Trailer hitch ball stem won't go into drawbar hole.

[Old Machinist]

I found the pivot point on some drawbars to be too far forward to make sharp turns. I use a 3pt trailer mover with a 2" receiver. Even for my pin pulled stuff it lets me make 90 degree turns without the tongue hitting the tires. I don't put a ball in the shank on mine because I pull a mower with a pin hitch behind it.

 

[mcmxi]

I found the pivot point on some drawbars to be too far forward to make sharp turns.

I made the point in another thread that trailers designed to be used with a tractor (on the drawbar) have longer tongues and typically not an A-frame style tongue at that. Most of us want to use the trailer or trailers that we pull behind our trucks and hence the problem.

Here's a trailer that's designed to be pulled behind a tractor using the drawbar. Notice the length and arrangement of the tongue.

This is a cool trailer for tractor use.

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www.metsamachines.com

 

[johnjk]

May not be right but is sure is easy. I use the Pats Quick hitch to pick and move my trailer. One side of the lower 3pt hitch in to the trailer hits, lift and go. Lower to drop when you are done. I’ve used the HF quick hitch in the past as well. No raising or lowering that trailer jack

 

[mcfarmall]

The drawbar on my MX is 2.25"(W) x 1.25"(H) and the drawbar on my M6060 is 2.5"(W) x 1.25"(H). Even if you use A36 mild steel with a dismal yield strength of 36,000 psi, the force that the drawbar can withstand in shear is HUGE! It's a simple calculation where the force = yield stress (lb/in^2) x cross sectional area (in^2)

The tongue weight from a trailer is never going to shear the drawbar so I see no problem pulling a trailer using a hitch ball. I have a spare drawbar for the M6060 to use with the Land Pride folding cutter, but I converted the original drawbars for the MX and M to be used with a lunette ring or any other trailer or implement interface. It's a simple case of bolting a plate to the plate on the drawbar with whatever is needed at the time. Obviously the drawbar can be flipped over to accommodate different coupler heights.

View attachment 140347

View attachment 140348

You're right. The tongue weight will never shear the drawbar, but it will BEND!

 

[mcmxi]

You're right. The tongue weight will never shear the drawbar, but it will BEND!

But not much. With the maximum listed drawbar load of 1,650 lbs (owner's manual) on the end of the MX drawbar (2.25" x 1.25") the maximum deflection for A36 steel is around .085", assuming 12" from the load to the root of the beam. That's not a whole lot.

The MX has a GCWR for a trailer of 11,130 lbs. There's no way I'd ever pull that much behind the MX. The M6060 maybe, but certainly not the MX. The M6060 has a GCWR for a trailer of 13,200 lbs.

 

[Bearcatrp]

Sounds like you folks have a problem with your balls and hole. A proctologist can help you.

 

[BAP]

You're right. The tongue weight will never shear the drawbar, but it will BEND!

WRONG. Drawbars will shear. I farmed for 40 years. We had 3 drawbars snap off and 2 drawbar support frame break out the cast bolt holes in the rear axle assembly on the tractor. Heavy loads bouncing across fields and roads will eventually cause something to break.