Quick hitch top hook clearance issues

[JohninCT]

Finally got my quick hitch yesterday (Ended up getting the NorTrack from Northern Tool) & I'm having some issues. My Land Pride blade & King Kutter box blade are both advertised as being quick hitch compatible (Land Pride even has a quick hitch sticker just below the top pin), but won't quite hook up on the top, bottom attaches fine with the bushings installed. The top hook doesn't seem to stick out far enough. The bolts that attach the hook to the rest of the frame jam up against the vertical braces on the implements. Somebody elsewhere on here mentioned swapping the bolts for some pins, which gives me a tiny bit of extra room without the bolt head or nut in the way (and adjustment convenience). I attached a photo of the box blade, where you can see the pin on the implement not going all the way down & the implement frame is pushing on the pins that hold the hook to the rest of the quick hitch. The Land Pride blade does the same thing & the top of the hook & the back of the mounting post leans over the top of the pin & the hook runs into the underside. <img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=337633"/> What's going to be the best fix? Welding a bar onto the back of the hook & moving the 2 holes backwards (like in this thread)? Or would it be a good idea to grind out the inside on the back of the hook directly where the pin is currently resting in the attached picture? I've seen a photo or 2 with only 1 bolt holding the hook to the hitch. Is that going to be beefy enough? Would that even let the hook properly grab the pin on the implements?

Yeah the better fix probably is to weld a block with new adjustment holes on the back of your hook. But, a quick fix for this attachment would be to take a grinder to the yellow ears that are hitting the pins. That will let the hook go a little further back.

 

[Wagtail]

These are the plates I made to fit out-of-spec implements after I riveted my hook in place so it would go deeper. I didn't notice one was reversed for the photo.

View attachment 337724

Bruce

Yep, that's the thingy (sorry to talk technical here :laughing that hangs off of my slasher so that the top hook can grab it. The slasher was delivered with the 'extender' attached.

Is this what you blokes are talking about when you say you need to adapt all of your implements? I thought that it was simply a matter of adding the bushings but now you've got me thinking.

 

[bcp]

The standard height for a quick attach top pin is 15 inches. One of my implements is at the 18 inch non-quick-hitch standard, and the other is at 14 inches. I made the plates so I could use them after my top hook was made nonadjustable.

Bruce

 

[KennyG]

I can't find the original thread where I posted my fix for the same bolt clearance problem with the HF Quick Hitch (or potentially any other with the same bolted hook configuration). but here are the pictures again. I replaced the bolts with flush pins and I think the pictures are self explanatory. It's cheap, quick, and I've been using mine this way for several years with no problems.

 

[KennyG]

I should add that to minimize how much I ground the side of the hook, I changed out the original pin spring pins shown in the first picture for thinner ones.

 

[Fallon]

A neighbor runs a welding business... $30 & he supplied the 1.5" x 1.5" stock & welded it on pretty much the same way as the link BCP posted. I would have, but I didn't have the scrap, have minimal welding skill & haven't gotten an outlet for my welder wired in. Just finished drilling the holes. Went to attach it & it ended up being a hair wide, as we figured it might be. I could get it into place with a hammer, but will just hit it with the grinder a bit in the morning.

Even with that it's still a third the price of a Land Pride & a good deal in my opinion.

 

[downsizingnow48]

I can't find the original thread where I posted my fix for the same bolt clearance problem with the HF Quick Hitch (or potentially any other with the same bolted hook configuration). but here are the pictures again. I replaced the bolts with flush pins and I think the pictures are self explanatory. It's cheap, quick, and I've been using mine this way for several years with no problems.

View attachment 337736 View attachment 337737

That's pretty slick!

 

[Runner]

kennyG's fix look great!

For my situation, I already had a JD iMatch on the three-point, but bought a HF unit to make a front (loader mounted) quick hitch with. Once I found out that I was getting interference from the pins holding the top hook, I just cut the pins off, then positioned the hook at the same height as the one on the JD unit, then puddle-welded the pins back in place.

It's not adjustable anymore, but it doesn't need to be, as long as it matches the iMatch and everything I have works with it.

 

[Fallon]

I ended up needing to grind down the bar that was welded on, as mostly expected, it was a bit wider than the hook. The bushing on the Land Pride blade was a hair tight as well. A bit more work with the grinder taking off not too much more than paint. It works great now. Takes me a few minutes to hitch up still & I wish I had a top 'n tilt, but it's still pretty easy.

Glad it was one of my first purchases, can't imagine doing it the hard way. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[PhysAssist]

Thomas,
The steel plates in Dave's picture are to provide float for a brush mower. That is a separate issue from the hook which is clearly visible for most attachments. Some brush mowers have the flex built in so it could attach using the hook my prior Deere MX6 had the flex built in but my older Bush Hog was solid and I used a chain for the top link.

