Quick Hitches Quick Hitches

[ppcchamp]

I am considering getting one of these and had a question I haven't seen answered here yet. Most of these units have some sort of adapter collars that fit the implement. What is the purpose of these. Is there any quick hitch available that uses the lower pins as they come standard. I have seen the Pat's system which does use the original pins but of course only connects to the bottom pins. A quick hitch seems a like a little better idea, but I don't want to buy the adapters for for every implement plus every implement that I borrow. Thanks for the help. By the way, this is a great discussion group. I wish I had found it earlier when I was looking to buy a tractor.

John

 

[beenthere]

It seems that the quick hitches, even for cat I, have cat III 'hooks' on them, so the need is to put the bushings on the attachments that bring the cat I pins up to cat III size.

What puzzles me is the places that sell the quick hitches don't carry the cat I to cat III bushing sets. Most carry the cat II to cat III, and that is all. I ask why, when they sell the cat I quick hitch, they don't carry both, and the answer is usually "I don't know". Go figure. You are right, that it gets expensive. Probably a way to make bushings cheaper, but I have not investigated that yet.

 

[AndyMA]

Are you sure they need Cat III and not Cat II pins? Cat I to Cat II sleeves are readily available for under $1.00 each. At least for me it would take a lot of attachments before they became a major expense.

Andy

 

[greg_g]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Are you sure they need Cat III and not Cat II pins? Cat I to Cat II sleeves are readily available for under $1.00 each. At least for me it would take a lot of attachments before they became a major expense.
)</font>
I agree with Andy. I have a Cat II TPH on my KAMA, and a mixture of Cat I and Cat II implements. I'm not even sure Cat III lift pins would fit in Quick Hitch. But seventy five cent Cat I to Cat II bushings fit just fine

From my own research I found two systems that require you weld hookups to all your implements, hookups that then mate to a master connection on the tractor. They don't interest me. Then there's Pat's, and then there's Quick Hitch.

I've had the Quick Hitch for a couple of years now. My biggest complaint is that the implement manufacturers do not adhere to a single TPH standard. Therefore some toplink adaptation must be undertaken for selected implements. As Pat's is a quick connect on only two of three points, so inconsistent toplink configurations are not a problem. Unfortuntely, Pat's didn't offer a Cat II at the time I bought the QH.

//greg//

 

[GreenDeerJohn]

John/Greg,

I just got done setting up my I-match quick hitch on my JD2210. The JD is very similar to the ones carried by TSC, and they all use a Cat III bushing size on the lower pins. I'm not sure why they do this, unless this all started with the larger utility tractors using Cat III equipment. Then I wouldn't think these hitches would be beefy enough to use them on that kind of heavy equipment.

Anyhow, I've found that even John Deere can't decide on what their internal standard should be. I purchased several attachments from the X-series Lawn & Garden line of tractors for use with my 2210 and Cat I 3pt. None of these worked directly with the JD I-match. These attachments were set up for JD's Alpha hitch, which is somewhat hard to explain. There are some pictures of this hitch on JD's web. The tractor side of the Alpha hitch is ~$150 and the attachment side is ~$100 per.

I had to extend several of the top pinholes and I've bought about 5 sets of lower bushing kits ($19 per set at TSC). These bushing sets are a heavy stepped sleeve that fits over the Cat I pin and has a Cat III outside diameter. You use a spring pin to hold it on the Cat I pin. The sleeve has a much larger diameter at its outer end, which I assume keeps the adapter from sliding out of the quick hitch during use. I have also used a Cat I to II and Cat II to III bushings, one inside the other, then just use a retaining clip on the end of the pin. A set of these bushings only run about $6. The top links also need bushed up to the Cat III top pin size.

Once you get your equipment set up, the hitch works great. I have the 450 tiller (top pin too low), weight box, 48" scraper box, 40-gallon sprayer (to pin too low), LX4 bush hog, and a custom-made trailer hitch. You can literally back up to the equipment, raise the 3pt, drop the retaining levers from the driver's seat, and away you go. No fiddling and messing with links and pins or resetting the stabilizers bars.

It is all worth it once you have got it set up.

John
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[CTyler]

I have the TSC QH and like it but am frustrated at the same time. This is because some stuff hooks right up and others don't.

You don't have to have the bushings but its' very sloppy without them. I have bushings for everything used with the QH. TSC thru in a set a bushings on two occaisions when buying implements, had to ask.

The QH works great with my Woods box blade, rear blade and King Kutter carry all. Don't have to get out of the seat for these. However I had to make a hook the stuck out another 1".

The Cosmo fertilizer spreader works with it but had to weld a couple plates to it. The end of hook would hit the frame before it could grap the pin. Drilled holes in the plates so the pin was out another 3-4".

The King Kutter 6' finish mower might hook up with a lot of persuasion and cussing. I gave up, it was much easier just to drop the QH.

The King Kutter landscape rake...phtttt...not a prayer. It will need some serious mods to make it work with the QH.

I'd have to measure it again to be positive but the implement pins(the shoulder of the pin) needs to be narrower than 26" or wider than 29".

 

[HayDR]

All quick hitches just put more variables into the mix: PTO problems due to changes in setback; Reduced load capacity as a result setback; safety issues due to weight distribution; poor and or reduced implement performance; safety issues due to not having the proper hardware for mounting the quick hitch to the implement
These issues alone are reason enough for someone to think hard if they really need a quick hitch. I've hooked up thousand of implements on the world's tractors and a standard 3 point hitch is quick enough for me.

 

[LabLuvR]

I just bought a quick hitch from TSC. Here is my take:

The TSC quick hitch fits almost all of my implements. The big problem comes with fitting the top link. I can forget using the hook on any of them, it doesn't appear to be long enough. Aside from the hook I still have problems with the top link. The only implement that fits well with the top link is my bush hog. The reason it fits well is it has a floating link and I use the adapter that came with the quick hitch.

Since the top link is my biggest headache I have thought that maybe I should have went with Pat's Easy Change and may still do so. Too many variables in the top link with the Speedco style and what the heck, I still usually need to get off the tractor, so Pat's may very well be the one I really need.

 

[beenthere]

CCI
The old 3pt way is not quick enough for me. I won't go back to the slow and 'unsafe' methods used to jiggle and grunt and groan and beat to get 3pt attachments hooked up. I have taken all the non-standard attachments to the welder to get them "fixed" (neutered /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif ) so I can back up, hook up (no problem with the PTO but their length needs to be checked), and go. Unhooking is easy, and I usually don't have to even get off.

I can see where it haunts equipment dealers, trying to get rid of old attachments (ones that don't conform to the standards). Hey, the standards didn't mean anything a few years ago. The customer with the hitch says "I'll buy it if you make it to fit my QH" is an expensive "if" to the seller.

But its the quick hitch for me. When I rent some equipment, is the only time it is off. But each one has different needs to adjust to, and live by. Good luck all.

 

[HayDR]

The key to ease of hook up for any 3 point implement is to set it off in such a manner that it will stay just like you set it off. If you set it off in the mud or weeds it will not be fun to hook it back up. There are no industry standards for quick hitches only 3 point hitch standards. I know of 14 different quick hitches and even all of John Deere implements do not work on their own I-Match System.
Even many of the hay equipment manufacturers plainly say warranties are voided if quick hitches are used.