Strength of Ballast Box Receiver?

[Slowpoke Slim]

^^^Yep...have the ballast box raised up and attach your pulling chain/rope/strap/cable to a clevis on the low main draw bar. It would be safer just in case you snag something solid with the tow strap.

This is what I do when I need to pull something that pulls back.

Use the draw bar. It's what God intended ( It's why it's there).

 

[ericm979]

The 3pt hitch is free to pivot upwards on nearly all tractors. When you pull hard with it, the tractor can flip over backwards. The draw bar is solidly mounted to the tractor, and the geometry (if it's not pushed in all the way) prevents backflips.

 

[5030]

Why I bought a 3 point stump grinder. Not about to jerk pull the bags out of my 100 horse Kubota's and then have to deal with root balls and dirt.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I ordered a hook for the box, and I'll get a chain for the drawbar. I don't want to crawl around under the box for little jobs.

 

[WinterDeere]

I ordered a hook for the box, and I'll get a chain for the drawbar. I don't want to crawl around under the box for little jobs.

Just to be sure you caught what Slowpoke Slim and ericm979 were laying down, pulling with the 3-point can lead to walking your tractor over on top of you. While many of us do this on a regular basis, you will see stories in the news of people who've done the same for many years, until having an accident. It does tend to be older guys, maybe their reaction times or equilibrium has drifted, but it happens.

The drawbar, which is typically mounted below the rear axle, will not permit your tractor to "walk over" on you. If you manage to walk the front tires up, the angle of the dangle will cause a loss of traction on the rear tires, and set it back down. When pulling on the 3-point, mostly if you do it with the 3-point set high, the lever arm ends up above the rear axle and thus maintains good downforce on the rear tires even after going wheelie.

So, welcome to club who pulls with the 3-point, you're not alone. But do note the danger, and be mindful of what you're doing, especially if running a manual transmission.

 

[ericm979]

When I have used the drawbar with an implement on the back, I get to the drawbar by standing between the implement and the tractor like I do when connecting the pto shaft for an implement. Toss the chain under the implement or back the tractor up over the chain. I try not to get under a raised implement, and at least on my tractor, it's too long a reach.

I keep the drawbar retracted and extend it when I need it.

When pulling on natural objects like trees, sometimes the force needed can get a lot higher if the tree does something unexpected like the butt gets hung up or the tree gets wedged between other trees. I won't pull something like that from anything except the drawbar.

 

[WinterDeere]

When pulling on natural objects like trees, sometimes the force needed can get a lot higher if the tree does something unexpected like the butt gets hung up or the tree gets wedged between other trees. I won't pull something like that from anything except the drawbar.

Exactly, which is why I mentioned manual transmission tractors. There have been at least a few stories in the news of older guys walking their old manual trans tractors (classic 8N/2N seems particularly common) over onto themselves, when they were skidding a log and it hung up on a root or other stump on the 3-point. Some of them even put a chain on the top link pin, which is the worst place I can think of pulling from. If your foot leaves or can't find the clutch quickly enough, the tractor will walk itself over before you know what's happening.

It would appear this is harder to repeat on a hydro trans machine. Unless you do something stupid like setting the cruise control, once your foot leaves the pedal of a slow-moving HST, the machine is going to stop and blead back down.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Maybe everyone already knows this, but whether a tractor's front wheels come up doesn't really have anything to do with whether you use a three-point attachment or a drawbar. It's all about the height where the chain or whatever connects to the tractor or attachment.

If you attach a chain above the rear axle, the weight on the front wheels decreases when you pull. If you attach it below the axle, the weight on the front wheels increases.

I use a subsoiler that hooks up to my three-point hitch, and the tractor never tries to rise in front because the pull is exerted on the subsoiler blade, which is very low.

I can put my box's receiver at or below the height of the drawbar. I would never pull with a chain or strap set higher than the axle.

You could actually turn a tractor over with something attached to the drawbar if you attached the chain high enough.

 

[WinterDeere]

Yes, that’s why it was mentioned that most drawbars are mounted below the rear axle.

 

[5030]

Only one I ever saw above the centerline of the rear axle was my 49 Farmall A.