PHD three-point fit

[brian.hart]

I just purchased a post-hole digger from my Kubota dealer. It is a Dirty Hand Tools PD100 (Cat1/Cat2). When I got ready to attach it to my B2320, however, I found two issues.

1. The hole on the end of the boom is for a 1" pin, but I have 3/4" pins, as do all my other attachments. And, of course, the pin-attachment bracket on the tractor is only 3/4", so I cannot use a 1" pin even if I had one. Is the slop due to the oversize hole a problem? Is there a bushing available?
2. The inner width of the bracket on the tractor is 1-5/8", but the width of the end of the PHD boom is 1-3/4", so I have no way to even mount the PHD unless it is possible to spread the bracket. I see that the bracket on the tractor is actual two separate pieces; however, I have not yet loosened them to see if the hole behind the bracket is actual a slot rather than a round hole so that the bracket can accommodate a wider attachment boom .

 

[bmblank]

as far as item one, it sounds like you just need a bushing in there. Agri-supply is probably one of the best places to get a cat1 to cat2 toplink bushing, but you should be able to get them anywhere, tractor supply or any sort of farm supply store. The extra room is for the category 2 toplink. Those have a 1" pin.
As far as item 2, I don't really follow the description. Pictures may help, but most of the other members know more than me, so they may know what the problem is and how to fix it.

 

[brian.hart]

On #2: with a PHD, the top link is not used, since the PHD boom connects directly to the tractor where the tractor end of the top link would normally go, with a 3/4" pin through it. The width of the top link bracket on the tractor (i.e. where the top link ball end sits) is 1-5/8", which is more than wide enough for the top link ball end but not enough for the boom end at 1-3/4".

In the attached picture, you can see the ball end inside the bracket. (This is not my B2320; however, the germane parts are the same. It is the space between the two plates that make up the bracket where the ball end sits that is too narrow for the PHD boom end.

All other implements I have use the top link. All the specs I can find have to do with pin diameter, not with ball diameter.

 

[brian.hart]

I called the dealer.

Apparently, 1-3/4" top link ball bracket spacing is the Cat1 spec, but the B2320 bracket spacing is an eighth inch under that--or maybe vice versa.

The hole diameter is easy, as you indicated: a 3/4"-to-1" bushing.

Most of the specs have to do with pin diameter, not ball/sleeve width. This is all I could find regarding bracket width: http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=ttalk&th=979632. I have attached a copy; it looks like something from an old tractor manual.

The dealer says someone forgot to tell the Japanese to make the tractor bracket wide enough for the Cat 1 standard. In fact, he says the standard is what you get, and then you make it fit.

So the solution is a grinder and some paint on the sides of the boom end. That, in combination with the bushing, should make me happy again, after I get done with the grinding and painting.

At least I am less confused now, and maybe this thread will help some other poor soul down the road.

 

[brian.hart]

So, while I have the problem solved, I still have a follow-up question.

The local Kubota dealer says that they do not recommend using a Cat2/Cat1 bushing to reduce the 1" hole in the end of the boom down to the size of the 3/4" upper hitch pin, but just leaving the slop (i.e. 3/4" pin in 1" hole) to give the PHD some play.

Thoughts? Will this result in premature wear to any components?

 

[bmblank]

I understand the issue now. I can't imagine why they would recommend against a bushing in there, that just seems like a good way to wear stuff. Maybe the premature wear is negligible, but it sure shouldn't make it any worse.

 

[D2Cat]

It it were me, I'd put the bushing in, regardless of what the dealer suggested. You don't need the pin slopping around, that's why a bushing is made!

 

[brian.hart]

Here was my final solution:

I began grinding down the sides of the PHD boom where it slides into the top link bracket on the tractor. Still, it seems from what I can tell that the intended spacing is 1-3/4", which is the width of the boom end, not 1-5/8", the space of the bracket on the tractor. So, to be conservative, I took a bit off each side of the boom, not quite enough to fit it into the top link bracket on the tractor, then loosened the four bolts holding the two sides of the top link bracket onto the tractor (to give just a bit of play), then hooked it all up and re-tightened the bolts. A bit of sway on the boom, and I think even those 1/2"-thick brackets have probably given just enough for this to be a permanent solution.

I then re-painted over the side of the boom end where I ground off a bit and purchased a bushing. The bushing was 2" wide, so I had to cut that down with a hacksaw, but now everything is perfectly snug.

In the end, I think the source of the problem was not the boom, but the too-narrow spacing of the top link bracket on the tractor. But the only proof I have is a link I found that has a picture from an older tractor manual showing 1-3/4" as the specification for the spacing of the top-link bracket on implements. That is pretty slim proof, I admit, but I could find no hard specifications elsewhere.