Pat's Quick Hitch and arms... slanting when lifting?

[legbuh]

Hey all!

After a terrible experience with a "Quick Hitch" I returned it and got a Pats Quick Hitch.

Installation on my BX2860 went smoothly, but I have a question.

When lifting an implement the arms (and pat's hitch) angle inwards. I guess I never noticed if it did that with just the 3 point and no Pats. See pictures. First is resting, second is lifting:

Is that normal? Or is there something adjusted wrong?

 

[ruffdog]

Are the 4 stop bolts (2 on each side) adjusted correctly so they limit this movement?

 

[old and tired]

Are all the bolts tight? Pats, should not have movement.

You should be able to use a broom stick across both Pat's hitches and have them raise up parallel.

 

[Roadworthy]

Old and Tired nailed it. You can adjust the angle of Pat's relative to the ends of your arms. Note that as the spread of the arms changes so does the angle of attachment. The implement pins normally go through a rotating ball allowing proper alignment. The bolts on Pat's allow this alignment. If all your implements are nearly the same width no adjustment after initial setting is necessary. Note that the bolts included with Pat's are pretty soft. I replaced mine with set screws in case the end becomes distorted and they can no longer be backed out. Hardened bolts would be another good choice. Self locking nuts on the big U bolts are also a good idea.

 

[oldnslo]

Silly question but does it really matter if the ends are tipped a little? I left those bolts out on mine since in my opinion I want the ability for those to move to prevent twisting on the lift arms.

 

[dodge man]

I discovered the exact same thing the OP did. Just the geometry of the lift arms moving will make the ends tilt in. The swivel balls in the lift arms pivot to make up for this. If you bolt the Pats down tight it takes the swivel out. I’m not sure it hurt anything so I went to loosen up the Pats. I discovered the provided bolts had mushroomed out and were hard to remove.

I ended up having to retap the threads, bought some higher grade of bolts and put some nuts on to lock the bolts down. This let me leave the bolts loose so the Pats kind of flop around on the lift arms and allow some pivot.

 

[old and tired]

 

[LouNY]

Nice video showing an install of the Pat's hooks.
I would consider cutting some shims to fit each side were the bolts and jam nuts are used to adjust the angles.
If a person used some 1/8" flat stock an 1 1/2" or 2 " wide and punched a couple of holes were the side anchoring bolts would pass thru the spacers/shims could take up the gap while being retained by the bolts reducing the loading applied to the bolts as all they would need to do would be to retain the shims.

 

[legbuh]

It's not the pats that are angling... it's the whole 3pt arm. All install was done per the instructions.

I did find a video online and asked if the same thing happened with them and they said yes on their Kubota.

I just think it seems odd.. trying to find where the force is coming from that causes this.

 

[oldballs]

Has anybody tried to contact the new owner of the PAT'S for a question? My attemps were ....no reply. I needed some new springs. .... but it works with my repair anyway.