3RRL
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Huge Kama
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Post by 3RRL on Mar 16, 2009 15:51:30 GMT -5
Hi guys, You may remember when I made Quick Attach Gauge Wheels to fit my box blade, landscape rake and rotary mower? I had the receptacles on the box blade, which is the implement I have on the tractor more than any other. I wanted to be able to tow a small trailer while I had the box blade on so I made this trailer hitch from some scrap steel and a scrap tube. I reinforced the tube with some generous gussets for strength.     I made it so it pins into the rear of the boxblade, but by adding a couple of lift pins and a vertical top link brace, I could use it as a regular tow bar right on the 3pt. What I like about this is now I can switch hitches to a ball or hook or clevis. Since my hydraulic winch is mounted on a platform that goes into a receiver, I can mount that into here as well. Rob-  |
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Post by bradblazer on Mar 16, 2009 19:51:51 GMT -5
That'll never hold up..  |
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3RRL
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Huge Kama
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Post by 3RRL on Mar 16, 2009 20:10:21 GMT -5
That'll never hold up.. LOL ... Oh dang, I thought it might be Ok?  |
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quikduk
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Dog House
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Post by quikduk on Mar 17, 2009 13:24:51 GMT -5
Brad's joking right? That setup looks nice. Re: the winch, I would be carefull to use pins that have a high shear strength (grade 10 bolts come to mind) as even though the load on the winch is rotational, if you encounter some extreme obstruction, it could shear the pins...and hyd. winches are dangerous enough.
I like the universal nature of the whole thing though.
When I raised our MH hitch, I cut off the factory section with the hook mtg. plate and was thinking how to attach it to my BB as well. I might also add one to the front frame.
Nice beefy work. When are you going to re-paint your BB, bucket and grapples to match your newly bling'd rims?
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3RRL
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Huge Kama
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Post by 3RRL on Mar 17, 2009 15:10:38 GMT -5
Thanks Ken,l lol ... I'm hoping Brad was joking ... maybe not?  About my pins, they not "tractor pins". They are through-hardened ejector pins for my plastic injection molds. They are made of heat treated H-13 tool steel (50-52RC) and precision ground. In comparison, they are like grade 10 thousand. ;D Rob- |
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Post by bradblazer on Mar 17, 2009 22:49:15 GMT -5
Yeah I was joking - I mean look at the thing! It looks great but kind of heavy to lug around. Maybe you could add a pair of vertical pockets to stow it right on the box blade.
One good thing is that the weight of the box blade adds considerable downforce to keep the trailer tongue from lifting.
The receiver pin is smaller and sees twice the shear of the side pins in a straight pull.
Did you cut those long tapered gussets on your 7x12 band saw?
Brad
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3RRL
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Post by 3RRL on Mar 18, 2009 11:08:35 GMT -5
Yeah I was joking - I mean look at the thing! It looks great but kind of heavy to lug around. Maybe you could add a pair of vertical pockets to stow it right on the box blade. One good thing is that the weight of the box blade adds considerable downforce to keep the trailer tongue from lifting. The receiver pin is smaller and sees twice the shear of the side pins in a straight pull. Did you cut those long tapered gussets on your 7x12 band saw? Brad Hi Brad, I knew you were joking. Good point about the receiver pin being the weakest link in all of that. Although I could use the hitch for heavier stuff, it's primarily so I can pull a small trailer. One I plan to make to carry my chainsaws and some fuel. It will be about 3' wide x 4 or 5 feet long at the most...depends how long the scrap steel angle iron from the Roto tiller crate is. I will use that crate material to make the little trailer and start a thread about it. I hadn't thought about the hitch being able to rise up like you pointed out. But one thing I have in my favor is that my side link cylinders are extra long. When they are fully extended, I can actually put about 1" of down force on the box blade. When fully extended, the upper lift arms are completely in the "up" position so the 3pt can't raise any more than that. I can use only the side links to lower and raise the hitch with the 3pt fully raised. Thanks for pointing that important safety aspect out to me. And yes, I cut those long angled gussets on my Jet saw. You know I made a table to use it in the vertical position but I didn't cut these that way. For these, I removed the jaws and clamped the steel with "C" clamps and "K" clamps right to the table. I put the steel on an angle to get both gussets. By removing the vise jaws and opening the roller guides to maximum, you can cut a little more than the specs of the saw. I have also set longer pieces on it like that but raised up on an angle so it fits between the roller guides. In other words, looking at the set up from the side, the hypotenuse is the length of steel. You tilt one end up off the table between the guides (which is now the cosine) until it fits between them. Clamp that securely in a couple directions because it will want to slide on the angle. Thanks for asking. Rob- |
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Post by bradblazer on Mar 18, 2009 15:53:36 GMT -5
Rob,
If you have one of those receiver hitch carry-alls that might go nice on there too.
Good tips on making maximum use of the bandsaw. It might be worthwhile to make some dog clamps that work in the vice jaw tapped holes - what do you think?
Brad
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GuglioLS
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Jinma354 LE
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Post by GuglioLS on Mar 18, 2009 21:31:22 GMT -5
.....the hypotenuse is the length of steel. You tilt one end up off the table between the guides (which is now the cosine) In other words (for us mortals) you used the saw in horizontal mode to cut the metal vertically? right? Whatever you did, it came out nice and beefy. With the size of your winch, Brad might just be right in that it could fail, NOT. Rob that's a nice addition to the trusty old BB, no doubt it will come in handy. Larry
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3RRL
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Post by 3RRL on Mar 18, 2009 22:19:26 GMT -5
.....the hypotenuse is the length of steel. You tilt one end up off the table between the guides (which is now the cosine) In other words (for us mortals) you used the saw in horizontal mode to cut the metal vertically? right? Whatever you did, it came out nice and beefy. With the size of your winch, Brad might just be right in that it could fail, NOT. Rob that's a nice addition to the trusty old BB, no doubt it will come in handy. Larry LOL Larry, thanks for the compliment. Basically you are right about the sawing. Not completely vertical but angle up away from the saw bed. So the steel is angled up and only one end is touching the saw bed. The other end is up in the air enough to make the long piece of steel fit between the blade guides. You have to secure it in that position. Rob- |
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3RRL
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Post by 3RRL on Mar 18, 2009 22:53:23 GMT -5
Rob, If you have one of those receiver hitch carry-alls that might go nice on there too. Good tips on making maximum use of the bandsaw. It might be worthwhile to make some dog clamps that work in the vice jaw tapped holes - what do you think? Brad Yes, that's a good idea. One way to make your sawing pleasurable is to be able to clamp all kinds of stuff without too much hassle. Drilling and tapping the jaws is a really good idea. Also, I have some ½" tapped holes in the bed so I can use hold down clamps from my mill clamp down set. That comes in handy when the vise jaws are off. Rob- |
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3RRL
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Post by 3RRL on Mar 21, 2009 19:47:41 GMT -5
Got a chance to use my new trailer hitch today. I was gonna make some 16 foot long pallets to store some of the cut logs. I have that pile of building lumber left over and found about 20 pieces of 1 x 4 and 1 x 6 planks. So I chained them up and used the clevis to pull them to my work place. It was strong enough for that job, at least. First use for the hitch so it's no cherry anymore.  Rob-   |
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