has a receiver. I have found it to be most satisfactory for everything I use it for. It is solid and not sloppy. Just using a bottom drawbar with ball is pretty bogus IMHO. Using a frame mount draw bar under the tractor works but it doesn't allow real freedom of movement that the assembly does.

 

[LouNY]

Put a chain where the red line is (or farther forward if there are more places on the lower link), on both sides. That should prevent a lift.

View attachment 849665

Bruce

I am not seeing how that would limit upward travel of the lift arms, it would need to be down to were a fixed drawbar would be mounted. Possibly the blue lines would get tight before it came too high.

 

[4Liberty]

I have not had any problems using a chain as a limiter. I normally set the chain so it is getting tight at the top of the lift travel. It would take quite a lift to go any higher as it would have to be lifting the rear of the tractor. I have spun out with the tractor while backing up hill.

I wouldn’t be against using chains as you’ve described, after it happened I’ve always attached the trailer safety chains to the drawbar bracket underneath the tractor and the breakaway switch. In the situation I had with the ball failure an awful lot of stuff would have to fail simultaneously for the trailer to do that again. Spooked me good is what it did. Fortunately I was given the chance to correct my lack of attention.

 

[LD1]

I am not seeing how that would limit upward travel of the lift arms, it would need to be down to were a fixed drawbar would be mounted. Possibly the blue lines would get tight before it came too high.
View attachment 849671

IT will because it prevents the rotation of the lower arm and trailer mover in relation to one another

 

[Deanes]

I am guessing that you are referring to this type of "drawbar"
View attachment 839075

The lower bar in this picture is the actual drawbar.
View attachment 839077

When using a pull point attached to the 3 point just be aware that there is NO hold down force in the 3 point assembly.
While 3 point hitches are handy and versatile they do require one step often over looked, a chain or other travel limiting device needs to be used to prevent trailer loading from lifting the drawbars and raming things into undesired locations such as fender and fuel tanks.

In this picture at the bottom of the picture you can see the clevis attached to the tractors drawbar and to hooks in the hitch to limit upward movement.
View attachment 839078

another view showing the chains getting tight at the top of the 3 point lift
View attachment 839079

Yes, tie it down. One night, I was pulling a hay wagon full of fat people on a hayride using just the 3-point crossbar. Going down a steep hill the wagon came forward, lifted the rear tractor wheels off the ground and we were off to the races. Fortunately, kept it straight and the hill was short. Exciting!

 

[AnotherBueller]

Sounds like you have a problem with government regulations on firearms! If so, then you are obligated to come up with a solution to the problem.

Huh? Whats that got to do with firearms. The only bridge reamer usage I've ever heard of is in machining to make a hole just a little larger or to make a tapered hole.

 

[AnotherBueller]

This is my solution.. View attachment 849664

I don't understand how that would prevent the trailer from lifting the 3 point.

 

[LD1]

I don't understand how that would prevent the trailer from lifting the 3 point.

IT will. Geometry.

Go pick any implement in your stable that uses all 3 points on the 3PH.

Hook it to the tractor, and lower it all the way. Take a measurement from the toplink to a point on the lower arm.
Now raise it and measure between the EXACT same two points again and you will see that it got longer.

The implement doesnt lift STRAIGHT in relationship to the lower arm. The toplink forces the implement to rotate about the lower pins.