Hydraulic toplink on 2015

[TBrown]

I thought I’d put a few photos up for anyone thinking of getting a hydraulic toplink for their 2015. I recently purchased mine from Carter & Carter after reading a couple threads and looking at Bigorange121’s photos of his 3015 with a CCM toplink. My biggest concern was whether or not to order the 16” to 22.5” toplink or the 19” to 27.5”. The link that came with the tractor measured 18” center of eye to center of eye at its shortest and around 25” when hooked up to my snowblower. Of course, I won’t be able to use a hydraulic toplink with my snowblower because I need the remotes to turn the chute, but I figured the length needed would be roughly the same for most implements so I ordered the longer one.

The gentleman I talked to at Carter & Carter recommended using ¼” hydraulic lines to prevent the cylinder from moving too fast. I bought mine off the shelf at TSC in 36” lengths. I’m sure now that I could have made do with 24” lines.

Here is a photo of my tractor with the box blade pretty close to level.

 

[TBrown]

The toplink is fully retracted in this photo (I did lift the blade off the ground a little so it didn’t dig in). There must be a little fluctuation in the manufacturing process because my toplink measures 19 ¼” from center of eye to center of eye. I think if I needed it to retract a little bit further I could buy a Pat’s Easy Change (great excuse, in fact. “Honey, I need a Pat’s Easy Change system. My tractor won’t work properly without it!”) but honestly, I think the length will be fine.

 

[TBrown]

Here’s a photo of the toplink fully extended.

They come primered from CCM, so I painted mine with some red Rustleum I had sitting around. It’s far from an exact match, but it’s what I had. Rustoleum offers quite a few different shades of red and I’m sure they have one a bit closer to Mahindra Red, but with my eye for color I would have had to bring the hood or a fender into the store with me, and even then it would have been a crap shoot.

I went out and leveled off a 20’ section of road I’d cut through the woods right after taking these photos. It toplink worked great, and it sure is handy when using the box blade.

BTW, I did turn that tooth around right after taking these photos so that it wouldn’t snag a hose. Not sure why it was turned around to begin with but it spent the winter like that. I must have been in a hurry last fall.

 

[MadReferee]

You got good advice about using 1/4" hoses. Several people here have used them and they do slow the action of the cylinder to allow feathering of the cylinder position. A line restrictor would work also but the smaller diameter hoses are much less expensive.

 

[PBinWA]

Nice set up. Did your 2015 come with the rear remotes or did you add them on yourself?

PB

 

[DavesTractor]

The 1/4" hoses are also much more flexible, they are the only way to go.

 

[TBrown]

I had my dealer install the remotes a year or so after I bought the tractor. They were an option I would have liked when I originally purchased the tractor but I guess the kits were still in development or something, because the dealer couldn't get them for a few months. We did look into buying all the pieces seperately but that is definitely not the way to go... it would have cost me well over a thousand dollars. We waited for Mahindra to start shipping the kits. I don't remember how much the remotes ended up costing me because I purchased the cab and had it installed at the same time, but they still weren't real cheap. Nowadays the thing to do would be to get them when you purchase the tractor, that would probably be the cheapest way to go.