Quick Hitches Harbor Freight quick hitch (revisited)

[allen in texas]

Well it's been awhile since I've posted here and I know these hitches have been discussed a lot but I would like to touch on the subject again.
My brother in law bought a new cat 1 hitch yesterday.
27.5 inches between the bottom hooks but they are cat 3 size. what the heck???
Anybody seen this?

 

[KennyG]

This is the Quick Hitch standard. Cat I and II quick hitches both convert to Cat III pins. You need to get adapters for the Cat I equipment pins (although a lot of people only convert them to Cat II and it will work OK in the hooks for some equipment).

The standard actually defines the dimensions for equipment that will be "quick hitch" compatible. The key elements are:

Cat III pins
Maximum of 26.90" outside dimensions of the structure at the lower pins
15" center to center vertical difference between lower and top pin.

Any attachment that differs from this may require modification.

 

[allen in texas]

My hitch from harbor freight, the second one BTW, is cat 2 pin size. cat 3 won't even go down into the hooks.
So is mine wrong?
I thought cat one hitches were cat 2 pin size (hooks) and cat 2 hitches were cat 3
The reason that this is my second hitch...
the first one was too narrow. 26 inches.
the second one is 27.5 inches. fits my equipment.

yes some of my older equipment had to have slight mods

 

[bcp]

My hitch from harbor freight, the second one BTW, is cat 2 pin size. cat 3 won't even go down into the hooks.

My HF hitch had the slots cut on a taper. They were about Cat 2 on one side and Cat 3 on the other. I had to grind them straight.

Bruce

 

[KennyG]

My HF hitch had the slots cut on a taper. They were about Cat 2 on one side and Cat 3 on the other. I had to grind them straight.

Bruce

Same problem with mine. I also had to grind them to open them up. That's why it's cheaper, I guess.

 

[allen in texas]

This gets more interesting all the time.
The Landpride specs for their cat 1 hitch says,

"Various pin sizes up to 1 1/8 can be securely locked in"

Isn't 1 1/8" cat 2?
Not trying to argue, just came here to find out other's experiences.
I'm trying to find a place that says cat one hitches are supposed to have cat 3 size hooks.

It further says for the cat 2 quick hitch,
"Various pin sizes up to 1 7/8" can be securely locked in"
1 7/8 is cat three size

ps
My cousin has a Land Pride cat 1 hitch. His will not accept cat 3 bushings in the hooks either. I'm wondering about the quality control (TIC) of harbor freight.

 

[allen in texas]

hmmm,
Maybe I should have done this first. Hope you guys don't think I'm being a jerk but...
I just got off the phone with Speeco.
Guess what, Their quick hitches for cat1 have hooks sized to accept 1 1/8 inch pins (cat 2) and adapter bushings to upsize the implement lift pins to 1 1/8 inch.

So now I'm wondering what is going on with the harbor freight quick hitch.
Like I said, mine will not accept cat 3 bushings in the hooks and they ain't cut crooked.

 

[KennyG]

Here is a page that claims to have hitches built to ASAE specs and both Cat I and Cat II hitches are adapted to Cat III pins.

Quick Hitches

And an older post with a diagram of the critical dimensions (Note that the post incorrectly says Cat II pins -look at the dimensions and you'll see they are Cat III):

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/1373862-post25.html

And here's John Deeres iMatch dimensions that are also the same:

iMatch™ Quick-Hitch (option)

 

[allen in texas]

Here is a page that claims to have hitches built to ASAE specs and both Cat I and Cat II hitches are adapted to Cat III pins.

Quick Hitches

And an older post with a diagram of the critical dimensions (Note that the post incorrectly says Cat II pins -look at the dimensions and you'll see they are Cat III):

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/1373862-post25.html

And here's John Deeres iMatch dimensions that are also the same:

iMatch Quick-Hitch (option)

This shows that there is a lot of differing measurements for hitches.
The one that strikes me is the first link, The one to the wikco hitches, shows an inside measurement between the lower hooks to be 25.75 inches.
That's funny because the ASAE for a cat one implement is 26.00 inches with approximately 9/10 of an inch additional for the hitch pin shoulders.
I guess you use what works for you.


ps, think I'll go to bed now this makes my head hurt

 

[Hilltop Hillbilly]

This shows that there is a lot of differing measurements for hitches.

Unfortunately with tractor hitches, "standard" dimensions are hardly standard, with way too much variability between manufacturers due to the way the 3PH evolved over time. The width (at 26") finally settled, but the height between the lift arm pins and toplink pin can range quite a bit (~14.75 - ~16.75)

In any case, both mine and a neighbor's HF 3PH are 27.5" inside dimension, and accepts Cat 2 pins, as it should. I bought Cat 1 to Cat 2 bushings down at TSC for less than a dollar each for my implements.

If yours requires Cat 3 pins, you bought something weird.


HH

 

[jpm1]

I have 2 of these quick hitches, both cat 1, one has cat 1 hooks and the last one i bought has cat 3 hooks at cat 1 spacing. It hasn't created a problem yet and don't expect it will. If it does i'll weld some metal to the back side of the hook to lessen the hooks gap. What the heck, it was reap cheap, it was painted nicely and it works so . . . don't worry about the small stuff . . .John

 

[allen in texas]

Unfortunately with tractor hitches, "standard" dimensions are hardly standard, with way too much variability between manufacturers due to the way the 3PH evolved over time. The width (at 26") finally settled, but the height between the lift arm pins and toplink pin can range quite a bit (~14.75 - ~16.75)

In any case, both mine and a neighbor's HF 3PH are 27.5" inside dimension, and accepts Cat 2 pins, as it should. I bought Cat 1 to Cat 2 bushings down at TSC for less than a dollar each for my implements.

If yours requires Cat 3 pins, you bought something weird.


HH

note that I said my brother in law bought a new harbor freight hitch that seems to be sized in the hooks for cat 3. the one I have is cat 2.

that ain't to say that I never bought anything weird before.

Bottom line, IMO, a cat 1 quick hitch should have hooks that accept cat 2 size lift pins.

 

[KennyG]

There are certainly Cat 1 quick hitches that have Cat 2 pin sizing on the lower hook. However, these are not strictly compliant with the ASAE quick hitch standard. Apparently the HF quick hitch is attempting to be compliant, they just seem to have trouble forging hooks with straight sides.

As can be seen in the links I posted above, the standard assumes that both Cat 1 and Cat 2 quick hitches will accept 1-7/16 Cat 3 lower pins. This is how John Deere builds the iMatch and, if you go looking at quick hitch adapters, you will find that most convert the 7/8 Cat I pins to 1-7/16, not 1-1/8. Of course, you can find all kinds of Cat 1 to Cat 2 adapters, but these are not really adapters that meet the ASAE standard for quick hitches.

 

[allen in texas]

Update...
My brother in law returned hitch, got another one with the exact same part number in an identical box and guess what, it has cat 2 (perfect fit btw) hooks.

go figure.

 

[Hilltop Hillbilly]

Update...
My brother in law returned hitch, got another one with the exact same part number in an identical box and guess what, it has cat 2 (perfect fit btw) hooks.

go figure.

That's what I would expect. Glad to hear you got it sorted out.

Sounds like somebody at the factory or at HF goofed up on that first one.


HH