flwiii
Gold Member
I just picked up one from the HF Store and found that the unit is not fitted as well as the expensive JD I-match, but for the difference in price, who cares. It fit my JD 2305 lift arms with no problems. I did notice that the lower lynch pins that came with the quick hitch were too small in diameter. I fear that these will wallow out the lift arm balls, so I used a large rattail file to enlarge the holes in the HF Quick Hitch to accept my 7/8" link pins. It required only minor filing to get it to fit.
My next concern is the difference in the lift hooks on the HF Quick Hitch versus the JD I-Match. The I-Match upper hook is sized to 1 1/4 inch bushing and 1 1/2 inch lower bushings. This is not the case on the HF model. The upper hook is sized for the same 1 1/4 inch bushing but the bottom hooks are set for 1 inch bushings. This poses a problem as my lower link pins are 7/8 inch. I can't find a bushing with a 7/8 inch inside dia. and a 1 inch outside dia., also afraid that this bushing would not last long being so thin. Currently I am not using a bushing on the bottom hooks, just picking up right off the 7/8 inch link pins. Could this cause a problem because of the difference of 1/8 inch in link pins to hook slot?
I also had to spread apart the upper bout of my Frontier box blade by using a 3 1/2 inch long bushing instead of the 2 inch bushing as it would bind up on the bolts that attached the HF upper hook to the housing. With the top ears spread further apart the bolts of the upper hook clear the box blade without hitting. All in all it took about 5 hours to get all my implements to fit to the HF Quick hitch. I was hoping that the HF would have the same size lower hooks so that the JD bushing kit would work. Just expecting too much I guess.
My next concern is the difference in the lift hooks on the HF Quick Hitch versus the JD I-Match. The I-Match upper hook is sized to 1 1/4 inch bushing and 1 1/2 inch lower bushings. This is not the case on the HF model. The upper hook is sized for the same 1 1/4 inch bushing but the bottom hooks are set for 1 inch bushings. This poses a problem as my lower link pins are 7/8 inch. I can't find a bushing with a 7/8 inch inside dia. and a 1 inch outside dia., also afraid that this bushing would not last long being so thin. Currently I am not using a bushing on the bottom hooks, just picking up right off the 7/8 inch link pins. Could this cause a problem because of the difference of 1/8 inch in link pins to hook slot?
I also had to spread apart the upper bout of my Frontier box blade by using a 3 1/2 inch long bushing instead of the 2 inch bushing as it would bind up on the bolts that attached the HF upper hook to the housing. With the top ears spread further apart the bolts of the upper hook clear the box blade without hitting. All in all it took about 5 hours to get all my implements to fit to the HF Quick hitch. I was hoping that the HF would have the same size lower hooks so that the JD bushing kit would work. Just expecting too much I guess.
