Quick Hitches The Best Quick Hitch???

[belah]

I am wanting to buy a Quick Hitch for my Kubota M4030su 49hp tractor. The owners manuel says that it has ?? both cat 1 and cat 2 capability, which I don't understand. Anyhow, what is the best Quick Hitch that has an adjustable top link for my tractor. I have never owned a Quick Hitch and need some advice. Thank You Belah

 

[lucky llama]

I have a m7040 and a b7800. I have Pats system on both. I used to have the tradtitional quick hitch and found it very difficult to hook up the PTO shaft. Pat's system all the way.

 

[TripleR]

There was a thread on here not long ago on this subject, you might try search, I think someone had a Land Pride for sale at the time; seems like it may have been rjkobbeman. I haven't found any that I really like.

 

[gwdixon]

I am wanting to buy a Quick Hitch for my Kubota M4030su 49hp tractor. The owners manuel says that it has ?? both cat 1 and cat 2 capability, which I don't understand. Anyhow, what is the best Quick Hitch that has an adjustable top link for my tractor. I have never owned a Quick Hitch and need some advice. Thank You Belah

Make sure your implements all fit the QH perfectly. Otherwise it is necessary to modify them to fit.

I have used the rigid style (Harbor Freight, TSC, and other) but much prefer the Pat's Easy Hitch system. It is sold here on TBN.

To be used with both CAT 1 and CAT 2 it would need a bushing either on the implement or on the QH since the pins for the two CATs are different sizes.

CAT stands for "category" if you are not familiar with the term. It is a standard for pin size and spacing. Although the spacing part is not always followed.

Knowing the brand of QH might help others provide specific help.

 

[JJZ 109]

Got a Speeco from TSC. It works fine with a Buhler Farm King 60" blower and a JD JX 4 rotary cutter on back of a Kubota B3030.
However, beware that the quick hitches aren't an easy "universal" fit on all 3 pt. equipment. Adjustments often have to be made on lift arms and pins relocated if you have multiple holes for those pins (on the implement). The hook on the quick hitch sometimes has to be unbolted and moved up or down.
It often isn't as simple as hooking to your tractor and backing up to the implement.

 

[JRP]

The problem with quick hitches are they were invented long after 3pt was invented, so older equipment, or companies slower to "see the light" may not fir the traditional Speeco type quick hitch. As stated, some adjustment may be necessary (including welding), or upgrade to more modern attachments.

As far as Cat 1 vs. Cat 2, most equipment (except the real farm stuff) is cat 1. IMO you would be much better getting a cat 1 quick hitch as it will fit your equipment, and then simply remove the quick hitch and use the standard lift arm hook up if you should ever get any cat 2 attachment.

I have the Speeco and also a John Deere iMatch and love them. We live in farmer country and all the farmers here use the big CAT 3 quick hitch. They can back up to the equipment, lift and go, without leaving the cab. Seriously. I can do this on some of my equipment, and on some, like my shredder, I have to get off the tractor for the PTO and top link. The time spent adjusting my equipment was well spent.

The hooks welded to the side of the hitch have been very handy. In one photo here I use the quickhitch with a chain to lift the very heavy hitch of a 14' disk up to my draw bar. The orange hitch is a JD iMatch to which I added a Bobtach connection.

Before you make up your mind, go see you John Deere dealer and ask them about iMatch and Frontier implements.

 

[belah]

THANKS, for all the replies!!! :thumbsup:

 

[JRP]

belah,

More info:

imatch info: (cut and paste the link to your browser)
iMatch™ Quick Hitch (option)

Here is are two imatch youtube demos: (cut and paste the link to your browser)

YouTube - John Deere Quick Hitch Demonstration

YouTube - iMatch AutoHitch

I could not find a youtube demo on the Pat's, but my guess is that you have to get off the tractor to connect the top link.

Pat, Would you post a demo on youtube, and if not, why?

 

[montejw]

I've used a harbor freight quick hitch, Pat's, and EZ-Hitch. Not all of my implements worked with the quick hitch so I started using Pat's. I didn't like how the balls in the ends of the lift arms were fixed in place by the Pat's hook, so I tried the EZ-Hitch. It was the same. I bought another (sold the first one) Harbor Freight quick hitch and I'll take the time to modify the implements that don't work with it.

