Toplink top link question?

[mattellis2]

so i bought a new top link for my 3ph this last weekend. my original was bent by the previous owner, and i finally got around to needing to adjust it, so i picked one up. it looks like the one in the picture below:

my question is this: how do i install the little bar used to crank the turnbuckle body? it has little dimples on it that prevent it going into the hole drilled through the body. i figured i get some suggestions here prior to hitting it with a big freakin' hammer!

thanks!

-matt

 

[Iowachild]

I hit mine with a medium sized hammer.

 

[Keith01]

Thats all there is, just beat it in with a hammer. Just make sure after you get it through the first hole, you line it up with the second hole before smacking it again. (experience talking here!)
Then if it looks like it might still fall out again, take a chisle and peen the hole closed again, and you may be able to open the dimples on the bar. I didnt, and mine hasn't gotten lost yet.

Keith in SC

 

[Texas Dodge]

Once you get it through and centered, you could weld up each side.

 

[mattellis2]

Once you get it through and centered, you could weld up each side.

don't you leave it loose so you can slide it back and forth? longer lever=easier to turn!

-matt

 

[greg_g]

don't you leave it loose so you can slide it back and forth? longer lever=easier to turn!

-matt

Concur. I've got at least half a dozen of them. After tapping the rod through, I've never ever lost one. The fact that they slide back and forth definitely gives a torque advantage to a heavy load on the threads.

//greg//

 

[3RRL]

Once you get it through the holes, smash (flatten) the end of the pin if you're worried it might come out.

 

[jinman]

Matt, your question brought a smile to my face as I'm sure it has with all the others who have done this before. Another interesting thing in your post was that the former owner bent the previous toplink. How do you do that? The only way I can figure to do that would be with a disc cultivator or rotary cutter and the toplink adjust too far out. Then, if you went over a rough spot, there might be enough leverage to bend a toplink. My wife had an old International with a bent toplink when we got married. She didn't bend it and I could never figure out how that happened either.

 

[Silver_Knight]

Matt, your question brought a smile to my face as I'm sure it has with all the others who have done this before. Another interesting thing in your post was that the former owner bent the previous toplink. How do you do that? The only way I can figure to do that would be with a disc cultivator or rotary cutter and the toplink adjust too far out. Then, if you went over a rough spot, there might be enough leverage to bend a toplink. My wife had an old International with a bent toplink when we got married. She didn't bend it and I could never figure out how that happened either.

By the picture in your signature I am pretty sure you can think of a few more ways to bend up just about anything on a tractor

 

[rlyons]

Matt, I'm so glad you asked that question. I just replaced my first top link and had no idea how to get the rod in. Now I know. I love this forum!

 

[olPete]

Matt, your question brought a smile to my face as I'm sure it has with all the others who have done this before. Another interesting thing in your post was that the former owner bent the previous toplink. How do you do that? The only way I can figure to do that would be with a disc cultivator or rotary cutter and the toplink adjust too far out. Then, if you went over a rough spot, there might be enough leverage to bend a toplink. My wife had an old International with a bent toplink when we got married. She didn't bend it and I could never figure out how that happened either.

I've bent one... or rather my trailer did while I was driving...

 

[CADplans]

I always thought I was hard on equipment,,when I got my JD 650,,
and realized the top link was bent, I decided, I did not know how to abuse equipment.

The top link worked, the attachments I used the tractor with never need top link adjustment,
but, I just could not stand looking at the bend.

It took a month of weekly shopping, I finally found a JD top link from a full size JD tractor.
The body is cast steel, and the rods are 50% larger diameter.

The top link is CAT2/CAT1,, so I had to add a sleeve at one end,,,
I figure the tractor will break in half before I damage that top link!!

 

[Fallon]

The top link is CAT2/CAT1,, so I had to add a sleeve at one end,,,
I figure the tractor will break in half before I damage that top link!!

There is a big advantage to having a $30 part as your weak link rather than a multi-thousand dollar transmission housing or what not. Same principle as a $0.25 sheer pin vs. your power train...

 

[olPete]

I always thought I was hard on equipment,,when I got my JD 650,,
and realized the top link was bent, I decided, I did not know how to abuse equipment.

The top link worked, the attachments I used the tractor with never need top link adjustment,
but, I just could not stand looking at the bend.

It took a month of weekly shopping, I finally found a JD top link from a full size JD tractor.
The body is cast steel, and the rods are 50% larger diameter.

The top link is CAT2/CAT1,, so I had to add a sleeve at one end,,,
I figure the tractor will break in half before I damage that top link!!

This is real abuse

a genuine CAT2 banana.
At least the cast JD ones only bend the threaded sections usually, and they're cheap to replace.. I fully concur, hard to look at something like this!