Go Bottom3pt hookup secret
 | tracer
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 49 boyce Va 
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2003-06-23 58167
Greetings all,
Ok I have been hooking up implements to tractors for years now and I still have yet to figure out the secret. Some times I back up to my bush hog, blade or finish mower and can hook up and be gone in minutes. Other times the use of digging bars , sledge hammers, children, dogs and wives and it still takes blood, sweat and tears coupled with eloquent profanity before that magical moment of hooking the PTO and getting to work occurs. What simple secret am I missing?
I have a 2003 790 and I am referring to A King Kutter Finish mower and a simple 6 foot blade. Any words of wisdom will be appreciated.
Tracer
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 | Misenplace
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 875 Michigan 
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2003-06-23 58168
imatch or quick hitch at the Tractor supply co. Cuts the profanty by 50%. ....
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 | Chief
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 4297 Southwest MiddleTennessee 
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2003-06-23 58175
The PTO is a tight fit. I spray mine with a thin lubricant jut before I install it but I still have to gently tap the PTO shaft universal onto the PTO shaft on the tractor. ....
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 | marklugo
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 281 Tifton, GA
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2003-06-23 58178
Quick hitch is right. They are available from Speeco for less than 200. E-mail me for a source on them.
A rule of thumb is to hook left side up first, then use leveling box on right to compensate for differences in hitch pin height. The top link is last. Then you can raise or lower implement from the lift contol handle to match up to the length of the top-link. Once all is hooked and pinned, adjust leveling box and then toplink into correct operating position. Unhook on flat ground or pouring a concrete pad helps. I find that setting an implement off on a couple of landscaping timbers helps raise the pins up enough to make it easier for the implement to mate to the tractor. Also it won't rust to the ground or freeze as some of the snow country people fuss about.
Don't do this tired, hot or previously frustrated or in a hurry because nothing will work when you are in this condition.
Or, do as one recent customer of one of my dealers did after he inherited a couple mil. ... buy a tractor for each piece of equipment and don't unhook. ....
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 | harvey
Join Date: Sep 2000 Posts: 1550 Moravia, NY 
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2003-06-23 58180
Tracer There is usually a casting mark on the PTO coupler. I line them up with the splines on the PTO shaft.
PROBLEM NEW STUPID SYSTEMS WITH A BRAKE BUILT IN. It is a fine line where the PTO shaft will turn (WITH OUT ENGINE RUNNING) by hand to align the splines. Usually I rotate the implement to get splines to align.
Most of my guards are removed to faciliate cleaning and greasing when I am done with them so it makes it easy to aline the splines while turning the belts or other stuff with my foot.
Sorry safety guys it's how I do it. We won't discuss balers choppers or other BIG stuff...
Harvey ....
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| tracer
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 49 boyce Va
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2003-06-23 58189
Greetings
Thanks for the tips gentlemen. I have noted the tips and will investigate the quick hitch options. The landscape timbers and pad also sound good and worthwhile. I will let you all know how my next hookup adventure turns out.
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2003-06-24 58203
I don't know if the problem is getting the mounts aligned, the pto shaft connected or both. Maybe it's because my pto output shaft is almost 20 years old but I've never had much trouble making the shaft so I don't appreciate the problem. I do keep it cleaned and greased though. I;ve never bought a cover for the shaft and sometimes I wonder if I should.
Making the mounts is another story. I have a theory that if something starts out wrong, it continues wrong. Sometimes making the pins is just a bugger. I don't swap implements to make quick-hitch things interesting to me. I do keep implements on blocks so that moving them around with my 5' pry bar is pretty easy. I also have a crank side-leveler that helps line up the mounts (when I crank mine one arm moves up and the other down).
Last summer I did start using a trick I read about here. If the implement and tractor are not square, a loader bucket can be pointed down and dug in. One lower pin can be made and then the implement can be squared by using the bucket curl to move the tractor a few inches on way or the other. I suppose there are several safety violations to be aware of, and most times it's just easier to use the pry-bar.
I can't say exactly how I do it but I never take a hammer with me to swap implements anymore. Somehow I manage to get things aligned so finger pressure or a boot occasionally will deal with the pins. Sometimes it does go faster than others though.
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 | AC5ZO
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 928 Rio Rancho, NM 87144
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2003-06-24 58211
There are also variations in the 3PH arms. Some manufacturers call these STD and Deluxe. The Deluxe have a latch that allows the lower arm to telescope out a few inches to make hitching up a bit easier. When you lift the implement the arms telescope in and latch in position. STD lower arms are fixed in length. ....
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| MYDOGROY
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 24 NEW PARK, PA
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2003-06-24 58213
I'm glad the quick hitch was mentioned, I'm going to look into it for my 790. I also have a terrible time attaching implements. thanks R.L ....
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| abcdefg
Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 0
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2003-06-24 58228
All these good folks have great ideas. For those of us who have to change implements fairly often there are a couple tricks:
1. always spray WD40 or equivalent on the pins, inside the splined pto connection and on the PTO lock pin.
2. Buy an iron bar from Home Depot of local equivalent. I prefer the one with a point at one and and a 1.5-2" wide chisel at the other end.
Back up to your implement and get one side aligned. Right or left doesn't matter all that much. Use the bar to ease on the lower arm on that side. Go to the other side and use the bar to move the implement around until the arm on that side slides on. Attach the top link. With the engine off, connect the PTO. Depending on the implement, I usually grease it at this point too. A bit of prevention ...
I've found the iron bar to be one of the most useful tools around the place. Really comes in handy when something goes wrong and one side of your implement comes loose while you are working. Lost one side of my 9'flail mower this spring when the pin broke (boy was I surprised!). I was able to move that monster back in to position with just the bar even on a bit of a side hill in the filbert orchard.
Good Luck.
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2003-06-25 58242
My bar also almost always gets involved in implement swapping. Probably like abe's, it is a heavy bar rather than one with a squared end with a chisel point and a smaller round handle. The extra weight of this type bar also makes them pretty good for breaking up rocks in the bottom of post holes. I think mine is tempered steel. At least the points have lasted for 25 years. One of these will make implement swapping much easier, and they have a bunch of other uses as well.
For anybody who doesn't swap implements frequently and doesn't have a pry-bar, they might get a bar first and give it a try before investing in quick-hitch systems. One might chop the aggravation down to an acceptable level. If not a boar is always going to be used for something. You just sink the bar in the ground near an implement and you can move it around a surprising distance.
I also try to store my implements so I don't have to back up to them in tight turns. I think tight turns may be the origin of most of my swaps that start out wrong and just keep going that way.
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| Ron Franks
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2003-06-25 58277
Hi. I've considered one of the quick-hitch systems but I have a finishing mower with the swinging top link (to allow the mower to follow uneven terrain). Is there a way to use one of the quick hitch systems with this swinging link? Thanks for any advice. ....
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