Independently Powered 3-Pt. Hitch Lift Arms
David Brazeau doesn’t have to get off his Farmall H to adjust the pitch or tilt on his rear grader blade. Independent hydraulics on all three arms of his 3-pt. hitch let him do it all and more from the seat. His homemade 3-pt. even helps him get his H unstuck in mud or snow.
“Makes it easy to grade a crown on my driveway or clean out the ditch along the side,” says Brazeau. “If I push it down against a plank it’ll lift the rear end of the tractor off the ground.”
To get this kind of control, Brazeau, with the help of his friend Mike Foss, assembled a complex network of hydraulic valves and hoses. They direct fluid to either the front-mounted loader and bucket or to the rear-mounted 3-pt.
Brazeau used 3-in. bore and 16-in. stroke cylinders for the lift arms and as an option for replacing the top-link arm.
He fabricated brackets for the lift arms and bolted them to the rear axle housing of the H. The cylinders are mounted about 8 in. above and in line with the lift arms. The rams pin to a second bracket that is mounted a few inches behind and above each lift arm.
“The bracket at the end of the lift arm is just high enough for the cylinder to clear the turnbuckle on the arm,” explains Brazeau.
The arms and brackets form a parallelogram. By retracting or extending the fixed “top” side, the arm is forced up or down.
The key to working the cylinders is the weave of valves and hydraulic hoses mounted ahead of the steering wheel. The H had hydraulics for an old trip loader and 3 lines for a belly mower.
“I plugged two of the belly mower lines and ran the other up to a 2-way valve,” says Brazeau. “I also added a cylinder to control the bucket.”
He used the initial 2-way valve to direct fluid from the hydraulic pump forward to the bucket or to the rear for the 3-pt. If going to the 3-pt., fluid goes to another 2-way valve that supplies either the left lift cylinders or the top-link cylinder. The valve has up, down, float and power beyond options. If fluid is directed to the left lift cylinder, power beyond can direct fluid to still another 2-way valve with up, down, neutral and float control for the right cylinder. Which cylinder moves is determined by valve positions.
“I can control the top link cylinder or the arms, set one arm to float or neutral and control the other arm, or control both arms at the same time,” says Brazeau. “I don’t know of another 3-pt. that has down pressure and that kind of control.”
If doing it over, Brazeau would make a few changes, such as swapping the position of the lift arms and their cylinders. He would also add a proportion valve to the flow between the arms.
“If directing fluid to both arms and one carries more weight than the other, that arm will drop,” says Brazeau. “A proportion valve would take care of that.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, David Brazeau, Mondovi, Wis. (ph 715 829-5868 nights only; shed2small@hotmail.com).
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Independently Powered 3-Pt Hitch Lift Arms HITCHES David Brazeau doesn’t have to get off his Farmall H to adjust the pitch or tilt on his rear grader blade Independent hydraulics on all three arms of his 3-pt hitch let him do it all and more from the seat His homemade 3-pt even helps him get his H unstuck in mud or snow “Makes it easy to grade a crown on my driveway or clean out the ditch along the side ” says Brazeau “If I push it down against a plank it’ll lift the rear end of the tractor off the ground ” To get this kind of control Brazeau with the help of his friend Mike Foss assembled a complex network of hydraulic valves and hoses They direct fluid to either the front-mounted loader and bucket or to the rear-mounted 3-pt Brazeau used 3-in bore and 16-in stroke cylinders for the lift arms and as an option for replacing the top-link arm He fabricated brackets for the lift arms and bolted them to the rear axle housing of the H The cylinders are mounted about 8 in above and in line with the lift arms The rams pin to a second bracket that is mounted a few inches behind and above each lift arm “The bracket at the end of the lift arm is just high enough for the cylinder to clear the turnbuckle on the arm ” explains Brazeau The arms and brackets form a parallelogram By retracting or extending the fixed “top” side the arm is forced up or down The key to working the cylinders is the weave of valves and hydraulic hoses mounted ahead of the steering wheel The H had hydraulics for an old trip loader and 3 lines for a belly mower “I plugged two of the belly mower lines and ran the other up to a 2-way valve ” says Brazeau “I also added a cylinder to control the bucket ” He used the initial 2-way valve to direct fluid from the hydraulic pump forward to the bucket or to the rear for the 3-pt If going to the 3-pt fluid goes to another 2-way valve that supplies either the left lift cylinders or the top-link cylinder The valve has up down float and power beyond options If fluid is directed to the left lift cylinder power beyond can direct fluid to still another 2-way valve with up down neutral and float control for the right cylinder Which cylinder moves is determined by valve positions “I can control the top link cylinder or the arms set one arm to float or neutral and control the other arm or control both arms at the same time ” says Brazeau “I don’t know of another 3-pt that has down pressure and that kind of control ” If doing it over Brazeau would make a few changes such as swapping the position of the lift arms and their cylinders He would also add a proportion valve to the flow between the arms “If directing fluid to both arms and one carries more weight than the other that arm will drop ” says Brazeau “A proportion valve would take care of that ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup David Brazeau Mondovi Wis ph 715 829-5868 nights only; shed2small@hotmail com
