I've completed the installation and thought someone might be interested.
The mounting plate bolts to the X530 frame with just a couple of changes but none to the JD frame.
The mods I made to the Craftsman mounting plate are as follows and shown on the third attached photo:
1. I drilled a new hole on the Craftsman hitch between the existing holes so the CM hitch plate would mount flush to the JD frame.
2. I used a grinder to remove a small amount of material on each side of the CM plate so I could used a 5/8 bolt with washer on each side of the plate and used existing holes in the JD frame.
3. I drilled and elongated a hole to allow the transmission release lever to be reinstalled. (I removed it so I could test mount the CM plate and mark the location of the new holes and the material I had to remove on each side.
4. I also drilled two additional holes 2" above the two existing ones in the CM plate so I could mount the CM draw bar higher if I wanted.
The first two photos show the drawbar installed with an electric actuator. I have a 17 second video showing it in operation but it exceeds the wmv size limit of 976 KB, it's 1.2 MB.
The last two photos show the mounting plate on the JD. BTW, I did install the CM manual lift and it works fine but I removed it since I've went with an electric linear actuator. Also, I use a MC519 collection cart and I'm able to attach the cart to the tractor with the CM mounting on the tractor. If this wasn't the case I'd have to remove the transmission release lever in order to remove the mounting plate. Just one of the lucky things that worked in my favor!
I purchased my actuator (Item# 5-1759) from http://www.surpluscenter.com/ along with a 30 amp DPDT switch (Item# 11-3334-A).
The mounting plate bolts to the X530 frame with just a couple of changes but none to the JD frame.
The mods I made to the Craftsman mounting plate are as follows and shown on the third attached photo:
1. I drilled a new hole on the Craftsman hitch between the existing holes so the CM hitch plate would mount flush to the JD frame.
2. I used a grinder to remove a small amount of material on each side of the CM plate so I could used a 5/8 bolt with washer on each side of the plate and used existing holes in the JD frame.
3. I drilled and elongated a hole to allow the transmission release lever to be reinstalled. (I removed it so I could test mount the CM plate and mark the location of the new holes and the material I had to remove on each side.
4. I also drilled two additional holes 2" above the two existing ones in the CM plate so I could mount the CM draw bar higher if I wanted.
The first two photos show the drawbar installed with an electric actuator. I have a 17 second video showing it in operation but it exceeds the wmv size limit of 976 KB, it's 1.2 MB.
The last two photos show the mounting plate on the JD. BTW, I did install the CM manual lift and it works fine but I removed it since I've went with an electric linear actuator. Also, I use a MC519 collection cart and I'm able to attach the cart to the tractor with the CM mounting on the tractor. If this wasn't the case I'd have to remove the transmission release lever in order to remove the mounting plate. Just one of the lucky things that worked in my favor!
I purchased my actuator (Item# 5-1759) from http://www.surpluscenter.com/ along with a 30 amp DPDT switch (Item# 11-3334-A).
