Little tractor problem on a big tractor

I have a little 8N Ford I use around the barnyard to move trailers. I have a piece of channel that goes from the 11 hole three point drawbar to one of the lift arms. A muffler clamp holds it down keeping the ball from forcing the drawbar to rotate. It works nice to move trailers for mowing and things.


I bought a round bale hauler with a ball hitch. It's not the kind you push on from the back, you put them in saddles on either side. I hooked it to the 886 and used the same method to keep the ball from rotating. I can pull it to the field and set down the three point, unhooking the trailer. I can load the trailer and then pick it back up with the three point and pull it home. I don't have to jack it up or have two tractors.

My problem is that I can't get any kind of stiffener to hold up with that much weight on a Cat 2 hitch. Everything I have tried bends and allows the 11 hole bar and ball to rotate.

Obviously I want it fairly fast to take off as it's a chore tractor and gets its share of other uses. Has anyone else used a cat 2 three point drawbar to pull a ball implement rather than the conventional drawbar? How did you keep it from rotating?

I made a top link 'mast' that I bolt to the drawbar. The toplink keeps it from rotateing.

I used the 3 point hook up off of a back blade that was badly bent
welded a class 5 sq pipe p/u trailer hitch to it
have receivers set up with 1 7/8", 2", 2 5/16" as well as a 1" st8 pin about 5" long for wagons
it can be used on all my tractors with 3 point
could have made it out of 2 sq tubing as well as it's basicly just a big Tee upside down
uses the top link on the bottom of the tee with pins on the cross bar for the lower 2 lift bars
I move a lot of RV's with it plus boat trailers and implement trailers
plus the pin one has been used on the hay wagon and the 700 gal honeywagon
and I only get off to lock it on or swap heads

I will second Delta Reds idea. I have a hitch I built out of three inch tubing. It is just Tee shaped with a standard 2" female receiver hitch on the bottom. Your cross drawbar is not real stiff in the flat direction anyway. IF your bale trailer is very heavy you will bend your cross drawbar eventually.

The first pictures is a factory built hitch like the one I use. I just drop it into my quick hitch on the tractor. The second pictures is of the drawbar support on the older Ford and Ferguson tractors. You could fabricate a heaver duty version easy enough. Just forget the top link stabilizers pictured.

JD Seller your top pic is basicly what I made up only don't have the upper ball

If I understand the problem, I tried to solve that too. I removed the top link, and made a brace that ran from the tow bar up to where the top link attached, BIG MISTAKE! It locked the rear arms securely into place until the hydraulic pumps raised the arms and POW!!! destroyed things. But I sorta have resolved the issue, I made a 8" rod with a 90-degree bolt welded onto it, that bolts into one of the nearer holes of the tow bar. I welded a 45-degree bolt on the other end, at a right angle to the first bolt, and swing the thing over and bolted it into a hole in the lift arm. Sorta odd to get into place, but it works.

I built one similar to JD's picture, didn't make the vertical quite high enough, doesn't sty perfectly level. Otherwise it works great, I can move stuff around the yard without ever getting out of the seat. I put a couple of grab hooks on it too, I use it for skidding wood.

I welded a receiver tube to the bottom of the cross piece of my quick hitch- can change inserts like on the truck, or hook right to three-point implements. Works great on the loader tractor to control the arms, pull the dump trailer to the piles and load right up. If only the dump trailer controls were wireless...

That brings up my lesson learned, you still need to properly secure the ball hitch for anything other than field moves- while sufficient tongue weight may keep the trailer on the ball, it will not during a panic stop, and the whole mess might come right through your back. Or, if you are dumping a trailer of dirt and the hitch is not secured, it comes right off the ball when the weight starts to move, then you have a trailer half loaded with the hitch 6 feet in the air, and the load pushing it toward the tractor

I bought a Winkel Bale Trail hitch awhile ago. It works ok but not as good as I thought it would. Someone better with a computer could post a link to it but look up Winkel Mfg. website and there are pictures. The bale spikes can be taken off and on easily to move a trailer. I live in the Overbrook area if you wanted to see one in person.

I feel like a dipstick. I started reading your replies and had a DUH moment. I have a bolt on receiver hitch from a school bus. It's the one they used when they were new to pull one bus with another. I've been wondering for years what I would find to use it for. I kept thinking I would save it for a straight truck but you have to have such a long hitch on something to make that work. Looks like I better do a little welding and I'll have a three point receiver hitch for the tractors. So funny what triggers something you should have thought of.

On my 8N, I used a set anti-sway bars and reversed them and ran them to the top link mount. Then I welded them to the draw bar

These little "drawbars" were made to pull things that couldn't coast (push) against the tractor such as pull behind ground implements. They are usable with ball hitches IF the bar is secured in one position vertical by being attached to the top link pin. The safe height off the ground is the same as what the factory drawbar's height is which on a little Ford is the bottom edge of the PTO housing. They also put the hitch point a good distance further back than a real drawbar does.

If the pulling point is not fixed a couple of things can happen. The first is the operator gets the hitch to high making the tractor easy to "rear up" or flip over backwards. Second is on these 3 pt systems that only lift up, the wagons etc can push the hitch up when stopping or going down a steeper grade. Also, if the towed load gets heavy behind the axle it will lift the hitch. Such as using a manure spreader. So, secure the hitch position and lock the 3 pt control so it won't accidentally try to lift the arms.

I have one of these hitch bars and only use it to carry weights when using the loader. Much better to find, buy or make a real hitch.