Might be time for a new Quick Hitch

[Fallon]

Noticed this on the inside & outside on both sides of my quick hitch today. Kind of curious how long it's been working up to this. 400 hours maybe of heavy use with a very heavy flail that was usually offset & often mowed some very heavy brush on a QH I probably paid $100 for. So I can't say I'm upset or didn't get my money's worth swapping implements a lot. Not sure if it's a Harbor Freight or one of the equally cheap ones coming out of the same plants.

I have half a mind to just leave it on & see how long it takes to fail completely. But it's guaranteed to fail at the most inconvenient place on some job & probably take out a PTO shaft or something when it does. My only question I suppose if if I should just replace it with another $100 QH, or splurge for a Land Pride QH15 at $350 or whatever they are running these days. Not even sure if the Land Pride is actually any higher quality or not coming out of the same factory as the Harbor Freight. I've gone through 4ish other cheap Chinese QHes, not because they failed, just because they went off with old machines, sold to a friend, welded to a SSQA plate, or some combination. First one to show any issues.

 

[WranglerX]

Or get it welded....

 

[bcp]

I wonder if the hooks are welded on only the rear side of the tube.

Bruce

 

[Midniteoyl]

I'd do a quick weld and maybe a reinforcement plate.

Is that your pin rotating and causing that gouging?

 

[Fallon]

I'd do a quick weld and maybe a reinforcement plate.

Is that your pin rotating and causing that gouging?

Ya, the pin has a bent over tab that's supposed to catch on the frame & preventing it from rotating. Only seems to work on one side though.

Doesn't show up that well on camera, but the tube or bushing that holds the pins to the 3pt seem pretty stretched & torn.

Either I put some ugly incompetent welds on it or replace it. Hopefully I figure it out & get motivated enough to follow through before I'm clicking myself in the back of a field somewhere.

 

[Alan W.]

I'd do a quick weld and maybe a reinforcement plate.

Is that your pin rotating and causing that gouging?

Thats what I was wondering. Mine has never done that.

 

[Midniteoyl]

I'd do a quick weld and maybe a reinforcement plate.

Is that your pin rotating and causing that gauging?

Ya, the pin has a bent over tab that's supposed to catch on the frame & preventing it from rotating. Only seems to work on one side though.

Doesn't show up that well on camera, but the tube or bushing that holds the pins to the 3pt seem pretty stretched & torn.

Either I put some ugly incompetent welds on it or replace it. Hopefully I figure it out & get motivated enough to follow through before I'm clicking myself in the back of a field somewhere.
View attachment 702205

Ya, if you can't weld yourself, I certainly wouldn't pay anybody to do it when its cheaper to buy another.

If you do have a welder though, incompetent welds (just a few tacks, really) would probably be better than none until then.

 

[CoyPatton]

Ya, the pin has a bent over tab that's supposed to catch on the frame & preventing it from rotating. Only seems to work on one side though.

Doesn't show up that well on camera, but the tube or bushing that holds the pins to the 3pt seem pretty stretched & torn.

Either I put some ugly incompetent welds on it or replace it. Hopefully I figure it out & get motivated enough to follow through before I'm clicking myself in the back of a field somewhere.
View attachment 702205

Looking at this photo, it appears the L shaped metal piece has a slight bow which is resulting in the L bend not catching the frame to prevent rotation of the pin.
I have no ideal what the metal is from the photos, but I would place a flat piece of steel behind that bow (looks to bow at about the center of the L piece of metal), then give the L away from the pin a few decent taps to straighten that bend. I might after close inspection following the above process give it a few taps near the pin to allow the L to grab the frame more.
Remember metal tend to spring back from a bend, so you may want to over bend a bit, or keep a watch on it and then repeat the bending if needed later. No welding needed unless you bust the weld to the pin.

 

[OzKioti]

No welding needed unless you bust the weld to the pin.

I think the rotating pin is the minor issue, but you might not have noticed the cracks:

 

[Fallon]

I think the rotating pin is the minor issue, but you might not have noticed the cracks:

View attachment 702272

The cracks on both sides just above the hooks were the only thing I noticed. I really don't care about the scratched doughnut much. Only 1 side has the wear from the loose pin & it's been like that for a while. The 4 cracks are either newish or I just noticed & promptly photographed them.

This was a warning to others to look at their QHes as much as a call for help.