[cityboy2977]

cat 0 3pt hitches/draw bars

i started another thread about making and selling 3pt. hitches to my fellow MTF members.
i stated in that thread they would cost $30. i was wayyyyy off. and D-Dogg pointed this out to me. and he was right.

the base price of these hitches will be $75 + shipping. customizations will add to the fee.

D-Dogg put his money where his mouth is and is the proud owner of a VERY beefy hitch.

so, for those that want a hitch, speak up. respond here or send a PM. first come first served.
these can be built to any specification a person wants. but again, $75 is the starting price for a Cat 0 hitch.....similar to the one in the photos. and if someone wants something wild i may ask for a deposit.

 

[Sergeant]

The hitch looks good:thThumbsU

 

[DeereMan]

Technically speaking that is not a 3point hitch. It is a 3point hitch adaptor. Looks good but IMO overly complicated to mass produce. Good luck selling them for $75 and making a profit. Typical pricing is more in the area of $150. Check Northern Tool.

 

[cityboy2977]

overly complicated ? lol......not really. at least not for me.
ya see, since the housing market has basically crashed, i have been unemployed. i went from having 3-8 guys on payroll and making 5-10 thousand a month to zip...ziltch...zero. so it seems i have time on my hands and now something to keep my mind fresh with numbers. win win.
im not trying to mass produce them and the one in the photo is a custom 3 point hitch "adaptor" "draw bar" or whatever you wish to call it. i guess my noobishness shows.
so if typical pricing is $150 then i can count you in for 2 ? or would you like a house built instead. ill cut you a deal....$95 per square foot start to finish.

thanks for the compliments

 

[UrbanTractor]

or would you like a house built instead. ill cut you a deal....$95 per square foot start to finish.

Move to metro DC. The going rate for construction is about 3-4 times that.

Nice work on the hitch there, by the way.

 

[CP7]

I think what he meant by complicated is the use of angle iron and all the miter cuts (you must be a trim carpenter :fing32 and the fact that there must be over 3 feet of welds on that thing. All they are ever made of is flat strap with two bends, a simple gusset and the draw bar. Takes about 12 inches of weld. That's what you had a link to in your first thread (first picture).
I like the use of the c channel for the draw bar. I also think that the gusset you have on top is to high and is going to interfere with the top link. Have you had it mounted on a machine?
Don't get me wrong yours looks good and is definitely stout.

 

[Snotrocket]

What if I sent you some plans for a complete 3 point hitch for a Case tractor? Is that something you could make?

 

[D-Dogg]

When Cityboy first posted the idea of making hitches, we talked about a niche he could fill. There are plenty of guys making various things, but what I saw missing was a good, basic, sturdy 3PH to sleeve hitch adapter. Most I've seen don't let you put a cheap, readily available, sleeve hitch moldboard onto our tractors and get it in the right position close to the right tire.

Also, there are no "just primed" units which I've seen. A guy should be able to paint it any color he wants.

Finally, with a good basic design, a guy could add a bar for weights (or have it done). He could bend a thin piece of stock, drill some holes, use the existing nuts, and have a single or double bucket holder. Add a tow hook or two if you like.

A lot of us can paint, rebuild, tune up, adapt, but some of us are just not welders (though I am trying). So, again, a good basic design allows a launching point for the customer's ideas.

At this price point, I think a lot of folks would be interested in one (or two).

Cityboy and I have definitely been keeping our PM boxes full over the design of this. He did surprise me a little with how stout it is.

As soon as the USPS delivers, I'm going to do my best to put it to the test.

It will get painted JD green, and have upper pins attached so I can angle my moldboard properly. I'm going to look at adding a bar across the uprights to hang suitcase weights. I'll also fab up something as a weight retainer so the things don't clunk as much.

 

[MTD snow plow]

Will you build a Drawbar for my cat 0 3pt? It looks like this.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200315615_200315615

 

[CP7]

MTD those are really pretty worthless. They like to rotate on you when you are trying to stop. That is why they sell the draw bar stabilizer for $70 right next to the listing for the draw bar. If you look at the second picture in the ad you linked to you see where whoever's tractor that is welded up a top link attaching point. Pretty crappy advertising if someone's paying attention and sees that what they are selling doesn't work. There is a good reason they call it three point. Tractor Supply sells a different style of drawbar lock that doesn't use the top link.

 

[snoyes]

I think that thing is robust enough to possibly make a carry-all out of it... So, I take it this is to use those items that are built for a sleeve hitch instead of a 3-pt, correct?

