I was at my NH dealer yestereday and he had a TC18 in for service that had a steel bar mounted across the lower 3 point arms. It had a series of holes across it and the owner had mounted a ball hitch in the center. Price was $32. I know it's not a Reese receiver but it isn't $200 either.
Atomichead, that's called a 3pt drawbar (unlike the fixed one coming out from below the PTO) and they have been used for as long as I can remember. There is also an attachment to keep the drawbar from rotating in the lift arms and putting undue stress on the trailer's ball hitch. I'm sure your dealer has one of those too. You are correct, a drawbar is a much simpler solution to getting a hitch you can lift with the 3pt ( I guess it would be 2-point, technically in this case)./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Yea,
That's her. But I assumed since these were made for tractors that they would handle the same weight and stress as the 3pt. I went back up to Northern and found the their rig is only catagory 1. Last year I purchased a "Snowman Snowplow." It's the same as a front setup but connects in the rear rcvr. Has full angling and lift but weights 478#. Requires a catagory 3 rcvr which came with the 250 superduty. The dealer wouldn't put in writing that I wouldn't get hit with extra lease fees for front mounting a blade with a heavy deisel engine. So this was my out. Plus I knew I could move it to other vehicles should I decide to not continue the lease. I think I'm going to make a few modifications the the plow craddle and connect directly to it. I can do it without messing up the truck connection. Looks like the only way to go. http://www.snowmansnowplow.com/
Gee that sure makes it interesting. I've seen those rear mount receiver hitch type snowplows for the trucks.
Mike I wonder if the the category 1 that Northern mentions actually refers to the implement pin configuration and not a towing weight class. Class 1 tow hitches aren't much for sure. This hitch is quite stout. The flat and angle stock is all 2.5 x 3/8 and the pipe is 1 1/4 dia. Weight is 44 lbs. 10 lbs more than Northern's.
478# is no more than typical tongue weight maximums and ramming a snowplow blade with it probably wasn't what it was actually designed to do but neither was a truck mounted receiver hitch. Probably should work ok if ya weren't too rough with it. Its made from stronger material than my cheapo backblade. Maybe reinforce it with with some gussets. Its up to you./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif