Tips on removing 3-Pt attachments

[johnjk]

I am a few months in to Kubota ownership with my B3200 and appreciate all the tips and insight this site has to offer. As a newbie, is there an easy way or a correct way I should be removing / installing 3-Pt attachments? I struggled yesterday to get my brush hog off the lower arms and again struggled to get the box blade attached. Any tips / tricks are greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[itsaz]

Re: Tips on how to removing 3-Pt attachments

Been there, done that!
I now use dollies on all my implements. It's much easier to move the implement on casters than to move the tractor into the perfect position. True, you have to have a smooth surface to roll the dolly on but it beats throwing tools around in disgust.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Re: Tips on how to removing 3-Pt attachments

Get a quick hitch for the three point, makes hooking up implements a heck of a lot easier!

 

[Grouse Feathers]

Re: Tips on how to removing 3-Pt attachments

There are some good youtube videos such as Tractor Mike:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSatF4QoqmI
This video was enough to convince me to buy a quick hitch! A quick hitch is great if your implements were built or can be modified for a quick hitch.
Watch some of the other youtube videos for more ideas on installing and removing implements and on quick hitches.

 

[85Hokie]

Re: Tips on how to removing 3-Pt attachments

I am a few months in to Kubota ownership with my B3200 and appreciate all the tips and insight this site has to offer. As a newbie, is there an easy way or a correct way I should be removing / installing 3-Pt attachments? I struggled yesterday to get my brush hog off the lower arms and again struggled to get the box blade attached. Any tips / tricks are greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

We have all been there.....all the while inventing new cuss words!

I have found that if you dont have the 3 point quick hitch, it is a little easier to "move" stuff around IF you place the implement on "blocks" or something that will allow you to move it easier when lining it up. Dollies would be great - but most keep implements outside!

When I had my old brush hog - I would drop it on a couple of old landscape timbers, enough to have less friction when it came to moving it off and back on. Find a nice flat place to do this too.

This part sounds crazy but helps - tractor, (on flat ground) place in neutral and this will allow you to pull or push on the tire to make the tractor move that 1" that you desperately need! Havent we all been there before?

 

[skeets]

Re: Tips on how to removing 3-Pt attachments

I will neither confirm nor deny, that there has been more than one smashed finger or toe while connecting implements to a tractor. However anyway you can set them to reduce ground contact so you can wiggle and jiggle them around will help a ton. And HF has the ideal things to make that happen,,just sayin as long as you have a cement floor

 

[Grouse09]

Re: Tips on how to removing 3-Pt attachments

I bought the Harbor Freight Quick Hitch on Sunday. $74.99 using the 25% off coupon. Wow. Now I don't cringe at going back and forth between implements. Even those with a PTO hook up seem easier (rotary cutter).


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[twomany]

Re: Tips on how to removing 3-Pt attachments

Attachments sit on some sort of blocking.

The blocking is placed as near to the centerline of the implement as safety will allow. This is opposite of blocking for maximum stability. Blocking near the center allows the attachment to counter balance it's self (never lift more than 1/2 of anything heavy)

Plus, centerline blocking usually makes pivoting a cinch.

I try to go in order,
pto first if there is one
lower lift arms
then the top link and any pto cover check chain.

Then I lift the tool and set it down to see how it rides, adjust the top link as required.
The easy hitch works the same, it's only the lower pins can be gotten to more easily and from more angles ;-)

Removing is the same. The tool is let down on the blocking a couple of times, watching for how the links relax and what slides, shifts or stays under pressure.

Remove any check chains, relax the top link, then pull the top link pin.
jocky the tool on the blocks a bit to soften up the grip the pins might have on the lift arms. then pull the arms away. One at a time if it's a conventional set up, drop the arms and loose both if you have some sort of release hitch.

Just remember the rule. "Never try to lift more than half of anything heavy".

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Re: Tips on how to removing 3-Pt attachments

Attachments sit on some sort of blocking.

The blocking is placed as near to the centerline of the implement as safety will allow. This is opposite of blocking for maximum stability. Blocking near the center allows the attachment to counter balance it's self (never lift more than 1/2 of anything heavy)

Plus, centerline blocking usually makes pivoting a cinch.

I try to go in order,
pto first if there is one
lower lift arms
then the top link and any pto cover check chain.

Then I lift the tool and set it down to see how it rides, adjust the top link as required.
The easy hitch works the same, it's only the lower pins can be gotten to more easily and from more angles ;-)

Removing is the same. The tool is let down on the blocking a couple of times, watching for how the links relax and what slides, shifts or stays under pressure.

Remove any check chains, relax the top link, then pull the top link pin.
jocky the tool on the blocks a bit to soften up the grip the pins might have on the lift arms. then pull the arms away. One at a time if it's a conventional set up, drop the arms and loose both if you have some sort of release hitch.

Just remember the rule. "Never try to lift more than half of anything heavy".

Or Get a Quick hitch.
Pull levers, Back up, lift implement, drop levers, go do some work...
Did I mention, unless it's PTO driven, you can do all of this without leaving the seat.

