will this damage? hitch ball to drawbar

[IslandTractor]

California,

Your friend's father almost certainly did not have the load attached to the drawbar. Tractors don't flip over backwards when the load is below the rear axle. I guess that is the main point of this thread, though there seems to be some dispute regarding absolute vs relative advantage of drawbar vs higher attachment point, there is little doubt that keeping the attachment point below the rear axle is the safest way to go.

 

[IslandTractor]

I agree using a large clevis pin is the simplest solution to attaching a chain to the drawbar. Bob's solution is nifty but would be useful only if you didn't have a chain hook at each end of your pulling chain. My clevis pin is large enough that I can slide the chain through it then hook it to itself.

 

[ccsial]

I just recalled that this summer I posted about an experiment I tried in order to see how much torque my new HST had.

I hooked a chain (1/4” dia. links) to a stump from my drawbar. I had a 60” bush hog on to protect me from a whipping chain just in case it broke. As I slowly pressed the HST pedal the tractor strained and eventually snapped the chain. I had expected the wheels to spin. At no time did the front wheels come off the ground even with all the weight of the mower on back. I really don't think this is an issue.

If you use a light duty chain it would act as a fuse anyway. In any case I wouldn’t skid logs at full speed.

The average reaction time of a car driver in an emergency situation is 2/10 of a second. I don’t see why it should be longer on a tractor unless you are operating in an unsafe manner to start with. I've raised the rear wheels more than once when pulling trees with my end loader in 4WD. Never got very high before I reacted.

 

[IslandTractor]

Reaction time might be 2/10 second (sounds kinda fast to me though) but you also need to include time to raise your foot, place it on the clutch, depress the clutch etc. The time it takes for the tractor to flip is only a second or two.

 

[ronjhall]

If you want a clevis that will fit a draw-bar. Try Northern Tool. Here is a link to a Draw-bar Hook. Click Here
A better Clevis than the one Trev suggested. Would be a pin clevis. Also at Northern Tool. Click Here
I have used a trailer ball to hook a chain around when I was in a hurry. But normally use the 2 attachments above.

 

[ronjhall]

Here is a picture of a Pin Clevis.

 

[ccsial]

As I recall the study, It was how long it took the driver to hit the brake after seeing the threat. Since most people don't ride the brake this includes time to get you foot on the brake. One full second is actually quite a bit of time if your paying attention. If your doing anything risky of turnover your foot should be near the clutch already.

 

[Dargo]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( there is little doubt that keeping the attachment point below the rear axle is the safest way to go.)</font>

I'll certainly go along with that. One question; has anyone else just slipped the chain hook onto the piece of steel that holds the drawbar onto the bottom of the tractor? I know that the 3/8" grab hook on the ends of my chain have fit perfectly onto the framework that holds the drawbar onto the tractor on at least my last 4 or 5 tractors. When chaining my tractor to my trailer, I use a chain on each side of that part to secure the rear of the tractor. The chain hooks fit on perfectly even with the drawbar on the tractor.

 

[btolle]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I was planning on attaching a hitch ball to the drawbar then using that to hook a clevis hook attached to a metal chain to drag the log around.
)</font>

I have been dragging logs around for a couple of years with a hitch ball in the drawbar. I hooked the hook on the chain so that it made a loop and then used a ball bungee to hold the hook on the chain. I can just drop the loop over the hitch ball and go.

BTW, when you buy the hitch ball look carefully at the base where it sits flat on the hitch, there should be a rating there. You can get hitch balls with various ratings, try to find one rated for 6K pounds and a long thread so it will go all the way through the drawbar.

Bill Tolle

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( everything Bird posts is correct )</font>

Well, maybe not quite that good, Russell. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I agree, in theory, a tractor should not rear up if you're pulling from below the rear axle, and I've never personally had it happen; only spun tires and/or bogged down the engine.

I've already mentioned the little John Deere L nearly going over backwards with Dad. We pulled lots of dead trees with that tractor, and occasionally tried to pull some that it couldn't pull and I don't remember it ever rearing up. We also pulled a two wheel trailer a lot with it. The place had a rectangular concrete "watering trough" that we didn't need; maybe 3' wide by 5' long and 2' deep (I don't remember exactly). So we dug a hole under a black walnut tree, drug that trough into it, filled in around it, etc. to make a fish pond to keep minnows for fish bait. We didn't know that black walnuts and/or the leaves falling into the water would kill fish, but we learned. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif So we dug out around it again, with a sloping "ramp" at one end, got a chain around it and hooked up to the tractor to move it elsewhere. So the chain went from the tractor down below ground level. Now the tractor didn't have a 3-point hitch so I think we always attached chains to the same place, but I'll admit my old memory ain't good enough to remember exactly how the chain was attached that day, but I'll never forget how close it came to going over backward.