"Built-From-Scratch" Front-Mount 3-Pt. Hitch

"Built-From-Scratch" Front-Mount 3-Pt. Hitch HITCHES Hitches 24-3-25 "It gives our tractor the versatility to do a lot more jobs," says Robert Davis about a front-mounted 3-pt. hitch he made for his Deere 8430 4-WD tractor. It allows the Savannah, N.Y., farmer to cultivate and harvest edible beans with equipment that's out front and easy to see. The hitch is raised and lowered by a single 5 by 24-in. hydraulic cylinder. It uses the rockshaft, arms, and lower torque shaft support from a 3-pt. hitch on a Deere 5020 tractor. The hitch mounts on a lower support arm that Davis made from 6 by 10-in., 3/8-in. thick steel. The support arm extends back underneath the tractor to provide extra support. The 3-pt. rockshaft mounts near the top of a pair of 4-in. angle irons that are bolted to a steel plate. The plate is bolted to a pair of channel irons that run back alongside each side of the tractor frame. "I designed it for heavy-duty work. It can lift up to 7,500 lbs.," says Davis. "I use it with a front-mount edible bean windrower, which weighs 5,500 lbs. It's about all the hitch can handle because it hangs out in front a long ways. I also use it with a 24-ft. front-mount field cultivator with wings that are folded by a two-way solenoid valve. I use the field cultivator in the spring to smooth out very rough fields that were chisel plowed the previous fall. I pull another field cultivator or a disk behind the tractor at the same time. "I spent $1,200 to build the hitch. Comparable commercial front 3-pt. hitches cost more than $6,000. I bought the 5020 components from a salvage yard for $750." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Robert Davis, 2030 Bixby-Wood Road, Savannah, N.Y. 13146 (ph 315 365-2266).

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