Need a 3pt hitch for an X495 for moving boat

[Mad_River]

I have seen where some guys mount a ball hitch on a 3pt hitch. Anyone have advise on where to get one of these? I have a 24ft boat I have to squeeze into a tight space and moving it with the tractor will be much easier than with my truck.

 

[jenkinsph]

Be careful as most 24' boats are too heavy for a garden tractor to handle. Make sure the tongue weight is reasonable. You can get both a 3ph kit and a reciever hitch from the dealer or aftermarket.

 

[CHDinCT]

Put a Ruegg aftermarket 3PH on my old X485. You can do a search to bring up a web page with info I believe. It was about $100 less than the JD version, but either one will do the trick. There may be other aftermarket versions out there as well.

Edit - here a link for the Ruegg version: Hitch Kits

 

[JDTank]

I have seen where some guys mount a ball hitch on a 3pt hitch. Anyone have advise on where to get one of these? I have a 24ft boat I have to squeeze into a tight space and moving it with the tractor will be much easier than with my truck.

I agree with jenkinsph.

Trying to move a 24 foot boat trailer with a garden tractor is asking for trouble IMO. A good rule of thumb for these garden tractors is, if you can pretty much pick up the tongue yourself, or maybe with one extra person, you will probably be ok. If you have anything more than 100-200 pounds of weight on the tongue of the trailer, I would not be comfortable moving that with a garden tractor.

If you do insist on going forward, I would put some weights on the front of your machine. The X495 being a 2WD unit is considerably lighter up front than say an X595.

 

[KennedyDiesel]

Remember too with the tractor you cannot see anything around the boat that you will be backing.

It takes some getting used to, but I find that spotting a trailer into a tight spot is best accomplished with a ball in the loader or forks on my 3720. There is a bit of "swing" potential so you have to go slow, but you are up high and facing the trailer. Might consider a front mount receiver on your truck as well.

 

[Deadman]

Backing big trailers like a boat sucks with a narrow vehicle like a garden tractor. I've done this with an enclosed snowmobile trailer, and I literally needed a spotter, or I had to jump off and look about 25 times. I'd much rather use the mirrors on a truck ,because you can see if you will clear the edge of your garage door opening.

I love moving stuff with my garden tractor, and my 2520, but the visibility is an issue sometimes.