Offsetting a 3point attachment?

[slingworks]

I'm wondering if there's a way or an adapter that allows a 3 point implement to be offset to the right or left?

My father bought a Bomet 1 Row Potato planter a couple years back. Its a single row planter that I think is really made for small, narrow tractors like a Kubota. I used it last year on my Zetor, but there really was a way to make it work out adjusting the wheels to work on 36" wide rows so we ended up with like 5' rows. I would have advised him to buy the more normal sized 2 row, but he didn't ask or tell me he was going to order it.

It's a ground driven machine, no pto involved.

I'd like to have everything on 36" rows so I can use a 2 row hiller and cultivators (corn/beans).

 

[CobyRupert]

How much offset do you need?

Here’s a thread about offsetting. One guy made some brackets to offset the pins of his mower.

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/threads/adaptor-to-offset-3pt-hitch-bushhog.224439/

 

[slingworks]

How much offset do you need?

Here’s a thread about offsetting. One guy made some brackets to offset the pins of his mower.

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/threads/adaptor-to-offset-3pt-hitch-bushhog.224439/

I'm guessing about 18"? That would be half a row. I can pull about 6" out using the sway straps but that's max.

 

[California]

This idea is probably too light-duty for that potato planter but it might help others who find their way into this thread.

I adapted a back blade to fit my Quick Hitch. I started by hammering hitch pins into square tubing. (And welding them solid).

Then, this assembly could be welded on to your implement at an offset. In my case, I mounted it forward of existing incompatible pins.

Thread where I described this.

 

[DJ54]

60 years ago, we always planted potatoes in rows 5' O.C. and still do today, not to save space but because of the wheeled mechanical digger. Don't know how you dig yours, but even if you have a 3 pt. digger I'd think you'd be running over one row when digging the designated row. If you dig them by hand, a different story.

Also, potatoes will grow out to around 18" wide row width, so you'd have to be pretty careful cultivating/hilling. I have my Farmall 130 cultivators set up with a 24" gap in between the half sweeps so as not to get into the potatoes themselves when cultivating.

I am curious how your potato planter works. I have a Champion potato planter that was patented in the late 1800's and a previous owner converted from horse drawn to IH single point Fast Hitch I use behind my Farmall 130 & 140. Works pretty darn slick dropping potatoes 10" O.C. The County has a farm park and lets us plant various crops for their annual harvest celebration. We've planted 300 lbs. of potatoes in 45 minutes before. Here's a short video of us planting.

 

[Sportsman762]

here are some ideas I have saved for rotary cutter offsets.

They look easy enough to fab, and they do not permanently alter the implement.

 

[slingworks]

Actually the adapter for the bushog looks pretty effective. I'd say that might be along the lines of what I need. Wonder if that' a do it yourself or factory?

 

[slingworks]

60 years ago, we always planted potatoes in rows 5' O.C. and still do today, not to save space but because of the wheeled mechanical digger. Don't know how you dig yours, but even if you have a 3 pt. digger I'd think you'd be running over one row when digging the designated row. If you dig them by hand, a different story.

Also, potatoes will grow out to around 18" wide row width, so you'd have to be pretty careful cultivating/hilling. I have my Farmall 130 cultivators set up with a 24" gap in between the half sweeps so as not to get into the potatoes themselves when cultivating.

I am curious how your potato planter works. I have a Champion potato planter that was patented in the late 1800's and a previous owner converted from horse drawn to IH single point Fast Hitch I use behind my Farmall 130 & 140. Works pretty darn slick dropping potatoes 10" O.C. The County has a farm park and lets us plant various crops for their annual harvest celebration. We've planted 300 lbs. of potatoes in 45 minutes before. Here's a short video of us planting.

DJ54 this is the planter we have:

This is the digger we have. The digger is offset by design to the side,so it can be used o 36" rows.

The planter is pretty much same overall function as yours. Chain cups and all. Even has a platform on the back for riding, even though it has a plate that says no riding while moving! LOL.

Both of those units are Polish built and dad paid pretty good money for them. I just wish he had consulted me on the planter first.

I've been scheming to buy an old row crop tractor to cultivate/hill potatoes and use a sprayer this year. Been looking at Case VACs. (Cheap/tall) My tractors here are somewhat unsuitable for those tasks. Almost bought a 140 Farmall last year but got stingy at the mast moment.