 

[MTD snow plow]

MTD those are really pretty worthless. They like to rotate on you when you are trying to stop. That is why they sell the draw bar stabilizer for $70 right next to the listing for the draw bar. If you look at the second picture in the ad you linked to you see where whoever's tractor that is welded up a top link attaching point. Pretty crappy advertising if someone's paying attention and sees that what they are selling doesn't work. There is a good reason they call it three point. Tractor Supply sells a different style of drawbar lock that doesn't use the top link.

I know that would be a good idea, but all i want to do is pull a pin-type trailer with it. But if you could make me one with a stableizer on it that would be great.

 

[6279 Lawn Boy]

Re: cat 0 3pt hitches/draw bars

nice work..this is what I need, but I want it about three times stronger....you see I don't plant in sand I plant in rock infested land. http://cgi.ebay.com/1-TINE-PLOW-3-P...815?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item209a0f32ef

i started another thread about making and selling 3pt. hitches to my fellow MTF members.
i stated in that thread they would cost $30. i was wayyyyy off. and D-Dogg pointed this out to me. and he was right.

the base price of these hitches will be $75 + shipping. customizations will add to the fee.

D-Dogg put his money where his mouth is and is the proud owner of a VERY beefy hitch.

so, for those that want a hitch, speak up. respond here or send a PM. first come first served.
these can be built to any specification a person wants. but again, $75 is the starting price for a Cat 0 hitch.....similar to the one in the photos. and if someone wants something wild i may ask for a deposit.

 

[D-Dogg]

I think that thing is robust enough to possibly make a carry-all out of it... So, I take it this is to use those items that are built for a sleeve hitch instead of a 3-pt, correct?

Yes, that was the idea. I can get a 10" moldboard in sleeve hitch for $50-$75. A Cat-0 moldboard you are lucky to find for less than $300. Same with disk harrows, rear blades, etc.

 

[snoyes]

Ahhh... I see, makes sense to me now... Sounds like this is a really good idea!!

 

[cityboy2977]

I think what he meant by complicated is the use of angle iron and all the miter cuts (you must be a trim carpenter :fing32 and the fact that there must be over 3 feet of welds on that thing. All they are ever made of is flat strap with two bends, a simple gusset and the draw bar. Takes about 12 inches of weld. That's what you had a link to in your first thread (first picture).
I like the use of the c channel for the draw bar. I also think that the gusset you have on top is to high and is going to interfere with the top link. Have you had it mounted on a machine?
Don't get me wrong yours looks good and is definitely stout.

started as a rough carpenter....but now im an "all" carpenter.
took it through the motions on the 990.

 

[CP7]

I'm an old Lather myself and do commercial drywall and metal studs now. I've always loved telling the Carpenters how wood is for burning and metal is for building.
Looks like you have it turned backwards on your tractor. The bolts to snug up the sway should only be run out a little bit but the way you have it they would be out a couple inches. My lower arms will go way past level and it does look like there would be interference with the top link. I don't have a pic of the hitch on my Case but here is one of my Magnatrac and the 318 is up about 15 inches because those are 12 inch discs.

 

[hankll]

CP7, I would love to come up with one of those track loaders for around my house. That looks to be handy and fun, too.

 

[DeereMan]

overly complicated ? lol......not really. at least not for me.
ya see, since the housing market has basically crashed, i have been unemployed. i went from having 3-8 guys on payroll and making 5-10 thousand a month to zip...ziltch...zero. so it seems i have time on my hands and now something to keep my mind fresh with numbers. win win.
im not trying to mass produce them and the one in the photo is a custom 3 point hitch "adaptor" "draw bar" or whatever you wish to call it. i guess my noobishness shows.
so if typical pricing is $150 then i can count you in for 2 ? or would you like a house built instead. ill cut you a deal....$95 per square foot start to finish.

thanks for the compliments

Yes overly complicated to produce! If you start selling large quantiites of these, which you may well do at that price point, you will find very quickly that all those little component pieces are going to be time consuming to make and then weld together. Not to mention all the grinding you did to clean it all up. Also, at that price point I don't think you are being fair to yourself. You deserve to cover your cost and make a profit. You won't make any profit at $75. As for making hitches while unemployed, welcome to the club. Been there done that.

BTW, here is my version of a 3point to sleeve hitch adaptor in use from three or four years ago.

 

[CP7]

If you want to see simple check out this one that somebody got a patent on. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5267747.pdf

DeereMan I like your design in that it can have several functions. I really like the ideas that Redlandhill has come up with to make theirs universal. Especially Handi is the telescoping boom pole which is the first thing I made for my adapter and was awesome before I got a loader. http://redlandhill.com/drawbars.html They're about the same as esbn74 used to make his very cool quick attach ballast box. http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=147198&highlight=ballast. I don't even use any sleeve hitch implements since all mine are 3pt but my adapter still gets well used mostly hauling around suitcase weights.