pulling- draw bar or hitch

[bky]

hello all
i am wondering witch would be better. pulling a heavy load with the draw bar or pulling with the trailer hitch mounted on the underside of the tractor?
and what would be les likely to hurt the tractor?

it is a l245dt and the hitch mounts by way of a pin through the hitch bar to the rear end.
thanks for any help or suggestions

 

[Bird]

Bky, we sometimes run into a problem with terminology here. The "drawbar" in my Kubota parts manual is what Tractor Supply Co. and some others refer to as a "swinging drawbar" and I'm guessing that is what you are calling the "trailer hitch"; mounted to the underside of the rear axle and sticking straight out behind. The other "drawbar" is one that goes between the two lower links on the 3-point. Under normal conditions you can tow from either one, but for maximum strength and safety, I'd say use the "swinging drawbar" or "trailer hitch" to pull the hardest.

 

[bky]

thanks for setting me stright on the "trailer hitch"= swinging drawbar i wasnt sure about the wording and i am glad you set me stright thanks.
yes i will be pulling trees with the swinging drawbar then.

 

[BigDan]

If you ever decide to use the 3ph drawbar, NEVER use it with it raised above the height of the "swinging drawbar", or you may have a messy shorts day (as in being overturned...)

 

[MossRoad]

What are some of the attachments that would use the 3pt drawbar?

<font color=green> MossRoad </font color=green>

 

[MChalkley]

MossRoad - The big difference with the 3pt drawbar is that you can vary its height. With the axle-mounted drawbar, it's fixed, so if you use it to pull a trailer, you've got to be able to set the trailer down on it, and it has to be at an appropriate height to begin with. With the 3pt drawbar, you just back under it, pick it up and go. Of course, as has been mentioned, if you're dealing with marginally unsafe weights, you have to be very careful about raising the drawbar above the axle line. On the other hand, you can also keep the 3pt drawbar lower than the fixed one, so that's a bit of a plus, but a big downside is that the 3pt drawbar can "float" upward as you start up a hill - while the fixed drawbar is always in the same plane relative to the axis of the tractor.

MarkC

 

[Pks]

I use that for pulling my lawn sweeper and motorcycle/utility trailer.

Depending upon the hitch classification: class 1, class 2 etc. the abilities change dramatically. For example a Class 2- 3 pt hitch drawbar will handle several thousand pounds of pulling load. But a class 1 is only good for just over 1000 pounds.

Does anyone recall the exact load ratings for Class 1 and Class 2 3 point hitches?

 

[MikePA]

These are the classes for vehicle hitches. I wonder if they're the same for 3ph?

<pre>Hitch Class Max TW Max GTW
I up to 200 lbs. up to 2,000 lbs.
II up to 300 lbs. up to 3,500 lbs.
III up to 500 lbs. up to 5,000 lbs.
IV up to 1,000 lbs. up to 10,000 lbs.
</pre>

 

[Jeff396]

Just got a new hitch for the F350 before we moved. It's the new class V made by Titan. It's rated at 14000, 1700 lbs with weight distributing attachments and 12000, 1200 lbs without. It's a beast!

Jeff

 

[Pks]

I know with certainty, these values are not the same for tractors.

One example of that would be the listed value for the Tongue Weight. The maximum value for automobiles is 200 lbs for a Class I. But the 3 point hitch on a Class 1 tractor can handle a little over 1000 lbs.