3pt Ballast Box Fabrication Question

[Erik Graham]

Greetings;

I'm in the process of building a ballast box for my B7100. In fact the box is actually already done and after I did most of the welding I realized that I had forgotten to take one variable into account. I welded the attachment point for the top link in the same plane as the lift pins. When I attached it to the tractor it wouldn't lift it at all. I'm doing this in the city and of course my other 3 point implements are many miles from here so I don't have anything close to measure. What I need to know is, what the minimum height above the lift pins does the top link attachment point have to be in order for the geometry to work? I'm guessing at 12" or better but I'm wondering if another member who has built a 3pt implement could share a couple of details.

Many thanks, Erik

 

[dieselcrawler]

12" is a good guess. The farther apart they are, the more the tail will come up, relative to the front. As in, not remain parallel to the ground, but tilt towards the front as it goes up. May not matter on a ballast box, but a carry-all or rear forks, it would matter.

 

[pwright]

For a quick-hitch compatible Cat 1 3pt implement the vertical spacing between upper/lower pins is 15". (Though I have seen a chart that listed it as 18". <shrug>)

 

[Tul01]

12" is not enough. I just built one for my father in law and never considered the geometry. The rear of the box would only lift a few inches off the ground and it wouldnt consider staying level. I added 5" and it is much better.

 

[kennyd]

15" is the ASAE standard.

 

[jenkinsph]

Most of the implements I have seen have a vertical spacing of 18 inches for cat 1 but the quick hitches use 14.88 inches IIRC. 15 inches is close enough for a quick hitch imo. I should add that when a quick hitch is used that since it connects to the tractor with the top link spacing of 18" itself the geometry is the same as other implements.

 

[Erik Graham]

Thanks all, think I'll go with something in the 15"-17" range-will see what material I have on hand and will post photo when done.

Cheers, Erik

 

[LD1]

post a picture of what you have now. I am not sure I understand what you mean by they are in the same plane.

12" should still lift the box.

I have built many trailer movers that the toplink point is only ~12" (or less) above the lower pins. I make them the same as the distance between them on the tractor side. Thus when done the toplink and lower arms are parallel. When lifting it keeps the hitch level instead of rotating while lifting

 

[jenkinsph]

Eric,
If you want the geometry to work I recommend you go with 18" vertical spacing. Here are some pics of both factory made and home made implements. Most factory built implements today offer the 18" spacing and the 15" for the quick hitch. Notice that the quick hitch connects to the tractor side using the 18" spacing, that keeps the geometry the same as other implements that are not using a quick hitch.