2024 - Volume #48, Issue #3, Page #25
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Winch Hitch Eliminates Problem Hookups
“A local farmer asked us to come up with a solution to hooking header trailers to his combine,” says David Garant, Spider Hitch. “He was frustrated with needing two or even three people to get the job done. We worked on prototypes for 2 to 3 years and started production a year and a half ago.”
Garant and his father, Real, are partners in Donnelly Machining and Fabricating Ltd. They expected to make a few for local farmers. When a video of Garant using it was posted to a Saskatchewan Farmer’s Group Facebook page, plans changed.
It quickly jumped to Instagram and TikTok. Within 4 hr., it had been viewed 86,000 times. Within a day, views reached 1.2 million, and by the fifth day, more than 13.5 million had seen the video.
Farmers could see how easy it is for one person to get a troublesome job done quickly with the Spider Hitch. In it, the combine was relatively close to the trailer. Garant released part of the Spider Hitch and tow rope, carried it to the trailer tongue, and pinned the tongue to the hitch. Using the remote control, he activated the winch to pull the tongue/hitch into place. The auto-locking mechanism did the rest. All that was left was to attach safety chains.
Farmers didn’t just view the video. They acted on it. “We had orders for hundreds of units,” he says. “We set up Spider Hitch as a separate company and have had to outsource production to meet the demand.”
While the benefit Spider Hitch brings to the field is easy to see, developing it had its challenges. They started working with a John Deere X9 combine, developing a design that was compatible with the combine’s existing hitch would be easy to attach and wouldn’t interfere with the combine’s residue chopper.
The result was a 125-lb., 2-part unit that was easy to attach. When installing, the winch slides out of the hitch frame. Once the frame is bolted to the combine, the winch is reinstalled.
The 12,000-lb. winch is equipped with a synthetic tow rope. The hitch itself is rated for 25,000 lbs. gross towing weight and works with ball and tongue hitches. The winch can be controlled wirelessly or with a corded remote. The wireless feature has a 300-ft. range.
While initially developed for the JD X9, it has since been adapted to most major brands. “We’re marketing it as a one-size-fits-all package with all the hardware needed for mounting across all brands,” says Garant. “The universal price is $6,500 (USD).”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Spider Hitch, Donnelly, Alberta, Canada (ph 780-228-2281 or 780-837-6801; sales@spiderhitch.ca; www.spiderhitch.ca).
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