Quick Hitch and Drawbar

[MikeR 2018]

I ordered a Quick Hitch with my new Kioti CK2610 - my first tractor. I have a small trailer that I will occasionally pull with the drawbar. I am curious, will I have to remove the Quick Hitch to attach the trailer tongue to the drawbar, or can I raise the empty QH up high enough to be out of the way?

 

[bcp]

You may have conflict between the quick hitch and trailer tongue or jack during turns.

My tractor has a receiver on the drawbar, so I put in an extension which moves the ball back under the quick hitch.

Most here probably use a "trailer mover" in the quick hitch.

Bruce

 

[ovrszd]

Simply raise the 3pt to get the QH out of the way. I never remove the QH on my Kubota.

With that said, a handy addition is a hitch adapter. They were originally made to hook to the 3pt and offer a receiver hitch to be used as a drawbar. Very handy with a trailer ball hitch installed to move a trailer withou getting off the tractor. They can also be attached to your QH. Gives you a drawbar that can be raised/lowered.

Congrats on your new tractor!

 

[ovrszd]

Bruce beat me to it with pics!!! Thanks Bruce!!!

 

[MikeR 2018]

Thanks for both answers. Sounds like either way - I'll be able to do it ok.

 

[ovrszd]

Yep. You don't need to buy the hitch adapter right away. After awhile you'll better appreciate the advantages. If your situation doesn't require it, money saved. Win win.

 

[WranglerX]

Trailer tongue should not conflict with Quick Hitch any more than trailer tongue would behind small garden tractor to a big PU truck.... My QH hitch on SCUT goes up to 24 inches off ground at pins (whole machine is really low) Most trailers are designed with a working hitch height abound 18 inches (my 16 foot car carrier sits level with a 17 inch ball height) .....Just get 3 PT receiver hitch, you will probably find it has more uses than just dragging around trailer... There are many "tools" that will (or can be made to) work with receiver hitch and 3PT QH...

Dale

 

[Wagtail]

Simply raise the 3pt to get the QH out of the way.

Congrats on your new tractor!

X2. Plenty of room.

 

[California]

I tow from a cross-drawbar installed on the qhitch. One advantage is I can lift the trailer tongue with the hydraulics, to help dump it or to put a cinderblock under the tongue for parking. Also, I can alter the front to back level of my watering trailer to keep its internal pump submerged on steep ground.

Here are a couple of photos. They aren't quite on-topic, you have to visualize the trailer ball at the middle of the crossbar.

 

[MikeR 2018]

Some great sounding ideas. Thanks. I think I will put the trailer hitch on my wish list, but it is good to know that I do not need it right away.

 

[WranglerX]

I also have cross/draw bar with sleeves fitted for my QH, only issue is drawbar wants to rotate in QH... I need to get or fabricate a stabilizer for draw bar....

Something similar to pic below...

Dale

 

[California]

I also have cross/draw bar with sleeves fitted for my QH, only issue is drawbar wants to rotate in QH... I need to get or fabricate a stabilizer for draw bar....

I don't think that stabilizer will reach around a qhitch so you need a custom solution.

Take a look at the left end of the crossbar in my second photo, above. I welded standard adapter sleeves to short straps. Then bolted both ends of the strap to the crossbar.

The weld bead and the strap engage with the top corners of the qhitch slot to prevent the crossbar from rotating. I've use this for several years now towing a 2600 lb watering trailer over rough, steep, disced ground, Nothing has deformed and I feel this solution is sufficient for that weight category. Heavier strap material could be used for a heavier trailer. And if the trailer will always be lighter, the strap alone would be sufficient with no need to weld the sleeves to the strap.

Nothing is welded to the crossbar so I could unbolt and slip my adapters off, if I need to.

 

[Fallon]

3pt trailer movers are handy, but can be dangerous. If a load ever ends up attached to a tractor above the axle things can be problematic. If the load snags, the tractor can drive out from under the hitch & flip over backwards. When going downhill & slowing down the trailer tongue can lift the 3pt hitch & roll the tractor.

Generally those issues aren't a problem on flat ground, at low speeds or with moderate loads. If you are going to be doing anything outside those bounds, you really should use the drawbar.

I use to use my 3pt trailer mover on my QH all the time shuffling trailers around. I use a ball in a hole on my pallet forks these days. Probably less stable than the 3pt, but more convenient.

 

[California]

Agree about the danger of a tractor going over backward if the trailer snags something. A friend told me that's how his father became disabled. He used a small crawler and discovered the trailer had locked brakes. The tractor looped backward inside its tracks. I don't think there's much difference if the hitch is below the axle in this case if the hitch stays intact.

And I've had the experience of bumping the 3-point control, causing my watering trailer to rise and make the tractor rear tires very light. I nearly jackknifed when I stopped at the first tree.


I added this ball for moving trailers around. There was already one on the top of the bucket of my other tractor, but it's too high to get under a parked trailer. This low ball allows good clearance from the bucket to the ground after it's raised.