 

[DJ54]

Digger looks interesting, when you get to using it it'd be great to get a video. Looks to me like you'd have to set the right rear tire on the tractor pretty far out to get between the rows, because where it is set now, looks like tractor tire would pretty much be right on top of the row, even though the digger is offset.

On the planter, I'm wondering if you could drive close alongside a previous row planted with tractor wheels just to the right, or left of row to narrow up row spacing, or course that would depend on the wheel spacing of the tractor planter is mounted on.

I have a buddy who grows potatoes for market garden and plants in 3' rows, but he uses a walk behind tiller to cultivate and hill them. Great thing about planting that close is it shades out 90% of the weeds once the canopy spreads. But he also digs them by hand. And it's not just a few, he usually plants between 500-750 lbs. Then I get phone calls when he starts digging complaining how much work it is. I keep telling him to set them to 5' rows, and I'll let him use my digger. He hasn't taken me up on the offer yet, so let him dig them by hand.

 

[slingworks]

We used the digger for the first time last year. It worked pretty well overall. The machine is offset to place it about where a 2 row digger's unit would sit, just inside the wheel. (Imagine 2 rows under the tractor instead of 1 when digging). I'll probably post a video here in the fall, but thats a way off.

 

[old and tired]

So I had a planter that I wanted to plant 2 rows under the tractor. I mounted the planter, offset on a Tool Bar. Works great. Drive one way, turn around, plant the other row.

But the planter was designed to mount on a tool bar. Your planter is a direct mount to the tractor.... So, What about welding a cheap Harbor Freight quick hitch on a tool bar? Assuming the HF QH works with your planter...

Just offset it the 18" that you wanted...

Old used tool bars are $100 or so and the HF QH is usually $120 on sale (or less if on clearance). This is $100 remove everything behind the bar - use the mount to weld the QH too (yellow arrow). Just turn them 90*

https://raleigh.craigslist.org/grd/d/fuquay-varina-row-slide-transplanter/7882958031.html

 

[slingworks]

DJ54 I forgot to add that I've done like your buddy for a couple years now, tilling in between with a TroyBilt Horse and using the hiller attachment. It worked great, but suffered in function from the fact the rows weren't on 36" centers. I essentially ended up with hilled potatoes spaced at 5' with a dead hill (nothing in it) down the center.

The potato patch was maybe 1/2 acre. I'd like to maybe plant a couple acres this year. I've got 10 acres of bottoms I've sat aside for sweet corn/potatoes this year, might get brave?

Really not wanting to use the tiller if we expand the patch any!

 

[DJ54]

I can understand that..!!

 

[slingworks]

Now I'm going to add a bit of a twist to my original post.

The question was about offsetting the single row planter for use on a Zetor or Ford 3000.

Now, I'm wondering about something else but related:

I've been looking at Case VAC's to cultivate/spray with, BUT now I'm wanting to buy a Keluvator with disk hillers. It's a single row setup. Now I want to hill potatoes up to a pretty good height with it. Problem is that the only tractor I have that's high enough to hill large potoato plants is a Ford 5000 and it's just too big. My Zetor and the 3000 sit too low. Maybe 11" max clearance.
I also would like to experiment with hilling sweet corn this year.

So where I'm going is the idea of using a tricycle VAC with the keluvator offset just like I wanted with the potato planter. Effectively placing the hilling action between the wheel and right side of the tractor. (Plants have a good bit of clearance under axle). I've never done such a thing on what's essentially what should be a 2 row tractor. But I like the idea as it would give pretty good vision.

What I'm wondering about is how the tractor would handle? Would it cause enough drag on the right side of the tractor to cause problems steering/tracking in loose dirt?

Here's a photo of a keluvator

 

[Sportsman762]

I've been looking at Case VAC's to cultivate/spray with, BUT now I'm wanting to buy a Keluvator with disk hillers. It's a single row setup. Now I want to hill potatoes up to a pretty good height with it. Problem is that the only tractor I have that's high enough to hill large potoato plants is a Ford 5000 and it's just too big. My Zetor and the 3000 sit too low. Maybe 11" max clearance.

I am surprised your Zetor and Ford 3000 sit too low. Are they equipped with smaller tires for low profile?? I would look at seeing if larger tires would work on those tractors to get your needed height before buying another tractor.
The drawbar is generally one of the lowest points and the nebraska test on the Ford 3000 had the drawbar at 22".