Hi Mr. Jenkinsph,

Thanks for the clarification, but like bcp's picture, it's very nearly the same thing to use a plate on either side as it is to use the "Y" shaped adapter HF and Agri-supply sell for non-hook compliant implements.

Thomas

 

[94BULLITT]

I have found on some implements you can loosen the bolt that holds the toplink bushing and pry the bushing forward and retighten it and it is enough to get the QH to work.

 

[Guesseral]

I have found on some implements you can loosen the bolt that holds the toplink bushing and pry the bushing forward and retighten it and it is enough to get the QH to work.

Another way that I found out this weekend is to remove the bolt and spacer at the top link (or the equipment) and cut a new spacer one that is long enough that the space at the top link is wide enough for the quick hitch hook and bolts to clear the sides. Now that may not work on all equipment but it should work on most, I am still going to get the steel and extend my hook because it will give a larger margin of error when backing up but it is an option.

 

[Fallon]

I have found on some implements you can loosen the bolt that holds the top-link bushing and pry the bushing forward and re-tighten it and it is enough to get the QH to work.

I removed the bushing off my King Kutter box blade (or was it it the Land Pride blade, I forget now) & tried putting it in the quick hitch hook while not attached... It didn't fit. Hit the bushing with a belt sander a bit, still didn't fit. Took the grinder to the hook, removed the paint & maybe 1mm of metal, if that & things fit properly. I realized that it would be easier to make sure the hook would fit every attachment rather than making every attachment fit the hook.

 

[bandaidmd]

Finally got my quick hitch yesterday (Ended up getting the NorTrack from Northern Tool) & I'm having some issues. My Land Pride blade & King Kutter box blade are both advertised as being quick hitch compatible (Land Pride even has a quick hitch sticker just below the top pin), but won't quite hook up on the top, bottom attaches fine with the bushings installed. The top hook doesn't seem to stick out far enough. The bolts that attach the hook to the rest of the frame jam up against the vertical braces on the implements. Somebody elsewhere on here mentioned swapping the bolts for some pins, which gives me a tiny bit of extra room without the bolt head or nut in the way (and adjustment convenience).

I attached a photo of the box blade, where you can see the pin on the implement not going all the way down & the implement frame is pushing on the pins that hold the hook to the rest of the quick hitch. The Land Pride blade does the same thing & the top of the hook & the back of the mounting post leans over the top of the pin & the hook runs into the underside.
View attachment 337633

What's going to be the best fix? Welding a bar onto the back of the hook & moving the 2 holes backwards (like in this thread)? Or would it be a good idea to grind out the inside on the back of the hook directly where the pin is currently resting in the attached picture?

I've seen a photo or 2 with only 1 bolt holding the hook to the hitch. Is that going to be beefy enough? Would that even let the hook properly grab the pin on the implements?

as much meat as that hook has on the implement side you could probably take a saw and remove a 3/8" slice out of the slot and still have all the strenth you need. If its too sloppy weld a piece of strap on the tractor side. The last HF hitch i bought i had to recut the slot and weld in a shim because the slot was wedge shaped and the pin wouldn't slide up and down. I wish I had moved my slot outward when i was doing the repair but didn't realise I needed too until I ran into the same issue your having.

 

[bandaidmd]

took my own advice and reworked my HF top hook,sliced out a little on the implement side and added a filler on the tractor side. Net gain was +~- 3/8" which was all any of my attachments needed.

 

[aeblank]

I can't find the original thread where I posted my fix for the same bolt clearance problem with the HF Quick Hitch (or potentially any other with the same bolted hook configuration). but here are the pictures again. I replaced the bolts with flush pins and I think the pictures are self explanatory. It's cheap, quick, and I've been using mine this way for several years with no problems.

View attachment 337736 View attachment 337737

I know this is old, but what size pin? 1/2"????

 

[PhysAssist]

I know this is old, but what size pin? 1/2"????

The pin size is the same as the diameter of the bolt you are replacing.

 

[aeblank]

The pin size is the same as the diameter of the bolt you are replacing.

Well duh....:duh:


So on mine anyway, it was a metric bolt, best I could figure. 12MM, I'd have to say.
I got some 1/2" pins from agrisupply (cheap pins, expensive shipping) along with some bushings to have on hand.
I had to drill out the holes on the flanges on the QH, but not the ones on the hook itself. A die grinder would have worked better had I had the right stone.. Regardless, after much much grinding, it's in there and done. Pretty reasonable fix, I think. Worth noting that I did NOT extend the hook. Might have to one day, but I doubt it. My land plane clears the flanges no problem, just wouldn't clear the bolt heads.