Couple of Harbor Freight QH questions

[jimmysisson]

Any reason you couldn't use a hairpin clip in that?
Jim

 

[KennyG]

Any clip will work but the ring is more secure. The reason they use it that most of us adjust once to suit our preference and don't touch it again. I firmed mine up so it has a limited amount of swing right after I got the tractor and haven't changed it since.

 

[Fallon]

Any clip will work but the ring is more secure. The reason they use it that most of us adjust once to suit our preference and don't touch it again. I firmed mine up so it has a limited amount of swing right after I got the tractor and haven't changed it since.

That's how I had my L3200 setup. Probably should have loosened it for subsoiler work, but never did.

 

[California]

An example where the HF qhitch is the foundation for building a custom implement:

I bought an old drag-type spike harrow for $100. Then I built a lift mechanism for tight turns at the end of each orchard row. It's made from scrap materials on hand - a mast and pulley from an exercise machine that a neighbor gave me. It clips onto the qhitch in place of the hook. Here's a post where I described the project.

 

[Catman8]

Good job California, I enjoy designing and building things also, it's the picking up the tool and cleaning up after that I'm not so fond of, need to get me a full time personal assistant

Sounds like everyone has their own personal preference as to how much swing is correct on a three point, as long as I don't bend or break something, thanks for everyone's suggestions very helpful.

 

[JRobyn]

Wow, thanks for the link to the bushing kit. I get sick every time I've bought one at TSC.
However, unless I'm bad wrong (I hope not cause I ordered two of them), the correct version for impliments with 7/8" dia pins is this one http://m.northerntool.com/products/shop~tools~product_200479426_200479426?hotline=false

Thanks for the correction!!

BTW, these adapters are not too hard to remove - they are held on with a roll pin that can be driven out fairly easily with a punch. Handy for when your BIL wants to borrow your grading scraper but he doesn't use a QH.

 

[97r82]

I finally bought a quick hitch from HF. They had them in the store but none of the employees knew what i wanted. Finally pulled up the ad on my phone and one of the guys said we have 6 back there. Didn't have a clue what they were. I also have older implements that need adapting for the hook. My friend modified his hook by removing 1/2" of the material which helped but makes the hook sloppier. I made some adapters out of a piece of 2" square tubing about 4" long then drilled a 3/4" hole to pin it to the top link of the tiller. I cut a piece 2" long and welded it on at 90 degrees for the hook to grab. They actually work better than the fork that HF sells.
I have a over ride clutch i will use to make up the lost length on the driveline.
I went ahead and made one for each piece of equipment. Time well spent. Now i can hook up anything i have except the PHD. As others said i wouldn't worry too much about teh Cat 1 pins. I am going to change a few that are loose to Cat 2 but the rest will work as they are.

 

[Fallon]

The QH spec indicates all QHes should use Cat3 pins. The only difference between Cat 1, 2 & 3 QHes dimension wise is the width. Im sure 2 & 3 are beefier though. All my stuff is Cat 1 & I've got a few I haven't bothered putting the Cat3 bushings on. May get to it at some point.

In my experience all QHes except for JD iMatch & LandPride are the same cheap quality. I've had 2 Harbor Freight, 1 Speeco & one I forget, maybe CountyLine. All were similar quality, one required a little grinding on the hooks that were to small. All of em got a 1-2" extension on the back of the top hook. I've looked at the higher quality ones & still see the need for the top hook extension, so might as well go cheap if I'm going to fix it up off the bat.

2 ran off with my old tractor, one was welded to a SSQA plate to mount my former truck snow plow. 1 was for a friend & my 4th is on my new L4060. May end up with a 5th on a SSQA plate again eventually, but my new plow will be a more compact mount than my previous QH SSQA mount.

My flail mower is ancient, off center (by design) & has articulating lower links, so lots of motion on the lift pins. I have yet to get Cat3 bushings on it & while the pins are noticeably beatup, they aren't any thinner or in danger of wearing out before the rest of the mower.

 

[California]

I was just looking through the HF reviews sorted by 'Most Helpful'.

One post from 5 years ago noted that HF's QH has lower hooks sized for Cat 2 pins, while all the other brands' hooks are larger, Cat 3 size. Check this before ordering adapter sleeves! (My first-generation HF QH, the one that was narrower than what they sell now, has these Cat 2 hooks. I don't know about current production.)

That poster suggested put Cat 2 pins on all your implements, special Cat 2 pins that have Cat 1 mounting threads. This might work for a few people but I wouldn't do it myself.