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=2431&context=tractormuseumlit

 

[slingworks]

I am surprised your Zetor and Ford 3000 sit too low. Are they equipped with smaller tires for low profile?? I would look at seeing if larger tires would work on those tractors to get your needed height before buying another tractor.
The drawbar is generally one of the lowest points and the nebraska test on the Ford 3000 had the drawbar at 22".

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=2431&context=tractormuseumlit

Both of mine sit pretty low. The Ford measures at around 13" after checking The Zetor is a factory low profile 5211 and the drawbar bracket is probably 11 1/2" I don't want to modify it, I find the layout really handy for mowing and other work. (It also fits in a small shed pretty easily).
There probably are Ford 3000's that have 22" underneath, just not this one. Maybe they made a Row Crop version?

I've been wanting a cheap old row crop tractor anyway. Mainly for spraying/cultivating/hilling sweet corn and potatoes/green beans. VAC's seem to run 800-2k. There's a decent Farmall C down the road for 1k I also thought about, but don't want to spend that again for a 3pt hitch for it.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I am surprised your Zetor and Ford 3000 sit too low. Are they equipped with smaller tires for low profile?? I would look at seeing if larger tires would work on those tractors to get your needed height before buying another tractor.
The drawbar is generally one of the lowest points and the nebraska test on the Ford 3000 had the drawbar at 22".

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=2431&context=tractormuseumlit

Thats gotta be an error unless that is a huge tractor.

 

[Sportsman762]

Both of mine sit pretty low. The Ford measures at around 13" after checking The Zetor is a factory low profile 5211 and the drawbar bracket is probably 11 1/2" I don't want to modify it, I find the layout really handy for mowing and other work. (It also fits in a small shed pretty easily).

If it were me, I would probably put larger tires on the Ford 3000, but I also get tired of fixing all my old stuff and find if I have less equipment I use it more, and it breaks less as its always being used.

So where I'm going is the idea of using a tricycle VAC with the keluvator offset just like I wanted with the potato planter. Effectively placing the hilling action between the wheel and right side of the tractor. (Plants have a good bit of clearance under axle).

Tricycle tractors are significantly less stable than wide fronts. If your hilling the rows high, I would not go with a tricycle. If you look at most of the older tractors that were used in potato operations, they were wide fronts for the stability and control on the headlands when you go across the beds. I would steer more towards a farmall A, B, or 140 or other wide front. All of these tractors are pretty light but I do not think your offsetting the implements enough to cause a problem.

Thats gotta be an error unless that is a huge tractor.

Yeah that does seem tall for a 3000, but its what the official test report states. I think they used a straight drawbar or might have flipped a drop drawbar up but even then it seems tall.
The 2000 also states 25" so the error would have to be the same on two separate tests.

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2433&context=tractormuseumlit

 

[slingworks]

If it were me, I would probably put larger tires on the Ford 3000, but I also get tired of fixing all my old stuff and find if I have less equipment I use it more, and it breaks less as its always being used.

Tricycle tractors are significantly less stable than wide fronts. If your hilling the rows high, I would not go with a tricycle. If you look at most of the older tractors that were used in potato operations, they were wide fronts for the stability and control on the headlands when you go across the beds. I would steer more towards a farmall A, B, or 140 or other wide front. All of these tractors are pretty light but I do not think your offsetting the implements enough to cause a problem.


Yeah that does seem tall for a 3000, but its what the official test report states. I think they used a straight drawbar or might have flipped a drop drawbar up but even then it seems tall.
The 2000 also states 25" so the error would have to be the same on two separate tests.

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2433&context=tractormuseumlit

I'd like to have an International 140 for those uses, but they're still fairly pricey out there, especially if they have a fast hitch. I would also somewhat prefer a wide front end, but a tricycle doesn't stress me. I grew up operating tricycle Farmalls and know the limitations. The Farmall C down the road has a wide front but no three point. A tricycle does allow me to spray when things are a little taller. I guess it's all a trade off? I notice trikes tend to be cheaper on marketplace/craigslist.

All the work I have planned for one is in bottom ground that's pretty flat.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Yeah that does seem tall for a 3000, but its what the official test report states. I think they used a straight drawbar or might have flipped a drop drawbar up but even then it seems tall.
The 2000 also states 25" so the error would have to be the same on two separate tests.

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2433&context=tractormuseumlit

Our Kubota 3450 with 13.6x24 Ags has a center axle height of 21". The Ford 3000 with tires one size up is probably 22". I cant imagine anyone designing a tractor with drawbar at the height of the axle. That would be dangerous.