Using a chain as top link with attachments

[Wilburn Cox]

I hope this is the correct forum for this post.
I have read many posts/replies concerning use of a chain for top link and not sure I understand this. My tractor is a 16 HP Kubota B7100 I build a land drag using a heavy steel Air Force pallet 4' by 4' made with heavy steel 2" square tubing as cross braces. This thing is heavy. I then bolted 3 heavy gauge angle irons across the bottom evenly spaced. I added a complete 3pt hitch attachment to the top front to hook to 3 pt on my tractor. Everything works great and the implement lifts and raises easily with no problem.
My thought when building this was to level land on our 4 acres after plowing or tilling and also suing to keep our 300 ft gravel drive way in shape. The 3 angle irons bolted to bottom of the implement can be moved easily on angles to put a crown on the drive. My problem is, the implement does not float easily, therefore leaving small piles of dirt as the tractor goes up or down. Would using a chain as top link help with this problem?
Any help in my understanding in this will be appreciated. I honestly don't understand the term of replacing the top link with a chain.
Thanks in advance and have a Fantastic New Year. We need one.
Red Cox
Stephenville TX

 

[oldnslo]

The chain for top link will allow the rear of the implement to follow the contours of the ground better in relationship to tractor movement. I.e. No rigid toplink trying to push implement into the ground when front of tractor raises.
On your B7100 does the 3 pt control lever spring return to a center position (like BX) or does it stay where moved? If it stays in position lowering it fully will give the most "float" possible with chain style toplink.

 

[HarryN]

Would be interesting to see a picture of your "land drag" ....

 

[Wilburn Cox]

The chain for top link will allow the rear of the implement to follow the contours of the ground better in relationship to tractor movement. I.e. No rigid toplink trying to push implement into the ground when front of tractor raises.
On your B7100 does the 3 pt control lever spring return to a center position (like BX) or does it stay where moved? If it stays in position lowering it fully will give the most "float" possible with chain style toplink.

oldnslo. Thanks for your reply. On the B7100 the control lever stays where it is moved.

 

[xrsrfn]

My Dad used a chain on the bush hog on our hilly area we mowed I always worried about it but it never broke and it never came close to the PTO shaft. It did a great job of keeping the whole hog floating with our ravines. Funny now I cant get some of my daredevil dirt bike riders to mow where I will still. I don't see a big deal with a chain unless you are going to snap load it all the time.

 

[Wilburn Cox]

Would be interesting to see a picture of your "land drag" ....

HarryN; I'm sorry but so far I just don't know how to take and post pics. Guess I need one of my grand kids to teach me. About 20 years ago I saw the Air Force pallet at a curb in Ft. Worth. I stopped, asked the home owner what it was and he said it was a stackable Air Force pallet. Each corner of the pallet had a round steel protrusion on top and each bottom corner had a hole. This was built so they could be easily stacked on top of each other. The thing was well built with our tax dollars and heavy. He gave the thing to me and helped load it in my truck.
I first built a spray rig with it, using a 50 gallon and 12 volt pump. We bought our 4 acres just outside Stephenville in 1989 and I wanted something to level land and drive way work. I bought the 3 pt hook up from a used implement dealer and bolted it to the top front. The 3 angle iron pieces for grading and leveling are bolted across the bottom evenly spaced and the side braces are drilled so I can move the 3 angle irons at an angle in order to drown a drive way. Everything works great except is does not float and follow contour of the ground as I had dreamed.
I don't think use of chain as top link would be dangerous as I do not go fast with tractor and have no rocks or snags to contend with. I was just interested in knowing if a chain top link would allow the drag to follow contour of the land better and fill up the low spots. I have a tandom plow, box blade, and 4 ft tiller for the tractor and will first plow the soil and cross plow again. I am trying to get the soil ready for seeding with bermuda seed.
thanks for your reply
Red Cox

 

[Daver1963]

A 4 X 4 pallet. I wonder if that was for a helicopter or maybe for the days where they had to push stuff out of a side door. In 26 years all I saw were 8 X 8 pallets.

 

[Wilburn Cox]

A 4 X 4 pallet. I wonder if that was for a helicopter or maybe for the days where they had to push stuff out of a side door. In 26 years all I saw were 8 X 8 pallets.

Daver, Not sure but the pallet is 4x4. I guess they were built in order to stack things in a ware house. In 1966/1968 when I was in the 101st airborne we dropped all sorts of equipment from C130 planes. Jeeps, trucks and howetzers were strapped to huge stacks of honey combed card board and flew out the back of the planes. I have pics of my Colenoel's jeep that the chutes came off of as it flew out the back of the plane. It dis not look good. We were on the ground taking pics of the drop and have pics of chutes floating off from the jeep.
Have a good one.
Cox

 

[MtnViewRanch]

My Dad used a chain on the bush hog on our hilly area we mowed I always worried about it but it never broke and it never came close to the PTO shaft. It did a great job of keeping the whole hog floating with our ravines. Funny now I cant get some of my daredevil dirt bike riders to mow where I will still. I don't see a big deal with a chain unless you are going to snap load it all the time.

From a safety standpoint, having a chain in place of a rigid top link will allow the implement if caught rotate up onto the tractor. Depending on all the different circumstances that there may be determines how dangerous it might actually be.

