My Harbor Freight Quick Hitch

[J_J]

The inside clearance is different for the two HF hitches. 27 1/2 in, and 32 3/4 in.

 

[Window Geek]

History!
You're not looking at hours of work. I have both Cat 1 hitches, narrow 26 1/2 and wider 27 1/2" (now 28").
I bought the bigger one for my blade and rake work. It was just that little bit too narrow to work. Another hitch that's STILL too narrow! Using a car jack and blocks, I spread first the left and than the right leg out about a 1/4" each. The blade drops in like a champ now. I'll post pics if you need them. I didn't hurt any welds doing this. The last 6 inches of the drop legs are parallel without being cross welded and will yield to a little bit of a slant without messing things up. You just have to shim the space with a scrap piece of 2 x 4 so that it doesn't collapse. If you have a rolling floor jack, you've got all the power you need to do this.

Paul

Ok fellas......need some input here. I got a HF quick hitch a few days ago to hook up and transition between my back blade and spreader for winter road maint.

The daggone qh doesn't fit. I haven't checked my KK box blade or Bush hog squealer yet, but my Bush hog 6ft rear blade hitch points meet the outsides of the j hooks on the qh almost perfectly, thus it won't hitch up. My Tractor supply spreader fits, but of course the hitch points are pretty narrow leaving me needing longer pins to meet up with the qh j hooks.

.....

I What mods did you do?

 

[JohninCT]

I bought the bigger one for my blade and rake work. It was just that little bit too narrow to work. Another hitch that's STILL too narrow!

I've got the same problem! Bought the 27 1/2" HF quick hitch and it was too narrow to fit my countyline box blade. I spread it open with a bottle jack and got the lower hooks to line up. Bought a Cat 1 to 2 top link bushing to replace the bushing on the bolt below where the top link pin goes. Go to hook up and the tip of one of the lower hooks hits a piece of steel bracing . Get the grinder out and grind down the interference. Go to hook up again and it appears that top bolt/bushing is just a little too far back! When hitch is lifted and bushing slides down the top hook ramp it gets part way and the front edge of the "A" frame jams up against the bolts on the top hook. Won't let hitch come up far enough to let the pins engage top and bottom. Arrrgh!

Took the hitch off the tractor an shoved it back into the garage. Will hook up the regular way or will get me lower hooks only system like a Pat's. I had a Pat's on my other tractor and while not exactly hitch and go it wasn't the level of frustration that I've gotten so far with this Harbor Fright little gem.

 

[Window Geek]

John,
Try a bigger hammer, really. Those little plates that come out above the hooks get in the way? Whack 'em with the 3 pound hammer. Just don't bend the pivot pin area near the top. You can always grind the hooks a little too. There's plenty of meat on them to spare. I did that with my narrower hitch to get the rototiller to fit just right. It's really snug when I hook it up and doesn't shake during tilling.

 

[California]

Arrrgh!

Aren't Industry Standards wonderful?






That's why there are so many of them!

 

[Runner]

"Go to hook up again and it appears that top bolt/bushing is just a little too far back! When hitch is lifted and bushing slides down the top hook ramp it gets part way and the front edge of the "A" frame jams up against the bolts on the top hook. Won't let hitch come up far enough to let the pins engage top and bottom. Arrrgh! "

I had the same problems. I modded mine by cutting notches out of the upper hook brackets. I also eliminated the bolts by cutting off the ends. Once I had the hook where I needed it, I put the remainder of the bolts back in and puddle-welded the ends to keep them in place.

Finally, I bevelled the edges of the hook brackets to give a little more room at the upper attachment point.

Regular iMatch works better for me.

 

[eastexan]

Has anybody found a way to make the quick hitch fit a pond/dirt scoop without some major cutting/welding/fabricating?

I've done a lot of tweaking here and there to make all my other implements fit the quick hitch, but am kind of stumped at the dirt scoop.

Ronnie

 

[iamhistory]

I don't know if the mods are worth the hassle. I have mine back in the truck and am debating on taking it back.

