Pats easy change problems

[bandit67]

Are your pins welded on to the implements? Many of the manufacturers ship the implements that have the threaded pins with lock washers and nuts, turned inward to protect them from damage during shipping, then the owner turns them outward before initial use. I assume you already know this, but just in case...

I've used my Pat's system on my landscape rake, rear blade, and tiller, and thank myself every time I switch rear implements for being smart enough to buy the links and make my life easier. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[normde2001]

" but then the lift arm sway bars would be too wide and would rub my tires. My box blade and shredder have the pins pointing inward and came that way from the factory. I only have about 1" between the sway bars and tires."

Sure would like to see a picture of that. That ain't right.

 

[bdog]

Sorry still no pics yet but the pins are just bolted in. I got the implements from the dealer I got them from and he had already torqued all the bolts including the pins and even had the shredder hooked up when I took delivery. If you are not using the easychange system to me it really does not matter if the pins point in or out it seems just as easy to hook up either way.

My implements are the right size. 6' shredder, 7' box blade, both are cat 1 and so is my tractor. One thing I notice is my rear tires are very close together on my tractor. They are adjustable but if I widened them then my FEL would not cover my tracks when back dragging. As far as I can tell everything is correct with the lift arms and their orientation on my tractor.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Pins 'in' or pins 'out' should not matter with Pat's system. I've used it both ways with a PHD. It simply should make no difference.

Also, my tiller and both box blades have pins that are captured on both side so there is no 'in' or 'out' facing pin, it is enclosed in a 3 sided steel sleeve and the Pat's works equally well with those implements.

Do you have the Pat's on upside down? Were the lower arms installed backwards, reversed, etc? Honestly, I'm at a loss.

 

[bdog]

Here are the pictures. This is the side view showing where the contact is.

 

[bdog]

Here is a top view showing the linkage. Notice how the lift arms have plenty of clearance but the sway bars are barely missing the tires.

 

[bdog]

The pictures don't show it well but right now there is about 1-1.5" clearance between the tires and the turnbuckles on the sway bars on each side. The box blade is slighty wider and the problem is worse. There is about 3/4" clearance when all connected up. If I tighten up the sway bars the implement stays in place and I have never had any rubbing issues but I don't think it would work with the pins facing out as it would be too wide.

 

[bdog]

Also looking at the first picture one might say just make the top link longer and it won't hit, but this won't work. The rear wheel on the shredder is already hitting the ground.

 

[Indydirtfarmer]

Let's cut to the chase here. CAT I 3-point lower link arms should be 26-1/2" apart.How far apart are they in that photo? I'd say that the problem stems from the tire/wheels being set narrow.

 

[HammerFour]

I ran into a very similar problem on my father in laws NH 30 hp tractor.

His main problem were the 3PH lift arms were installed backwards, we also swapped the rear wheels from side to side to get a wider track and more clearance for the lift arms.

If it were me, I would set the rear tires for enough of a wider track to get sufficent clearance to put the pins facing out on the implements. Once you do that, the quick hitch has a much better chance of working correctly.

You also get a wider stance in case you have any slopes to work on.

I set the rear wheels on my Kubota to the widest position, I even think it improved the ride, but that may be wishful thinking, haha.

I also would set the pins on the implements to point out, that is how they are designed to work, I would be concerned using normal sized implements like you have with the pins facing in, the narrower width on the lift arms would seem to me to make them more unstable side to side...but maybe thats just my imagination again.