Hydraulic-Powered Hitch Pin

Hydraulic-Powered Hitch Pin TRACTORS Hitches 27-4-28 John Nelson, Foster, Ky., wanted to hook up his tractor to his wagon without having to get out of the tractor. He couldn't use a manually-controlled, screw-type top link because his tractor has a cab. So he made his own 3-pt. powered hitch pin that operates off tractor hydraulics. The "power pin" is activated mechanically by a lever in the cab. Lever movement controls a hydraulic cylinder which sends the pin down through a pair of steel brackets and into a ring-type implement receiver that bolts onto his wagon's tongue. "It's one of the handiest ideas I've ever come up with," says Nelson, who made the conversion on his Zetor 7745 tractor. "I don't need help and I don't have to leave the cab to hook or unhook implements. The unit consists of a three-bolt hitch attachment, a 4-in. hydraulic cylinder and two connecting hoses. A drawbar attaches to the lower arms of the tractor's 3-pt. hitch, while the cylinder is mounted on a steel frame that attaches to the 3-pt.'s top link. A "jackstand" is fitted to the bottom side of the tongue on the wagon. To hook up the wagon, he lowers the 3-pt. hitch while backing up until the ring-type implement receiver lines up between the two brackets, then extends the cylinder to drop the pin through the holes in the brackets. To unhook, he simply raises the cylinder. "The jackstand matches the height of the hitch pin when the attachment is all the way down," says Nelson. "I built the entire unit from scrap metal. I paid $100 for the cylinder and hoses and another $150 for parts." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John D. Nelson, Box 360 Day Hill Rd., Foster, Ky. 41043 (ph 606 747-5894).

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