Commercial bucket hitchs have a design flaw. The piece that mounts on a bucket positions the extension arm and ball parallel to the bottom of the bucket. So, when the hitch arm is horizontal, it is impossible to see the ball from the operators seat due to the top of the bucket blocking view of the hitch ball, unless the arm extension is extremely long. So I designed a bucket hitch assembly that positions the arm extension parallel to the ground when the bucket is fully rotated upward, adding a "kink" to the hitch angle.
With this design I can now see the ball from the operators seat.
One fatal flaw that many commercial bucket hitch connectors have is their inability to handle lateral loads, and they rely on friction for pulling. I added a clip bar that fits behind the bucket cutting blade to solve both of these issues. This hitch will now easily pull my 17 ft Lund Boat and handle a sharp right or left turn.
The hitch connector uses a simple drop pin to hold the arm extension. I've added horizontal pin holes to fit standard hitch inserts, if ever needed. I have another arm that has a pin head instead of a ball to move a hay wagon.
With this design I can now see the ball from the operators seat.
One fatal flaw that many commercial bucket hitch connectors have is their inability to handle lateral loads, and they rely on friction for pulling. I added a clip bar that fits behind the bucket cutting blade to solve both of these issues. This hitch will now easily pull my 17 ft Lund Boat and handle a sharp right or left turn.
The hitch connector uses a simple drop pin to hold the arm extension. I've added horizontal pin holes to fit standard hitch inserts, if ever needed. I have another arm that has a pin head instead of a ball to move a hay wagon.