 

[twomany]

Re: Tips on how to removing 3-Pt attachments

Or Get a Quick hitch.
Pull levers, Back up, lift implement, drop levers, go do some work...
Did I mention, unless it's PTO driven, you can do all of this without leaving the seat.

"Get a "blah blah", is much like the tip:

" Hire someone to do it"

Often, one looks for good ideas to go along with what they have.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Re: Tips on how to removing 3-Pt attachments

"Get a "blah blah", is much like the tip:

" Hire someone to do it"

Often, one looks for good ideas to go along with what they have.

If buying a 75 dollar device, that could save you a several thousand dollar doctor bill, and/or a lot of aches and pains is bad advice, then park your tractor, pick up a shovel and a rake and use those!

 

[twomany]

Re: Tips on how to removing 3-Pt attachments

If buying a 75 dollar device, that could save you a several thousand dollar doctor bill, and/or a lot of aches and pains is bad advice, then park your tractor, pick up a shovel and a rake and use those!

It's not bad advice, but it's not exactly a "tip" on how to make the task easier either.

To modify all the OP's equipment, to fit the 75 dollar device, is going to run the price up.
He may not have a welder. 'didn't say.

 

[Missouribound]

I am a few months in to Kubota ownership with my B3200 and appreciate all the tips and insight this site has to offer. As a newbie, is there an easy way or a correct way I should be removing / installing 3-Pt attachments? I struggled yesterday to get my brush hog off the lower arms and again struggled to get the box blade attached. Any tips / tricks are greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Well I've had my tractor for about a year and sometimes the 3 pt is just a pain in the ass. Here's what I do to make it easier...as possible.
Find the flattest most level area for the tractor and implement.
If it's PTO driven, take the shaft off first, it's the best step.
Then fiddle with the upper link until it is loose enough to pull the pin out.
If you are to that point the lower pins should slip out and you can drive away.
What I do is find a board to cut which would hold the lower arms apart the width of the implement. Since they are mechanically connected they will move up and down together. On some implements you may find it easier to block up the front of it so the lower arms will swing down and out when you remove the pins.
But the best single tip I can give you is to find a very level spot where both tractor and implement are on the same plane. And don't expect this to be easy every time....practice will help but some attachments are just a pain in the rear.

 

[Blondie70]

The one thing that helps me the most is a metal thin walled fence post...about 8" long. I use this thing as a lever/pry bar to muscle the implement around to line it up. I can easily move them around. I can lift one side to hook up also. The level place to do this is important. Landscape timbers underneath help also.
Good Luck

 

[D2Cat]

Blondie70, you must have the grip of Sampson to move an implement around with an 8" lever!

 

[Grouse Feathers]

I think those of us who favor quick hitches neglected to mention that a quick hitch eliminates the need to adjust the check chains. The check chains are no small pain in the a** especially for those pushing 70.

 

[2458n]

6ft. spud bar kept out on implement row. Grease the lower link balls. 4lb. short handled hammer. These all are outback in my hook up area. 5 or more RR ties when they become available. Snow plows, bush hog, chipper, flail, box blade, log splitter, &back hoe. Hook up hyd. first and use machine to line up.

 

[Tunaslayer]

I agree with the advice to have everything on dollies. If that is not possible, then look into telescopic link ends and stabilizers. I have them, and they are almost as good as a quick hitch, and they fit ALL CAT 1 implements, not just the ones with the right dimensions. Just have to remember to push them back to lock them into place once attached.

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[scdeerslayer]

The problem is that in order for the balls to come off of the pins, the tractor and implement need to come slightly closer together, and you can't really do both sides at the same time, so each side needs to move differently.

I never really had much problem with my dad's cat I tractor, but that's probably because the balls were worn enough that there was enough slop that it didn't cause any problems. Using my grandfather's Cat II tractor was harder, but I got better with a little practice, and keeping an old T post or steel pipe near the implements to move them around a little and then pry to lower arms off was a big help. When I go my Kubota, I thought the extendable lower links would be a big help, and they were as far as hooking up an implement, but I struggled to get the arms off like never before. My dad had bought a set of Pat's quick hitches for the Cat II tractor but didn't use them because the tiller PTO shaft was too short, so I installed them on my Kubota and that makes things so much easier, but attaching and detaching.

 

[johnjk]

Lots of good info. I do not own a welder, but it is on the list. Need to balance my toy list with the wife's... I will pick up a few 6x6 pressure treated posts this week to set implements on as well as locate a level spot. My current storage area is at the back of the field along the tree line.

The brush hog is sitting on a slight downhill slope, and the box blade was lower on a slope as well. I saved the drive shaft till the last to remove. Next time I will do it first. I would love to use dollies, but other than my garage, I have no concrete surfaces. The 6' spud bar and 4lb mini maul are available and I used the maul on the lower arms. I will grease up the pins as well.

Harbor Freight is around an hour away. I'll look online for a quick hitch system. That would be ideal and not that expensive.

I appreciate the quick feedback and am sure I will reread this thread multiple times. Right now I am looking at level surfaces, persuasion, grease, cursing and sliding the implement around to connect as my best actions.