3-Point Hitch 3-Point Question

[Hammer Head]

My son rented a post hole auger to use on my L3800 to speed up his deck project. He called me and asked how do you apply down pressure to the 3-Point?
I replied, I am not sure. The only thing I have used other than my BH77 is a York Rake. I was pretty sure the knob under the seat is only a speed control?
He did finish however I thought I would ask the question for future use. Can anyone help?
Thanks in advance.
Jeff

 

[roadhunter]

Unless you have one of the few tractors with down pressure in the 3 point there is likely no down pressure on your tractor's hitch.

 

[Jeff F.]

Weight and gravity for most tractors

 

[LiveRoll]

Agreed, Weight and gravity. The only tractors I know of with Downward 3 point hitch pressure is Belarus from Eastern Europe. It is a nice feature for certain applications. He may want to try applying some ballast to the auger, sometimes, depending on soil conditions just a gallon of water can make a huge difference if there is perhaps a layer of clay hardpan etc.

Cheers

Roger

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Agreed with the others that most don't have it. Once exception to the rule is some of the newest JD if they were ordered with the option.

There is however, an option available for some post hole augers to have an additional cyl on the PHD itself that will apply up to 500 lbs of downpressure. I don't imagine many of the rental units have this option.

Down pressure and additional control is why augers are SOOOO much nicer when run on a skid steer or mini-ex

 

[Fallon]

I built a platform for a 200lbs chunk of pipe over the gearbox on my PHD.

Also rebuilt it so it attaches to my quick hitch (only works if you have a hydraulic toplink). The toplink will lift the back end off the ground for the first foot or so of the hole or so if you were stupid enough to balance the tractor on the auger & front axle pivot.

Generally you just rely on good teeth on the auger to dig in.

 

[sea2summit]

Every time I add down pressure in the form of weight to my PHD I start busting shear pins...it did come from TSC but still.

 

[OVRxNxOUT]

Yea, looks like everyone covered this one pretty quick. - Not just Kubota here but with the majority of all tractor makes & models will the 3pt hitch only be gravity driven w/o any downforce other than the weight of the implement hooked up to it.

You still have a couple options here to consider to help gain an advantage over harder ground & get a better bite.
-A) Since this is so obvious I'll list it first just for others who may read this that own their tractor & do not know about this. It may be helpful. - There is a "dealer installed option" for a number of models that Kubota calls a "Top'N'Tilt Kit" which replaces 1 of the Lift Rods & the top link for ones that are hydraulically controlled via rear remotes (which also must either be already equipped or purchased as well).
Now this is a rental tractor at the center of this situation so again, this is not a practical fix for you guys here.

-B) With a rental here's where I'd start: take a good look at the teeth on the auger that the rental company sent it out with. Sometimes these either get often overlooked or just don't get inspected at all upon return of their rental. If it's not digging well or very slow then there's a good chance that the teeth are very worn & need replaced. - Speak to your rental company about this matter.

-C) You should have the option either w/ the rental and/or dealer to shell out a few extra dollars if need be to "upgrade" to a carbide tipped tooth or to an auger already fitted w/ carbide teeth. These teeth are much much stronger than the standard teeth, last much longer all while keeping a sharper edge. You may also ask about teeth with a more aggressive angle of attack. Many come w/ between a 30-40 degree attack, there are some with a 50-60 degree attack, & even some w/ 40 degrees mounted one direction & if flipped over it offers a 50 degree attack.

-D) just a couple last few tips that may be on the table for consideration (depending on your own situation, what the work area looks like or will allow, etc.)
- flood a hole hole w/ water that starts to become hard to drill through. This may help soften the ground but most importantly it will help keep friction down & slow the wear on your teeth.
- find a way to safely add weight over the top of the main top arm of the auger drive head. (Humans not recommended to be stand-ins for sandbags, etc. lol

 

[Grandad4]

Hate to be the "safety police", but it's worth mentioning again the blindingly obvous danger of jumping on or manually pushing down on the auger to add downforce. Watched a guy do that once in frustration before anyone could stop him. Thankfully he got away with it... at least that time, but one slip puts you in the auger.

 

[JWR]

Just for the record our old 1954 Massey Harris Pacer has both up and down force on the hydraulics. That feature was used for a wide variety of things but only rarely to force an implement downward. The worst of it was those tractors had no 3 pt hitch.