Slide On fork receiver hitch problem

Smokeless

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3-Pt ball hitch works fine if you don’t mind twisting-around, looking over your shoulder to hook up...and then doing it again to back your trailer into some spot. Front hitch is better for parking trailers instead of pulling them.
Thats it right there, twisting getting tuff after all these birthdays. I believe i would like pushing forward, gotta be easier to my mind. We will see
 

Smokeless

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3-Pt ball hitch works fine if you don’t mind twisting-around, looking over your shoulder to hook up...and then doing it again to back your trailer into some spot. Front hitch is better for parking trailers instead of pulling them.
Probably will wind up doing that.
 

19thSF

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3-Pt ball hitch works fine if you don’t mind twisting-around, looking over your shoulder to hook up...and then doing it again to back your trailer into some spot. Front hitch is better for parking trailers instead of pulling them.
I agree with the point that you are making, in that the hitch ball out front makes it easier to "spot" the trailer. The problem first discussed was the reduction in capacity that far away from the loader arms. Perhaps someone offers a set up that mounts right at the loader arms instead of at the far end of the forks.
 

Lil Foot

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Another point to consider with a 3 point hitch set up is that there is no down pressure. If terrain or the load in the trailer causes the tail of the trailer to go down quickly, the tongue can move upward violently, causing the three point arms to slam at the end of their travel, often breaking the casting that holds the arms & cylinder. Expensive fix. This can be avoided by bolting an arm between the movable 3 point hitch and the rigid trailer hitch, but you lose the ability to lift anything.
 

SidecarFlip

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That's why I installed mine like this, I do need to use a dropped ball hitch to avoid grounding out the rear of the trailer

I see your fenders are turning Mary Kay pink, just like mine did. What is interesting is, some of the parts bleach out, some don't. My fender are sad but my roof, which is plastic is fine. The hood which is metal bleached but the side panels didn't.
 

SidecarFlip

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I took my Milwaukee magnetic drill and an annular cutter and bored a hole in the floor of my bucket that accepts a 2 5/16" ball shank. If the ball isn't in there, the hay spear is and it too bolts to the hole. But then I have an extra bucket with no holes in it.
 

fruitcakesa

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I see your fenders are turning Mary Kay pink, just like mine did. What is interesting is, some of the parts bleach out, some don't. My fender are sad but my roof, which is plastic is fine. The hood which is metal bleached but the side panels didn't.
Yes, just the fenders pinked out, the rest of the machine is still orange
 

molson

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Jan 31, 2015
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i bought a heavy hitch that goes on the 3 point. It has a receiver hitch, provisions for moving a gooseneck trailer and also i can hang my suitcase weights on it. It is on the tractor most of the time. Pretty slick moving trailers without getting off the machine to mow under them, then move em back. The 3 point will lift more than the bucket and is a lot more stable to pull from also. Yes you have to turn around but how big of an inconvenience is it really. Worth looking at.
 

Smokeless

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i bought a heavy hitch that goes on the 3 point. It has a receiver hitch, provisions for moving a gooseneck trailer and also i can hang my suitcase weights on it. It is on the tractor most of the time. Pretty slick moving trailers without getting off the machine to mow under them, then move em back. The 3 point will lift more than the bucket and is a lot more stable to pull from also. Yes you have to turn around but how big of an inconvenience is it really. Worth looking at.
Did look at their www site, can appreciate the utility and convenience.

"Yes you have to turn around but how big of an inconvenience is it really." Thats exactly what I was trying to avoid. Bad back, twisting a chore. But with some rearranging of the parking area I could probably make the three point option work. Appreciate your post, good suggestion.
 

torch

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Perhaps someone offers a set up that mounts right at the loader arms instead of at the far end of the forks.
Like this?



(not quite on the pins, but right on the SSQA)
 

Lil Foot

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Nice idea but it's also a good way to bow the bucket!
Hasn't in 8 years.
I"m moving empty utility and garden trailers, not lifting the Queen Mary.
Did you note the factory cutting edge? Probably 1/2" x 3".
 

GeoHorn

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I agree with the point that you are making, in that the hitch ball out front makes it easier to "spot" the trailer. The problem first discussed was the reduction in capacity that far away from the loader arms. Perhaps someone offers a set up that mounts right at the loader arms instead of at the far end of the forks.
I remove my forks and use only it’s back/rack to which I’ve welded a receiver for a 2” ball-hitch. Although I still have the 3-pt hitch I’d made for my little Ford 9N... I never use it because it’s too much trouble to use and I don’t want to hassle with whatever I already have mounted back there.
 

Lil Foot

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Just remembered the first one of these I built for my buddies' Ford (9n or 8n, can't remember) and it hasn't bent the bucket either.
 

Cathy Liebchen

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Another point to consider with a 3 point hitch set up is that there is no down pressure. If terrain or the load in the trailer causes the tail of the trailer to go down quickly, the tongue can move upward violently, causing the three point arms to slam at the end of their travel, often breaking the casting that holds the arms & cylinder. Expensive fix. This can be avoided by bolting an arm between the movable 3 point hitch and the rigid trailer hitch, but you lose the ability to lift anything.
This is a good point since too light tongue weight can lift the tractor rear tires off the ground or even flip the tractor over if the towing center is above the level of the draw bar or pto. Once the trailer is hooked up and lifted we run a chain over the hitch and hooked with a sliphook to a clevis on the draw bar to prevent any sudden upward movement.
 
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Russell King

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Could the original posters design be used at the end of the forks to get the ball into the trailer hitch, the push it to the back of the fork to increase the lifting capacity? Only problem I see is having to get off the tractor to chain it at the back of the fork, but a nifty hook back there may be designed to snap down on the movable part if getting off the tractor is too much trouble.
 

Smokeless

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3901/Loader/Rear Blade/Box Blade/LP Mower/Pallet forks IH M,,Cub & sickle mower
Feb 5, 2018
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Southern Illinois
Could the original posters design be used at the end of the forks to get the ball into the trailer hitch, the push it to the back of the fork to increase the lifting capacity? Only problem I see is having to get off the tractor to chain it at the back of the fork, but a nifty hook back there may be designed to snap down on the movable part if getting off the tractor is too much trouble.

Believe I will just use my contraption for very lite trailers or hook ups and opt to the three point for the heavier ones. We use to say at work "good idea poorly executed"