 

[jimmysisson]

I was also thinking if the angle irons caught on something, even if it didn't rotate into the tractor it could leave a very uneven surface, bouncing along. Technique (and no rocks) would make that less important.
I use a chain on my brush hog: much better than any rigid link, and no trouble. In your case, it's pretty cheap and easy to try it out, just start slow.
Jim

 

[Tractor Seabee]

See the picture of the LP floating top link. That is what I use for all contour following implements. It appears to probably be safer than a chain. My QH is equipped with one to use when needed. this comes from the LP QH Manual available on line free. This manual also has all the various lengths of lower and top link bushings for the QH.

Ron

 

[Xfaxman]

FYI some pictures from a Google Image Search.

 

[94BULLITT]

From a safety standpoint, having a chain in place of a rigid top link will allow the implement if caught rotate up onto the tractor. Depending on all the different circumstances that there may be determines how dangerous it might actually be.

I agree.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

. . . My problem is, the implement does not float easily, therefore leaving small piles of dirt as the tractor goes up or down. . . .
Red Cox
Stephenville TX

Red, have you thought about just using this tool as a drag-type tool? Drag-type implements are unaffected by the tractor going up and down. You could weld an ear on each side of the front of the implement, and then use a piece of chain to attach it from there (on each side) to the drawbar, and not use the 3 point hitch attachment at all. For years and years farmers graded and maintained roads with all sorts of home made drag-type tools that leveled the ground.

But using a chain in place of the rigid top link should work. The chain would have to be long enough to allow the rear of the implement to not be pulled up when the tractor pivots down in the front and up at the rear. But it would need to be short enough that the rear of the implement would still be picked up off the ground when the 3 point lift was raised fully.

 

[pat32rf]

Growing up Dad built a rear facing bucket/platform for the back of our 35 Massey. Soon found that we could back into a dirt pile and fill it, then if we set it down and disconnected the top link it would dump by lifting the 3pth. A chain for a top link made things easy.....

 

[Wilburn Cox]

Red, have you thought about just using this tool as a drag-type tool? Drag-type implements are unaffected by the tractor going up and down. You could weld an ear on each side of the front of the implement, and then use a piece of chain to attach it from there (on each side) to the drawbar, and not use the 3 point hitch attachment at all. For years and years farmers graded and maintained roads with all sorts of home made drag-type tools that leveled the ground.

But using a chain in place of the rigid top link should work. The chain would have to be long enough to allow the rear of the implement to not be pulled up when the tractor pivots down in the front and up at the rear. But it would need to be short enough that the rear of the implement would still be picked up off the ground when the 3 point lift was raised fully.

Pappy; Thanks for the suggestion. Yes I have considered using it as a pulled drag. I could drill thru the front cross member of the implement and put heavy duty eye bolts through at or near each corner for attaching a chain which would then reach to my draw bar. I have have, on hand, a trailer hitch connector on two lengths of chain which I use pulling 2 cross ties as a land drag. The hitch connector hitches to a 1&7/8" ball on either my tractor or riding lawn mower.
Thanks for the suggestion and have a great day. One question. Are you saying if I used a short chain as top link I could lift the implement, to some degree, in order to move it to another location such as a place to disengage and store it??
Red

 

[Wilburn Cox]

Growing up Dad built a rear facing bucket/platform for the back of our 35 Massey. Soon found that we could back into a dirt pile and fill it, then if we set it down and disconnected the top link it would dump by lifting the 3pth. A chain for a top link made things easy.....

thanks Pat; I also have a rear scoop for my tractor and have used it a lot. Purchase from TSC. Only problem I have had with the scoop it that it has a trip mechanism located at front bottom that has to be pulled upward by a rope. I have found that when I try to dump contents from the scoop, the trip lever is very hard to pull upward by the rope in order to trip the scoop. Maybe it would be easier if I used a chain as top link. Haven't thought of that.

Thanks;
Red

 

[Xfaxman]

------------One question. Are you saying if I used a short chain as top link I could lift the implement, to some degree, in order to move it to another location such as a place to disengage and store it??
Red

Yes, if the chain is the same length as your top link was adjusted to, it will lift the back of the implement to the same height. If the chain is longer, it won't lift as high.

thanks Pat; I also have a rear scoop for my tractor and have used it a lot. Purchase from TSC. Only problem I have had with the scoop it that it has a trip mechanism located at front bottom that has to be pulled upward by a rope. I have found that when I try to dump contents from the scoop, the trip lever is very hard to pull upward by the rope in order to trip the scoop. Maybe it would be easier if I used a chain as top link. Haven't thought of that.

Thanks;
Red

With a chain you would not be able to set the digging angle or pull it in the forward mode. I had a hydraulic top link on mine, made it easy to get the right angle.

Notice that most of the weight is behind the pivot point of the scoop.

To dump, I would lower the scoop to the ground, removing the weight from the trip latch, pull and hold the trip rope, raise the 3 point, dumping the load.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

. . . One question. Are you saying if I used a short chain as top link I could lift the implement, to some degree, in order to move it to another location such as a place to disengage and store it??
Red

Yes. Xfaxman explained it best. Your chain could be somewhat longer than the toplink - the rear of the drag would just droop some when you raised it. The great thing about using a chain is that if you find it's drooping too much, you can shorten it up by a couple of links and see if that works.

 

[Baby Grand]

From a safety standpoint, having a chain in place of a rigid top link will allow the implement if caught rotate up onto the tractor. Depending on all the different circumstances that there may be determines how dangerous it might actually be.

One way to reduce this risk is to run the chain thru a length of pipe that's short enough to allow the amount of float desired without allowing the implement to lift too much.