Ford 6610 stabilizer bars

[simpsomatt]

I just bought a Ford 6610, and I want to put a Woods 6-foot rotary mower (generic bush hog) on the 3-point hitch. To keep it from swaying back and forth, I thought I would need stabilizer bars.
The tractor has a ROPS roll bar/canopy. The brackets that hold the roll bar to the axle have pins that look like they are for stabilizers. The lift arms have pins slightly in front of the implement attachment ends that I thought were for stabilizers.
I ordered stabilizer bars from the dealer, not knowing exactly what I was going to get. What I got (for $200) are a pair of flat bars, with two holes of different sizes at one end, and the other end slightly offset with a single smaller hole.
I thought the offset end would be the one to attach to the lift arm, but that hole is too small for the pin that I thought was a stabilizer pin. Also, the bars are too long to reach from the brackets on the axle to the pin on the lift arm, and too short to reach from the axle to the mower attachment pin.
Did I get the wrong parts, or am I just clueless about how to attach them?

Edited to add: I just realized that I have a digital camera and can provide pictures better than my half-assed description

stabilizer bar
lift arm
bracket on axle
bar resting on attachment(?) pins

 

[BadDog]

Just a guess, but it looks like the ROPS bottom bracket is mounted inside-out. From a usability point of view, I would think that the pins should be pointing outwards, not towards the tractor, as it should make it easier to mount things on the pins.

If you undo one side of the ROPS mount and turn the bottom bracket around so the pin is pointing towards the wheel, I'll bet the stabilizer bar will fit perfectly.

If that works, switch the other side and you're done.

If it doesn't work, you can always drill new holes in your fancy new $200 steel bars. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[JerryG]

Matt,
Once in a while on larger tractors you will find that they have more than one type of part offered. Some times it is because of different applications and then sometimes it has been because of a running change as the model progressed. Here is a stabilizer bar on a Ford 6610. I don't know if it the one that should be on your tractor or not.

 

[simpsomatt]

It's a little hard to see the stabilizer bars in your picture, but they definitely don't look like mine. Mine are basically flat bars, bent a little at the ends, with holes in each end. Yours look like they might be adjustable.

My lift arms also don't look like yours. See the links to pictures in my post above. My lift arms have some kind of sliding arrangement on the ends. Somebody on another forum referred to them as flex links, but I've got no clue what they are.

 

[JerryG]

Different stabilizer bars as well as different end are available for most larger tractors. Even if your tractor doesn't have the adjustable end links, it could have had tube type adjustable stabilizer bars. It would just depend when it was produced and the options that were ordered on it.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I can try to get pics of my 7710 stabilizers. They are adjustable and the main difference I can see from the pic I do have is that the stabilizer mounts differently to the lift arm then your machine. I don't have a good picture of the brackets under the axle but I will look later today and see what they look like.

 

[jinman]

Nobody has mentioned it (that I noticed), but don't you think that simpsomatt took a "beating" by paying $200 for those flat stabilizers? I am sure I've paid up to $20 each for Cat. 1, flat, spring-steel stabilizers for my Ford Jubilee. I think Tractor Supply has generic adjustable bars for both Cat 1 & 2. Theirs are surely not more than $40 each, probably less.

Also, for a rotary cutter, you can buy a dual-chain height stabilizer that goes between your lift arm pins and the toplink pin. It will stabilize the mower's height and also serve as side-to-side stabilizers.

The reason for going to an adjustable stabilizer is that many implements don't follow the strict dimensions of the 3PH categories. That makes the lift arms need to be stabilized at different widths. The stabilizer simpsomatt has will only work for one specific implement pin width. Pretty limited. . . /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[JerryG]

<font color="blue"> The reason for going to an adjustable stabilizer is that many implements don't follow the strict dimensions of the 3PH categories. </font>
Manufactures seem to follow the ASAE standard a lot better on Category sizes larger than cat. 1. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I thought the price was high but I have never priced them to comment on it. Personally though, I would not want the style he has. We have them for the 640 and they only work for a couple implements. Everything else is free swinging or if needed I put just one on. The quick adjust stabilizers are one of the best things to be put on a tractor in the last 50 years. That along with the extendable lower links make hooking up 3 point implements a breeze.