Hitch Automatically Couples Hydraulic Hoses
 ✖  |
You've never seen anything like 'ûAn automatic hitch that not only hitches the implement to the tractor drawbar but also automatically couples the hydraulic hoses. The operator makes the complete hookup ù hoses and all ù right from the tractor seat.
This "breakthrough" in automatic hitching began two years ago when Australian farmer Colin Wiese decided there had to be an easier way.
"Every farmer wastes many hours each week climbing back and forth from the tractor cab to adjust implements into position for hitching," says Wiese. "The problem is that most tractor cabs restrict your vision of the hitching area, making the job a big time waster and back breaker."
Wiese's new invention lets you hitch up both the drawbar and hydraulics from the comfort of your tractor seat in seconds. The unit is connected to the existing drawbar of the tractor. It has a scooped piece of metal located at the end farthest away from the tractor. When backing up, the tractor is lined up with the implement tongue, which is held off the ground by a fold-away jackstand. The tongue strikes the scooped plate and is guided along a hollow shaft to the locking device. There are 5 to 6 in. of leeway.
"The hydraulic connectors on the tractor are mounted side by side, as are the fittings on the implement," says Wiese. "As the implement probe is guided into position, so are the hydraulic fittings, which lock on contact."
To disconnect the implement and the hydraulic hoses, the driver releases the hoses and the implement probe by flicking a hydraulic lever.
Interest by manufacturers has been strong, according to Wiese. He says the hitch could be made separate and fitted to present equipment, or designed as original equipment on tractors and implements.
For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Colin Wiese, Milbrulong, N.S.W., Australia, 2656.
"Handy Hooker"
Another version of the automatic hydraulic hitch was put together recently by a group of ag engineering students at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan., and entered in the national Allis Chalmers student design competition.
Here's how G. E. Fairbanks, professor of agricultural engineering and faculty adviser on the project, describes the new hitch:
"A 12-in. ring is mounted on the implement tongue and also a hydraulically-activated hook on the tractor, giving the operator 6-in. of leeway in either direction. You back up with the hook open, snap it onto the ring, and lift the hitch to operating height. A rack and pinion type gear pulls the male and female parts of the hydraulic coupler together, again hydraulically, and they connect. The couplers are of the type that do not have to have the rings drawn back to fasten together.
"To unhook, you simply lower the unit's hydraulic jackstand, hydraulically disconnect the hydraulics, unhook from the ring, and drive off."
The device, dubbed the "Handy Hooker", was designed by four students. Fairbanks says the design is public information and copies of the report and hitch diagrams are available.
For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, G. E. Fairbanks, Agricultural Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan. 66506.
Click here to download page story appeared in.
Click here to read entire issue
Hitch Automatically Couples Hydraulic Hoses HITCHES Hitches 5-2-24 You've never seen anything like 'ûAn automatic hitch that not only hitches the implement to the tractor drawbar but also automatically couples the hydraulic hoses. The operator makes the complete hookup ù hoses and all ù right from the tractor seat.
This "breakthrough" in automatic hitching began two years ago when Australian farmer Colin Wiese decided there had to be an easier way.
"Every farmer wastes many hours each week climbing back and forth from the tractor cab to adjust implements into position for hitching," says Wiese. "The problem is that most tractor cabs restrict your vision of the hitching area, making the job a big time waster and back breaker."
Wiese's new invention lets you hitch up both the drawbar and hydraulics from the comfort of your tractor seat in seconds. The unit is connected to the existing drawbar of the tractor. It has a scooped piece of metal located at the end farthest away from the tractor. When backing up, the tractor is lined up with the implement tongue, which is held off the ground by a fold-away jackstand. The tongue strikes the scooped plate and is guided along a hollow shaft to the locking device. There are 5 to 6 in. of leeway.
"The hydraulic connectors on the tractor are mounted side by side, as are the fittings on the implement," says Wiese. "As the implement probe is guided into position, so are the hydraulic fittings, which lock on contact."
To disconnect the implement and the hydraulic hoses, the driver releases the hoses and the implement probe by flicking a hydraulic lever.
Interest by manufacturers has been strong, according to Wiese. He says the hitch could be made separate and fitted to present equipment, or designed as original equipment on tractors and implements.
For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Colin Wiese, Milbrulong, N.S.W., Australia, 2656.
"Handy Hooker"
Another version of the automatic hydraulic hitch was put together recently by a group of ag engineering students at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan., and entered in the national Allis Chalmers student design competition.
Here's how G. E. Fairbanks, professor of agricultural engineering and faculty adviser on the project, describes the new hitch:
"A 12-in. ring is mounted on the implement tongue and also a hydraulically-activated hook on the tractor, giving the operator 6-in. of leeway in either direction. You back up with the hook open, snap it onto the ring, and lift the hitch to operating height. A rack and pinion type gear pulls the male and female parts of the hydraulic coupler together, again hydraulically, and they connect. The couplers are of the type that do not have to have the rings drawn back to fasten together.
"To unhook, you simply lower the unit's hydraulic jackstand, hydraulically disconnect the hydraulics, unhook from the ring, and drive off."
The device, dubbed the "Handy Hooker", was designed by four students. Fairbanks says the design is public information and copies of the report and hitch diagrams are available.
For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, G. E. Fairbanks, Agricultural Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan. 66506.
To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click
here to register with your account number.
