Looking to buy a Quick-Hitch or already have one? Check this out..

[NoBiffBetter]

Hey guys.. so as many of you are aware these quick-hitches are a great attachment to have if your a guy who changes implements quite often or even for someone who just wants to give their back a break.

This is just a quick write up of what to look for when buying a quick-hitch and what you might want to change or fabricate if you already do have one.

If your buying one:

- Step 1. Make sure that you buy a Quick-Hitch with a top hook that is offset.. typically the top hook will be offset by around 3/4 of an inch.. this allows you to connect to your implement MUCH easier because the top hook will sit out farther from the frame. Often.. if the hook is NOT offset, you won’t even be able to hook to your implement at all do to the implement not having enough clearance between the top mount and the frame of the quick-hitch.

-Step 2. Make sure you know what your buying.. check the spread of your implements from side to side and from top pin to lower pin.. when you buy a quick-hitch it should show you under the specs what the measurements are for the spread along with the distance between the top and lower pins.

-Once you know that the quick-hitch already has the offset top hook and you have seen that the measurements for the spread and top to lower pins will fit your implements then continue to Step 3.

Step 3. -Choose a bushing-less or bushing style quick hitch dependent on your needs. If you know for sure that all your implements are going to be on a cat 1 hitch then I HIGHLY recommend you go with a bushing-less quick-hitch.. a bushing-less quick hitch will allow you to connect the quick hitch directly to cat 1 pins (this saves you both time and money) because you won’t have to buy a bushing set for each of your implements and you won’t have to worry about installing and removing the bushings constantly if you use multiple tractors for the same implements.

If you DO have implements that are going to use a cat 2 hitch then make sure that you buy a standard quick-Hitch.. one that will require bushings in order to work on cat 1 implements.. you will have to install these bushings on all of your implements to use the quick hitch but the up-side is that you can leave the bushings on the implements as long as you are using a cat2 hitched tractor to connect to them after the bushings are installed.

Most people use cat 1.. in which case most of you guys should be choosing a bushing-less quick-hitch to save yourself the trouble of those stupid bushings. You can find a bushing-less quick hitch for around $150 like I did.. as far as I know they are just as strong and use the exact same design as the bushing type quick-hitches.

For people who already own a quick-quick hitch:

-IF your implements all use cat 1 pins and you already have a bushing style quick-hitch then all you need to do is weld in two pieces of 1/4” thick flat stock flush against the backside of the hooks to take up the slop that the bushings normally would...you would need to do this to all 3 of hooks on your quick hitch. If you do this then you will no longer need to put bushings on every one of your implements.

-IF your implements all use cat 1 pins and you already have the bushing-less quick hitch then I suggest that you do the same thing I just mentioned above but you only have to weld the flat stock to the top hook and you can leave your bottom hooks alone.. i have a bushing-less quick-hitch and this is what I did.. this allows you to take out a lot of the slop/play in the top hook.

-Add spacers to your top pin where the top link connects to your quick-hitch.. this will also remove a lot of the slop that a quick-hitch has.

-IF your top hook is NOT offset.. then you can simply weld a piece of square stock to the back of the hook and drill the 2 holes into it to allow it to mount to your quick hitch in place of the standard hook mounts and this will give you the offset that you need to make connecting to Implements possible/easier.


-Most of the fabricating mentioned above can be found in this link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wMrvjGRxbMI

This is where I got the idea from.

Just like the guy in the video.. I made my own spacer out of flat stock for my quick-hitch.. it turned out good and works fantastic!

Pics of my own:

I painted my top hook kubota grey when I was all done to match my 3 point hitch.

I hope this helps some people who either own a quick-hitch or who plan to buy a quick-hitch..

If there was anything I left out.. or maybe something I said wrong, don’t hesitate to correct me.

Thanks guys!




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[Mainah]

Nice post! Looks great!

 

[Cathy Liebchen]

Looks like a solution seeking a problem. The bushings seem like a much easier way to go. They are not expensive, and welding stuff on the QH then limits its ability to hook up to other implements.

 

[NoBiffBetter]

Nice post! Looks great!

Thanks man! I appreciate it. Thanks for viewing.

 

[NoBiffBetter]

Looks like a solution seeking a problem. The bushings seem like a much easier way to go. They are not expensive, and welding stuff on the QH then limits its ability to hook up to other implements.

If you read my post you will get the answers your looking for into why I did what I did and explaining who should do this and who should not do this.

As noted in my original post.. if you are using both cat 1 AND cat 2 pins then you do NOT want to weld your quick-hitch to go bushing-less like I did.. this would obviously limit you to only cat 1 pins if you did.

Now If you are ONLY using cat 1 pins for all your implements and know for a fact that’s all you will ever use (like me), then this is by far the best solution.. nobody wants to buy bushings for every single one of their implements when all they use is cat 1 pins.. this is why they make quick-hitch’s now that are bushing free.. only problem with the bushing free quick hitches like I have is that they still use a cat 2 top hook which introduces a lot of slop/play in your implement. This is why I used the welding technique to take up the slop in my top hook so that now all 3 of my quick-hitch hooks fit cat 1 pins flawlessly and cat 1 pins are all I’ll ever use on my little kubota BX.

It isn’t limiting yourself if you know you are only going to be using is cat 1 pins. Seems to me that most the people who buy quick-hitch’s are usually only using cat 1 pins which is why I made this thread to inform people about these issues. Again, if you are using cat 1 AND cat 2 pins then the bushings are the way to go, if you are using only cat 1 pins then welding flat stock to take up the slop is the way to go...


There are many people out there doing this and it is by far the best solution to fixing the slop and play that a quick-hitch has when only using cat 1 pins.

Welding flat stock to the hooks to take up the slop as I and others have done in no way limits you to connecting your quick-hitch to cat 1 implements with cat 1 pins.. it actually makes it much easier and gets rid of all the slop.

I absolutely love my quick-hitch now.


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[Cathy Liebchen]

I never know things for a fact- things change and I may get a great deal on another implement that is Cat 2. Just using bushings and avoiding all that welding and grinding, and then the resale is limited once I have reduced the capabilities of the quick hitch. But if I had a welder and just was looking for something to weld up, maybe. If welding like this was a thing to do, would have seen it before

 

[Gillie Dog]

this is why they make quick-hitch’s now that are bushing free.. only problem with the bushing free quick hitches like I have is that they still use a cat 2 top hook which introduces a lot of slop/play in your implement.

NoBiffBetter,

I have been searching for a couple weeks now (online only so far) for a Cat. 1 quick hitch with all three hooks Cat 1 size. All current and future implements will be standard size (like Land Pride) Cat. 1 quick hitch compatible.

Do you know of any which are? Or does anybody else?

Like you say, it appears all of the affordable (you can take that to mean, cheap) "Cat 1" quick hitches have Cat 2 top hooks even if they are 27 3/16" wide bottom hooks to be "standard". Maybe pricey ones, like Land Pride, have 3/4" (7/8") for top hook and 7/8" (1") for lower hooks?

Thanks

GD

 

[bcp]

Probably hard to find one. Companies are making more effort to make things quick hitch compatible, and the ASAE specs call for Cat 3 size hooks.

Bruce

 

[Gillie Dog]

Probably hard to find one. Companies are making more effort to make things quick hitch compatible, and the ASAE specs call for Cat 3 size hooks.

Bruce

That is why Land Pride states "Non Standard Lower Lugs" on Cat 1 quick hitches and all of their quick hitch ready implements have a 1 1/4 OD bushing for the upper quick hitch hook location.

All makes sense now.

Thanks

GD