wagon slip tongue

[tim5]

here's my extendable wagon tongue build for my round bale wagon. I used it all summer in 2016 pulling loads up to 12,000 lbs. Works great & simplifies hooking up to the tractor! The outside tube is 2". Found the tubing pieces at the local scrap metal resale yard. The rest of the metal was from my scrap metal pile. I welded the outside tube to the original wagon tongue.

 

[kydick]

what kind of spring did you use to hold the latch down?

 

[oosik]

I built a farm wagon - Horst running gear - it has a slip tongue. Great for attaching to the tractor drawbar when you don't want to fiddle around, all day, with perfect line-ups. Especially after you have loaded the wagon with rock or timber and can't budge it an inch come ++++ or high water.

View attachment 501875 You can see the locking lever on the top of the hitch near the end.

 

[tim5]

I don't have a spring. strictly gravity. I have not had any problems with it staying latched.

 

[handirifle]

I built one many years back, but it was not infinitely adjustable as some. It was fixed positions. Mine was for a homemade camping trailer.

Here is a pic of it extended

And retracted.

This is why I made it adjustable.

I have since sold both, but this was built back in 2005.

Mine used std 2" insert tubing and receiver tubing, just like on a car.

 

[kthompson]

Not a trailer tongue but this Saturday had to hook to disk left in field for blow line. Was wondering about rehooking by my self in soft and backed up as close as I could with no help, pulled the draw bar pin and pulled it out an inch or so needed to pin the disk. Then I wondered now how do I line up that much tighter draw bar pin to tractor? Thought maybe I can move very slowly and the draw pin will drop in place...well it did and was latched when I stopped. I moved very slowly and realize when the disk first moved stopped and backed us a tiny bit and it moved back.

The pin for the draw bar has a strong taper on the end and is weighted so it lines up and fell into place very easy. The design of the latch locked the pin in by the dropping of the pin. I had wondered why such a latch design for my Kubota's used a pin and hair pin to lock its draw bar. Who ever at John Deere came up with this seeming odd design sure got a thank you from me Saturday.

You may need to weld a bushing to give it enough length to keep a pin lined up vertically but you should be able to taper a pin, place in the top and with trailer hooked slowly move in or out with tractor and the pin drop. You may have to wiggle it some for there is a lot more distance with no guidance in your tongue than a JD draw bar.