Buying Advice has anyone bought a new modern ag

QRTRHRS · Mar 9, 2011

I took some photos of my drawbar hitch to show what my dislike is. If you can visulize the bar in the third photo being the drawbar, what happens is it sags causing the drawbar hole to wear oblong.

I fill the spaces with large flat washers which minimizes the sag but the washers wear away.

The drawbar on my Mahindra has the two smaller holes forward of the main pin hole for attaching one of those stabilizers that positions and extra hole over the main hole if you know what I am talking about. Not sure of the exact correct term for them.

I ordered one from Mahindra but when it came in it was not correct and then they said not available. I need to weld one up myself.

Even the dealer agrees that the setup is poorly thought out and has offered some ideas that other owners tried. One was to weld a piece of flat stock onto the top of the yoke that lays over the tongue behind the yoke but to me, that would limit travel.

Thick82558 · Mar 10, 2011

That must be a tow behind unit rather than a 3 pt hitch one that you would pick up to travel with.

jdbnh · Mar 10, 2011

QRTRHRS said:
I took some photos of my drawbar hitch to show what my dislike is. If you can visulize the bar in the third photo being the drawbar, what happens is it sags causing the drawbar hole to wear oblong.

I fill the spaces with large flat washers which minimizes the sag but the washers wear away.

The drawbar on my Mahindra has the two smaller holes forward of the main pin hole for attaching one of those stabilizers that positions and extra hole over the main hole if you know what I am talking about. Not sure of the exact correct term for them.

I ordered one from Mahindra but when it came in it was not correct and then they said not available. I need to weld one up myself.

Even the dealer agrees that the setup is poorly thought out and has offered some ideas that other owners tried. One was to weld a piece of flat stock onto the top of the yoke that lays over the tongue behind the yoke but to me, that would limit travel.

i dont know how old your mower is but they now have an adjustable ratchet with a cable underneath the tongue, so you can adjust it to fit your tractor so it doesnt sag.

Thick82558 · Mar 11, 2011

What are some prices for a 5' galvanized one

jdbnh · Mar 11, 2011

a 5 footer galvanized with a shear bolt is $1350 here in texas and with a slip clutch is $1625

QRTRHRS · Mar 11, 2011

jdbnh said:
i dont know how old your mower is but they now have an adjustable ratchet with a cable underneath the tongue, so you can adjust it to fit your tractor so it doesnt sag.

Bought it new three years ago. Not sure how long it had sat on the dealers lot. Modern's web site is not to extensive so I was not aware that they had made a change. I suppose I should have emailed Modern about the yoke but I am the kind of person that will just go ahead and re-engineer something to suit my needs.

In addition to fabbing up something to stabilize the drawbar pin, I was also thinking about fabbing up something to hold a rubber bumper against the tounge behind the yoke. I don't have decent place set up to weld so it takes me awhile to get around to these things.

This would not be the first deck that I have modified to suit my needs. For instance, I had a 6' rotory that I welded up some wedge shaped stock to the front corners to deflect the deck off of a fence post if I go to close.

QRTRHRS · Mar 11, 2011

Thick82558 said:
That must be a tow behind unit rather than a 3 pt hitch one that you would pick up to travel with.

Yes it is. I think Modern might make a ten foot 3pt version but generally the larger decks use a drawbar hitch.

Nice thing about the smaller 3pt decks is being able to drop the deck on top of a bush rather than to push through it and bend something.

dawoodwa · Mar 11, 2011

QRTRHRS said:
I took some photos of my drawbar hitch to show what my dislike is. If you can visulize the bar in the third photo being the drawbar, what happens is it sags causing the drawbar hole to wear oblong.

I fill the spaces with large flat washers which minimizes the sag but the washers wear away.

The drawbar on my Mahindra has the two smaller holes forward of the main pin hole for attaching one of those stabilizers that positions and extra hole over the main hole if you know what I am talking about. Not sure of the exact correct term for them.

I ordered one from Mahindra but when it came in it was not correct and then they said not available. I need to weld one up myself.

Even the dealer agrees that the setup is poorly thought out and has offered some ideas that other owners tried. One was to weld a piece of flat stock onto the top of the yoke that lays over the tongue behind the yoke but to me, that would limit travel.

My 15' Rhino has a tongue like this and we use spacers that we cut from flat plate. Have to make several different sizes because our tractors have different drawbar thicknesses. Our hay equipment is the same way with the "equal angle" hitch, John Deere supplies the spacers with the hitches but after a couple of seasons I wind up having to fab some more. They seem to disappear when the mower or baler is unhooked.