Preferred method to pull trailer behind tractor?

[John_Mc]

Because of double shear versus single shear.

I do agree that if it were just a bar or receiver tube sitting on top of the drawbar, a pin would not be a good idea.

The picture I showed was double shear: a sleeve which slides over the drawbar and is pinned in place. The only thing different I would do is weld the receiver tube on top of that sleeve, rather than mounting the ball directly on the sleeve. (That would also get me almost nothing for a height increase anyway.)

 

[WinterDeere]

Justification of dynamics with statics is a fools mission.

Be well my friend.

Platitudes... oh, you are so wise! That's the crap someone says, when they want everyone in the room to think they're smart, without actually doing the math.

I'm an engineer, I understand the dynamics involved, and the number I quoted is based on 1g lateral. My tractor will never come close to achieving 1g braking on my grassy downhill.

Realistic braking on grass is 0.2 - 0.5 g, and that's actually measured in an automobile with front brakes, not a tractor with turf tires relying only on rear brakes. But whatever... let's pretend I can hit 0.5 g maximum braking, which yields maximum 2000 lb. forward force from 2-ton wagon. I would need to lift my ballast box 3.5 feet off the ground while simultaneously achieiving this mythical 0.5 g braking, in order to achieve the required drawbar angle, given 5' drawbar at 1 ft elevation at trailer + 6" from hitch to bottom of box.

I don't think my trailer can even lift the bottom of my ballast box 3.5 feet off the ground, nor is any terrain I'm traversing anywhere near extreme enough to achieve any similar angle, so no worries there.