Box Blade Hitch add-on

[RNeumann]

I did the receiver on top of the bucket per many people here saying how wonderful it is. Problem is that it is too high for most all trailers. Unless you can find a 12"+ drop hitch to go with it, it won't work well. And then you will have a hard time seeing the ball to pick up the trailer. I think a better option for the bucket is a bracket or something that puts the ball down near the cutting edge. Maybe one of these days I will make one of those... Not directly on point, but just FYI.

Awesome info! Thx for sharing. Makes sense to me.

 

[rd_macgregor]

Adding receivers is still on my list, but I have added chainsaw scabbards to my carryall, box blade and chipper. Here is the box blade one:


and, the ones on the chipper chute and carryall:

 

[RNeumann]

Adding receivers is still on my list, but I have added chainsaw scabbards to my carryall, box blade and chipper. Here is the box blade one:
View attachment 523607

and, the ones on the chipper chute and carryall:
View attachment 523608View attachment 523609

I'd be interested to know how the scabbard was attached to the BB. It's hard to tell what is metal and what is wood. The scabbard looks good and looks like an easy addition.

 

[rd_macgregor]

I'd be interested to know how the scabbard was attached to the BB. It's hard to tell what is metal and what is wood. The scabbard looks good and looks like an easy addition.

Except for the screws, the only metal parts are the two shiny metal plates at the base (you can see one) of the uprights. The rest of the bracket is made from 1x6 PT deck board leftovers, with a couple of plywood strips as spacers in the chainsaw scabbard itself.
If I were doing it again, I think I'd build in storage space for my other chainsawing gear...all the rest of the bracket is currently just wasted space. Or, maybe make it a bin for a logging chain or two... I may someday get around to doing some mods.

 

[rd_macgregor]

I'd be interested to know how the scabbard was attached to the BB. It's hard to tell what is metal and what is wood. The scabbard looks good and looks like an easy addition.

Sorry, I didn't completely answer the question. The black, square pieces welded onto the BB and to which the chainsaw scabbard bracket is bolted were themselves a mod. Originally the BB came with pins supported at just the end, but these bent pretty fast. So, I had a neighbor weld on brackets with through-holes for lower hitch pins supported on both sides of the lower hitch arm balls. Because of the design of my BB, I think I could have attached my chainsaw scabbard bracket anyway, by drilling/bolting through the orange piece to which the aforementioned black pieces are welded.
I wanted the wooden pieces sandwiched between metal to make them more durable/stable, hence the shiny pieces (cut from an old aluminum scoop shovel that had given up the ghost).

Oh, I was lucky that the chainsaw still clears the back of the tractor cab and fender when the 3PH is fully raised; I didn't plan for that when I built it, so just lucked out!

 

[RNeumann]

Thx for the info. I'll look at my machine and see what I can come up with.

 

[California]

I found a scrap hitch mount that was L-shaped. I welded it on the back of my box blade. With several inches of vertical weld on each side of the vertical portion of the L, it's secure. However the lower part of the L where the ball is, doesn't stick out very far so it takes caution to not bind the trailer tongue. And that box blade is seldom on the tractor now so that didn't accomplish much.

That tractor came with a ball on top of its front loader (photo) but the ball is too high, I can't drive up to the trailer and just position the ball under the trailer hitch.


Shown below: Later I bought this smaller tractor and welded this ball where it is used with the bucket rolled all the way forward. This is ideal for my use, even occasionally for towing the trailer backward into the orchard to harvest family trees near the house. It's quicker to hitch this up compared to swapping whatever rear implement to install my 3-point crossbar that has a hitch ball. This is also more precise for putting away the trailer in its very narrow parking stall.

Here's the post where I first posted that photo, with some comments by me and others that might be helpful.

 

[Glassback]

Old thread but got some ideas from here. I wanted to see if I could make my hitch tube removable when I wasn't using it so it wouldn't get in the way of material or be clogged up. I was able to use a 24" hitch tube that slides through the a hole in the blade and pins into the inverted ripper shank. Works well and I can pull it when not in use.

 

[Citydude]

Old thread but got some ideas from here. I wanted to see if I could make my hitch tube removable when I wasn't using it so it wouldn't get in the way of material or be clogged up. I was able to use a 24" hitch tube that slides through the a hole in the blade and pins into the inverted ripper shank. Works well and I can pull it when not in use.

View attachment 685329View attachment 685330View attachment 685331View attachment 685332View attachment 685333View attachment 685334View attachment 685335View attachment 685336

Very clever idea! Thanks for posting.

 

[Glassback]

Very clever idea! Thanks for posting.

Thanks Citydude!

Here's a couple more picts from a little further back with and without the tube.