Obviously I am Doing something (everything) wrong..

[jaargh]

In the pic the black you see is paint... the arms rotated freely on the balls, the front of the mower was on the ground. My level of experience with tractors is MAYBE 24 hours total time in my life. Having said that I'm not new to machinery and having to dick with stuff to get it to work. Aside from the already mentioned kicking, tugging and prying i tried hitting it with a 3lb dead blow.. did nothing, a 36" pry bar..nothing, whacking on it with a 2x4...nothing. cussed a lot, had a beer cussed some more, said f-it grabbed my 60" wrecking bar laid my 200lbs into it...nothing. now i'm pissed so i screamed F@#$ you at it slammed into the wrecking bar aaaanddd..... CRACK! popped it loose. I will be buying a quick hitch tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone for the input

 

[BigG]

In the future lay a 4 x 4 or a fence post parallel to the front edge of the mower and slide it under the mower enough so that the front two corners of the mower will rest on the wood. This will let you adjust the mower easier when you go to hook it up again.

Second the reason you are having problems removing the arms from the mower is because everything is new. A little paint here or there and new pins riding on new link balls and boom they are stuck together. I would take a wire wheel on a drill motor or grinder and polish the areas were the bushings ride. And as mentioned above a small amount of grease or never seize on the pins will help. The dead blow hammer is your friend when dealing with a 3 point hitch.

Also you will learn to find the sweet spot where there is no weight on the pins from the link arms. The weight of the arms resting on the pins will be enough to make it difficult to dismount the mower. You may need to remove one side and then adjust the height of the link arm to find the sweet spot on the other arm. Also get some P B Blaster or Fluid Film (WD-40 is not good for this) to spray on the link arm balls and more importantly the coupling for the PTO. It will be difficult the first time or six when you hook the mower back up. Remember to keep the PTO shaft out of the dirt when you are storing the mower.

Soon things will get "broken in" and it will get much easier.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

It's the top link binding the bottom arms, give the top link slack and the arms will come right off.

 

[NCL4701]

In the pic the black you see is paint... the arms rotated freely on the balls, the front of the mower was on the ground. My level of experience with tractors is MAYBE 24 hours total time in my life. Having said that I'm not new to machinery and having to dick with stuff to get it to work. Aside from the already mentioned kicking, tugging and prying i tried hitting it with a 3lb dead blow.. did nothing, a 36" pry bar..nothing, whacking on it with a 2x4...nothing. cussed a lot, had a beer cussed some more, said f-it grabbed my 60" wrecking bar laid my 200lbs into it...nothing. now i'm pissed so i screamed F@#$ you at it slammed into the wrecking bar aaaanddd..... CRACK! popped it loose. I will be buying a quick hitch tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone for the input

1) Congratulations.
2) It does take a little practice to finesse stuff off and on.
3) Sounds like you found your version of our 16lb hammer.

 

[airbiscuit]

Sometimes 3pt connecting and disconnecting can be finicky. Sometimes it's rust, but usually it's about alignment. I would:

1. Be sure the mower is on a level surface
2. Be sure the mower is fully lowered with no weight on the 3pt ends
3. Disconnect the top link
4. Spray the balls with penetrating oil
5. Make sure the turnbuckles/stabilizer bars are loose
6. Turn the tail wheel of the mower 90 degrees and rock it back and forth
7. Yank sideways on the 3pt arm or use a crowbar

I used to think that Extendable Links and Telescoping Stabilizers were a luxury until I got them. Now I wouldn't do without them. They save a lot of manhandling. I always kept a long pipe around to help jimmy things around for alignment.

 

[mcfarmall]

My pins were tight in the balls when I received my tractor. The balls were also tight in the arms. I used an appropriate sized flap wheel in my die grinder to remove all the paint inside and out. I oiled my balls up and life is good.

 

[drewzee87t]

lol

 

[jaargh]

Once I got it off and got to thinking about it I picked up the front end and kicked a 2x6 under the front edge and I will be setting the box on a board when I am done with it too. I think my issue was in all the youtube videos I have watched not a single one mentioned a pry bar or hammer. I will be wire brushing the pins and spraying those links in the am.

 

[Motion]

For both pins/balls to do that is strange. If penetrant and mauls don't handle it, consider unbolting the pins from the bush hog , drop the lower arms and press them out.

 

[wendol]

I've certainly shared in this frustration in earlier years.........my solution:

Have a welder convert all my older equipment to a U-shaped connection similiar to the attached photo.

Now I set my stabilizer bars, and never need to adjust them.

Connecting/disconnecting to equipment is super easy.

 

[D2Cat]

I don't think the problem is the pins or the balls being rusty/dirty, The 3pt linkage is is a bind, either the arms are not free to move in and out, or the top link is not adjusted so the top pin is loose enough to remove.

When those conditions are met the arms will slide out and fall off the pins. If you need additional leverage to get an arm off a pin use a 4' piece of 2x4 and insert between the implement and the arm right at the ball and leverage the arm outwards.

 

[jaargh]

I don't think the problem is the pins or the balls being rusty/dirty, The 3pt linkage is is a bind, either the arms are not free to move in and out, or the top link is not adjusted so the top pin is loose enough to remove.

When those conditions are met the arms will slide out and fall off the pins. If you need additional leverage to get an arm off a pin use a 4' piece of 2x4 and insert between the implement and the arm right at the ball and leverage the arm outwards.

The top link was disconnected, the left arm slid off easily and once I got the right arm loose with the 5' pry bar the arm slid easily off the pin. For whatever reason it was just freaking stuck on that pin... when it finally came loose it sounded like a .22 being fired

 

[kubotafreak]

Sometimes Kubota is generous with the paint. Give it some time, it will get nice and loose.

 

[nbryan]

The top link was disconnected, the left arm slid off easily and once I got the right arm loose with the 5' pry bar the arm slid easily off the pin. For whatever reason it was just freaking stuck on that pin... when it finally came loose it sounded like a .22 being fired

If you haven't already put a light up real close to that rogue pin and there is likely a high spot on it somewhere near the inside of where that stuck ball sat, with marks left behind by the ball jambing against it then being hammered off. File/emery the high spot down and no more sticking!

 

[jimh406]

I recently had a similar issue. In my case, the height adjustment for left/right was causing binding. Most ground isn’t completely level with a little adjustment and a plastic blow hammer mine came apart. I also have telescoping arms, so I pulled the pins to make sure they could move freely.

My QH has been on order since early Feb. Supposedly it should come in this month, so hopefully, I’ll have it at least by end of next month. I’m going to try to leave the current attachment on until then.

 

[jaargh]

I recently had a similar issue. In my case, the height adjustment for left/right was causing binding. Most ground isn’t completely level with a little adjustment and a plastic blow hammer mine came apart. I also have telescoping arms, so I pulled the pins to make sure they could move freely.

My QH has been on order since early Feb. Supposedly it should come in this month, so hopefully, I’ll have it at least by end of next month. I’m going to try to leave the current attachment on until then.

once it popped loose it slid on and off that pin with no problem. I have since had the arms on my box scraper and rock rake and back on the brush hog with zero issues. My next purchase will be a quick hitch. I just don't have the patience to perfectly aligne and back up every time to hook something up