Drawbar - Shank is 15/16
- Thread starter Green Acres
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North Idaho Wolfman
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Be hard to drill 15/16 to 1". May need to find a reamer. Something else is to run a tap for the 1" threaded ball. Nut on bottom and that baby will never loosen. A step drill may open it up, just need cutting fluid to make it go a little easier. If it can be removed and clamped in a drill press then a 1" bit may do it.
I enlarged a hole in a situation similar to yours. Use a holesaw.
First, use the holesaw to drill a small piece of 1/2" plywood. Clamp the plywood onto the bar with its 1" hole centered over the 15/16" hole. Next, I used a battery drill (to eliminate a shock hazard) and with a small constant stream of water drilled right through. The water keeps things cool and gets rid of the cuttings.
This was on a piece of steel about half as thick as yours, but no reason it won't work.
First, use the holesaw to drill a small piece of 1/2" plywood. Clamp the plywood onto the bar with its 1" hole centered over the 15/16" hole. Next, I used a battery drill (to eliminate a shock hazard) and with a small constant stream of water drilled right through. The water keeps things cool and gets rid of the cuttings.
This was on a piece of steel about half as thick as yours, but no reason it won't work.
You got any friends that work in a machine shop it would take about 5min to drill on a milling machine
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Assuming it's not a metric mis-match, the hole in the drawbar got punched with a 'dull' or worn die.
Try feeling 'inside' the hole on both sides with your fingernail or pointed hook and see if perhaps there's a tiny ridge at each side on the 'inside'. The inside diameter of the hole may be closer to 1-in than you think.
I've run across something similar once and was able to use a hand grinder to knock off the top burr and a coarse rat-tail file to get rid of the internal ridge. The fit for a 1-in shank was tight, but worked.
I knocked the sharp edge off the end of the shank, oiled it, and whacked it with a larger sledge and it went. Don't think it'll come back out anytime soon, nut or not.
Depending on your plans and expected towing load(s), a 3/4-in shank should work fine; I wouldn't even worry about a bushing. Make it up tight and use it (may need a washer on bottom for the nut to seat against the oversize hole).
Please post back your continuing experiences so we may all learn.
Try feeling 'inside' the hole on both sides with your fingernail or pointed hook and see if perhaps there's a tiny ridge at each side on the 'inside'. The inside diameter of the hole may be closer to 1-in than you think.
I've run across something similar once and was able to use a hand grinder to knock off the top burr and a coarse rat-tail file to get rid of the internal ridge. The fit for a 1-in shank was tight, but worked.
I knocked the sharp edge off the end of the shank, oiled it, and whacked it with a larger sledge and it went. Don't think it'll come back out anytime soon, nut or not.
Depending on your plans and expected towing load(s), a 3/4-in shank should work fine; I wouldn't even worry about a bushing. Make it up tight and use it (may need a washer on bottom for the nut to seat against the oversize hole).
Please post back your continuing experiences so we may all learn.
Just happened to think: a Dremel with a cylindrical stone might also work for you. Try to keep the hole 'round' but probably not critical.
Around here there is on the market a very coarse grinding stone (more of a rock) called a foundry snagging stone. I'll bet there's a proper name for the thing but I don't know what it is.
Extremely coarse grinding stone, typically cone or cylindrical, with a threaded hole in the base, made to screw onto a hand grinder in place of the usual grinding disk.
I've seen some in smaller sizes: might find one ~1-in or so in diameter that could fit down into the drawbar hole and clean it out in about 30-secs. Wear eye protection due to coarse particles and clumps being shucked off the stone.
Often used by welders to clean up the inside lip of cut pipe.
I usually have to unscrew it from the grinder by grasping gently with a large pair of water pump pliers. Don't crush the stone face.
Relatively inexpensive; I think the last one I bought was $2-$3 for a 2-in dia cone. It's not a precision implement of destruction.
Good luck and please post back your continuing experiences so we may all learn.
Around here there is on the market a very coarse grinding stone (more of a rock) called a foundry snagging stone. I'll bet there's a proper name for the thing but I don't know what it is.
Extremely coarse grinding stone, typically cone or cylindrical, with a threaded hole in the base, made to screw onto a hand grinder in place of the usual grinding disk.
I've seen some in smaller sizes: might find one ~1-in or so in diameter that could fit down into the drawbar hole and clean it out in about 30-secs. Wear eye protection due to coarse particles and clumps being shucked off the stone.
Often used by welders to clean up the inside lip of cut pipe.
I usually have to unscrew it from the grinder by grasping gently with a large pair of water pump pliers. Don't crush the stone face.
Relatively inexpensive; I think the last one I bought was $2-$3 for a 2-in dia cone. It's not a precision implement of destruction.
Good luck and please post back your continuing experiences so we may all learn.