 

[KennyG]

I would be skeptical of the comment that the HF uses Cat 2 pins. My HF hooks are sized for Cat 3 pins and that's what I have my equipment converted to. The biggest problem with the HF QH is that the forging process they use for the hooks seemingly does not give you a 90 degree edge. On some hitches, the hook opening is slightly askew. This may lead people to think the hook is undersized. On mine the lower hooks were OK but the top hook required a little grinding for a smooth fit.

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

My QH was delivered today. In reading through this thread, it appears that many of you guys make changes to your equipment to make everything more QH friendly. It seems that many of the changes require fab work/welding. I do not weld so here's the question I have. Will the adapter make most/all of my implements QH compatible? This is my first QH, and it makes sense that the adapter will be my friend. I would appreciate any comments from those that have used or have an opinion regarding the adapter.

 

[California]

My experience is it works with several but not all implements. Two I can think of have shoulders below where the hook would fit, so I can't get the hook under the pin. Photo below is an example. (that blade was thrown in free with that 30 year old Yanmar). Another example.

And some have structural parts under where the top hook should go, as I noted above it's easy to invert the top hook to secure those.

But overall It's no big deal to take the QH off for those implements it won't fit, luckily ones I use rarely. And it fits everything that I commonly interchange among. In summary, worthwhile because it saves back strain every time its used.

If more of my implements were current generation I expect more of them would be compatible to the QH standard.

Added:
For that blade above I'm considering bolting a 4"x8"x 0.375" chunk of steel into where the 3-point pins are now, with a new pin farther forward on this new plate. If I can fit the new plate precisely to that lower angle iron it won't need welding, so I could return the blade to original if needed.

 

[Fallon]

My QH was delivered today. In reading through this thread, it appears that many of you guys make changes to your equipment to make everything more QH friendly. It seems that many of the changes require fab work/welding. I do not weld so here's the question I have. Will the adapter make most/all of my implements QH compatible? This is my first QH, and it makes sense that the adapter will be my friend. I would appreciate any comments from those that have used or have an opinion regarding the adapter.

I'd wager a local welder could convert almost any implement to be QH compatible for under $100.

My snowblower was to skinny. There really isn't a way to fix that without welding on additional structure. Longer pins might work, but would be really likely to bend.

 

[California]

Minor adaptation: A stack of washers to get the pins out to QH width. This is a small (48") disk.

Works great!
I use this little tractor to finish up the tight spots - especially at the end of orchard rows - where the 8 ft drag disk on my neighbor's big tractor can't maneuver.

 

[Catman8]

My QH was delivered today. In reading through this thread, it appears that many of you guys make changes to your equipment to make everything more QH friendly. It seems that many of the changes require fab work/welding. I do not weld so here's the question I have. Will the adapter make most/all of my implements QH compatible? This is my first QH, and it makes sense that the adapter will be my friend. I would appreciate any comments from those that have used or have an opinion regarding the adapter.

Once you get it hooked up to your your tractor show us some pictures, and if there is an implement that won't hook up, show us a picture and you will get some good ideas from everyone how to make it work, I can't tell you all the great ideas I have found on this forum from pictures. Just like California with something as simple as washers if you don't have a welder, there is always a work around. Enjoy your QH, these should come standard on all tractors.

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

I got the QH to my property where the tractor is. Got it mounted but didn't have too much time to experiment with the implements. I did take the attached pictures.

The third picture is the top link mount on my brush hog. I think it is called a flex mount which allows the implement to follow the contour of the land being cut. I guess when using the QH I will need to flip it back, get the bottom hooks engaged and then get off the tractor in order to flip the flex mount back onto the QH top hook. That shouldn't be much of a problem since I have a hydraulic top link. Sound about right?

The other two pictures are of the top mount area of another implement. I didn't play with it, just took the pictures. Any comments/thoughts about how this will work with the QH? It's a pretty common setup on implements so I expect some of you guys to have experience here.

 

[bcp]

Disassemble and reassemble so the flex link is behind the A-frame of the hitch.



Bruce

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

Disassemble and reassemble so the flex link is behind the A-frame of the hitch.

View attachment 492630

Bruce

Thanks Bruce. That makes sense, but I would not have thought of it.

 

[California]

First two pictures - that's where I back up and set the qhitch's top hook upside down over a pin at that implement's mounting point. No big deal if you have replaced the hook's bolts with removable pins as I showed in post # 8 above.

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

First two pictures - that's where I back up and set the qhitch's top hook upside down over a pin at that implement's mounting point. No big deal if you have replaced the hook's bolts with removable pins as I showed in a photo earlier.

Would the top hook on the QH not work from the bottom?