Pulling Trailer with BX

[walker450]

I have had a BX since 2008 and have always either pulled my 13' single axle with a drawbar on the 3 poi t or via a receiver hitch on my box blade. I made a video showing it and also loading some grass clippings. Maybe it'll help people in the future decode if they want to pull a trailer with a subcompact tractor.

Video here:

 

[JWR]

A few comments: I do not use my BX to haul stuff with a trailer, hardly at all. I do use the BX to move and position the trailer every time I use it ! I had a piece of steel bent to form a chunk of angle iron the right size to bolt on the front of the BX using existing frame holes and with the right amount of horizontal space to bolt an off-the-shelf receiver bumper hitch. I have found this the perfect gadget for moving trailers around -- with the trailer in front of me and super maneuverable. If I am hauling using the trailer I pull it with either my F-150 pickup or once in a while a larger tractor using the yellow T thing below. Note that the yellow T was cut down by the giuy I bought it from to fit smaller tractors like the BX. Many sources sell them already sized that way.

 

[bcp]

The BX has a "limited" Cat 1 hitch. It is the standard Cat 1 size, but starts from a much lower position and doesn't go as high as a standard Cat 1 tractor. No need to narrow anything to fit.

Bruce

 

[JWR]

With "how I do it" out of the way in post #2, I must be honest and say I do not like your "draw bar with hitch balls." That is not mechanically stable or sound in my opinion. I hear you loud and clear saying that you have used it a lot and that "the hitch ball can't come out. " Wrong. They CAN come out. I say you have been lucky and it is still a poor way to do things. The main problem is that your drawbar (with hitch balls fastened into holes in it) can and will rotate. The more pull on it, the more it will rotate (or if the trailer runs forward on you it will rotate that direction too.) While you are getting away with it that is still asking for trouble. You are depending on the grip that the trailer hitch socket has on the ball. The greater the pull the more the force is trying to pull the ball out of the socket at some angle.

The core principle is that trailer balls and "socket" hitches -- ball and socket -- are designed to handle fore and aft forces ONLY horizontally. That puts ALL the force on the threaded hitch ball shaft, NOT on the gadgets of various types intended to grip the ball and keep the hitch from popping loose. Ball grippers vary widely and none were designed to be load bearing in the "pop out direction." .

I would be the first to say we have all tried things which worked at the moment and got away with it. We all have. I just say there are far better, safer and more reliable ways to do this task. Not a good idea to be recommending it to others.

 

[JWR]

The BX has a "limited" Cat 1 hitch. It is the standard Cat 1 size, but starts from a much lower position and doesn't go as high as a standard Cat 1 tractor. No need to narrow anything to fit.

Bruce

You are correct. The yellow receiver hitch adapter for 3 point hitches that I happened to buy (used) was originally too wide for whatever reason. Had I been buying it new I could have bought one manufactured for standard Cat 1 dimensions and it would not have needed to be cut as the seller had done.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I gave up pulling trailers with my smaller Kubota tractors. too much time lost in disconnecting and reconnecting the trailer in order to load with the FEL.

I also had an incident while pulling a heavy trailer downhill. It weighed more than the tractor and the brakes weren't strong enough. I got going at a pretty good clip and actually considered bailing out! Luckily the hill leveled off before I lost control of the machine! Yeah, a rookie mistake but a lesson learned!

Pulling a lightweight trailer with a small tractor using the 3PT, drawbar or FEL is fine but I now tow the heavy ones with my pickup. This leaves the tractor free to do the loading.

 

[George the Beagle]

I'm afraid I'll have to agree with JWR here, and here's why. If you hook your trailer onto a standard rigidly mounted ball without latching it, you could theoretically pull it all over the place as long as there was sufficient tongue weight to keep it there (this isn't something you'd do in every day practice, just an example). Do the same thing with a drawbar mounted ball and you probably won't get too far before it comes off when the drawbar pivots--because the hitch lock is only designed to keep the hitch from popping off, and won't do well in trying to handle any of the load itself which is what will happen when the drawbar pivots. You could probably do this once in a great while to move an empty trailer and you'd get away with it, but doing it on a regular basis is not, in my opinion, a good idea.

 

[Eagle1]

I just put the drawbar in a frame so you have the top link and weld it together, works for me. YMMV
No pivoting of the bar or ball.

 

[walker450]

Thanks for the comments guys, I must say I agree with you all as well. I have thought about building a bracket to keep the drawbar from rotating all the way around. Your comments gave me some motivation to do it the right way.

 

[cmyoung2]

I agree with the comments on the ball rotating, even with the type of hitch your trailer has. I do like that type much better than the latch type. The yellow style hitch is much more stable. Another problem with using the 3pt is there is no down pressure, so if the trailer pushes you the tongue can get really high really fast. And if it does come off the ball it can come visit you, don't ask me how I know. Even a little log splitter will get your attention when that happens.
Safest is to put a receiver where the drawbar is, not totally easy with a BX. Next is the yellow type hitch.