Why did you guys keep yours when it didn't fit? Did you want to try the mods and see what happened? What if you didn't do any mods and still tossed the hitch back in the garage?

Just curious about why you guys do what you do........I tend to end up doing similar things.

 

[Runner]

In my case, I knew I was going to be modding the HF quick hitch when I bought it because my intent was to mount it to my loader quick attach points.

My thought was that since I'd be cutting and welding on it anyway, I might as well start with a cheap one. However, the end product would fit all my attachments better if I'd used an iMatch.

 

[zman007007]

If anyone is that fed up with one I may buy it, if price and shipping to S.C. is right. I am planning on buying one. I can do fabrication. Let me know. zman

 

[zman007007]

I can be reached at zman007007@aol.com

 

[TomWhite]

In my case, I knew I was going to be modding the HF quick hitch when I bought it because my intent was to mount it to my loader quick attach points.

My thought was that since I'd be cutting and welding on it anyway, I might as well start with a cheap one. However, the end product would fit all my attachments better if I'd used an iMatch.

Did you ever go ahead and make a mount for the loader attach points? I'd like to see a picture if you have.

 

[TomWhite]

If anyone is that fed up with one I may buy it, if price and shipping to S.C. is right. I am planning on buying one. I can do fabrication. Let me know. zman

I have an extra one, but the problem might be the shipping costs. I have no idea how much it would cost to ship, but these things do have some size and weight to them.

You might just want to do a craigslist search, or check your local tractor boneyards.

 

[Runner]

"Did you ever go ahead and make a mount for the loader attach points? I'd like to see a picture if you have. "

Yes, there's a picture in the other quick hitch thread in this forum and here's a different picture. Basically, it's just an 11 inch wide by 17 inch long piece of channel iron welded to each side, with the JD pins and hooks welded to the channel.

 

[TomWhite]

"Did you ever go ahead and make a mount for the loader attach points? I'd like to see a picture if you have. "

Yes, there's a picture in the other quick hitch thread in this forum and here's a different picture. Basically, it's just an 11 inch wide by 17 inch long piece of channel iron welded to each side, with the JD pins and hooks welded to the channel.

Very slick! Looks good. Did you just weld those pieces of channel to the sides of the hitch, then hold it up against the loader arms to mark the spots for attaching the JD hooks and pins?

 

[zman007007]

Yea Tom, I figured the shipping would be the high cost part. zman

 

[Window Geek]

History,
I end up modding things to make them work. Hooking up my plow the "old fashioned way" takes time and is typically a cold PIA job. The quick hitch is inexpensive and with a little modification will do what I need. It also saves your back, your time, and maybe your marriage if it is easier to hook and unhook. Just my 2 cents.

 

[California]

Hooking up my plow the "old fashioned way" takes time and is typically a cold PIA job. The quick hitch is inexpensive and with a little modification will do what I need. It also saves your back, your time, and maybe your marriage if it is easier to hook and unhook.

I agree.

Being able to back up to an implement then lift the lower part and shove it around is a big improvement, for something that tends to get imbedded in the ground like a box blade or disc. The upper link is far from perfect but between the hook and the optional toplink extender, there always seems to be a way to get hooked up with a great reduction from the previous brute force levering and cussing.

I had to shim out the lower pins on a 4 ft disc to get them wide enough, and make 'standard' toplink crosspins on several implements. Well worth it for the improvement in convenience.

 

[Runner]

"Very slick! Looks good. Did you just weld those pieces of channel to the sides of the hitch, then hold it up against the loader arms to mark the spots for attaching the JD hooks and pins?"

Tom,

Yes, that is exactly the process I followed. When I attached the channels to the QH, I set them at a forward angle to allow more curl for the attachment.

 

[ditzel]

Just bought the 27.5" HF Quick Hitch today for $59.99 at their store in N.J.
Originally 99.99, on sale for 79.99, was checking out at the register and thumbed thru the flier on the counter and saw the coupon for this hitch for 59.99 and the girl scanned it for me. Had to take the floor model, was all they had left, and I didn't want to have to go back again with a rain check.
Can't wait to try it out this week, will post how it works out.