I like the Pat's hooks better than the EZ-Hitch, but I'd like to use the Quick Hitch before either Pat's or EZ-Hitch. Just have to mod the implements that don't work with it and try and find implements that do work with it in the future.

Back to your original question, I don't think there's any difference between the quick hitches, other than price and "made in....". As long as the quick hitch is built to the ASAE Quick Hitch Standard it's good. You just have to have implements that are built to that standard too, or modify them to fit.

Also I've found that there are (2) different Cat 1 Quick Hitch standards, narrow and normal. The narrow one is about 25 3/4" between the lower hooks, the normal one is about 27 1/4" between the lower hooks. Make sure you get the 27 1/4" unit.

 

[greg_g]

The Cat1/2 means that - with a proper selection of adapter bushings - it can be used on either Cat 1 or Cat 2 tractor hitches to pick up either Cat 1 or Cat 2 implements. I had a HF quick hitch like that. It was perfectly compatible with both my tractors (one Cat 1, one Cat 2) but so much with my implements. It rubbed me the wrong way to pay $65/hour and up to get the implements modified to match the hitch, so I sold the **** thing. Bought two pair of Pat's Easy Hitches and a hydraulic toplink. Hindsight is 20/20, but that's what I should have bought in the first place.

//greg//

 

[GE222]

If you purchase a Cat-1 hitch, make sure it fits your implement. Cat-2 and larger are much more standardized so compatibility is not an issue.

 

[bennatti]

Also would like to vote for Pat's easy change system...simple and elegant...and for an olde guy...its a real treat to no longer have to "bull" the implements around to get them in the correct position.

 

[D33r3 6r33N]

One more vote for Pat's. I have a Land Pride tiller, my JD ballast, Howse BB, and a RB. The dimentions are all so different that I don't think that I don't think a quick hitch would have worked without me "breaking" something. Not having to wrestle my implements around anymore is a blessing.

 

[charleyfarmall]

Well, I've used them all. I dumped my Pat's in favor of standard extendable links. I like them much better but that's just me. Oh, and my wife likes them better too and she farms more than I do. The cat's meow is the iMatch style actually. However, if you own older equipment if may need to be modified to get the top link hook to work. Alternatively, if you have a landpride or Speeco you can always remove the hook like I did the other day to run my 40+ year old flail mower. I will be modifying the top link pin to work with the hook but really needed the flail the other day. See below

 

[gwdixon]

Waaay off topic but, charleyfarmall is that an old Alamo flail? I've been having trouble finding a belt and bearings for mine. Any source?

Got the blades and belt pulleys.

 

[wny770]

I have a Speeco that work fine for me. I can hook the back blade, tiller, carry all, and snowblower without leaving my seat, except to hook the PTO shaft. i did have to modify the carry all to work, but it was no big deal.

 

[belah]

I ended up getting Pat's System and you were right, I Love It. It fits all my different implements without any problem. T:thumbsup:hanks for the good advice !!!

 

[GSmith4965]

Priefert has a unique design. The unit is adjustable for cat 1 or cat 2 and the top hook is adjustable and can be reversed as well

 

[gumshu]

I was going to buy a Speedco, but I need to use a post hole digger... so I bought the Pat's system for each tracktor instead. If it were not for the posthole digger, I would have purchased the Speedco at TSC.

 

[Mudfarmer]

I have a Pat's and a hydraulic top lift and like the combincation very much. But I think a key piece of information with a quick link is the gimic that comes with the Pat's: the bent washer that accesorizes the lynch pin. I had a Harbor Freight quick hitch that is admittably cheap and weak, but would in retrospect not have bend out of shape with my bush hog if I had a big washer between it and the lynch pin. The Pat's quick hitches come with sveral large bent-over-washers-with-a-lynch-pin hole. They Keep the hitch from overriding and working the linch pin. By the way washers without the bend work fine. I now keep a pocketfull of them from Lowe's in my peanut-butter-jar of extra lynch pins.

Mf

Ps: did this message make any sense at all to anyone who never bought a Pat's?