Quick Hitch Questions

   / Quick Hitch Questions #1  

tibadoe

Silver Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Messages
231
Location
Gladys, VA
Tractor
MF GC1723EB Ramrod 915 TM Toro 314-8
Thinking of getting a Cat 1 Quick Hitch. Asked the sales guy when he delivered my tractor and he said they are more of a hassle than it's worth. States most attachments won't fit and it's easier to hook up without one. I don't have a clue since this is my first tractor. Won't have many attachments but do need: box blade, landscape rake, and auger to start with.

Looking at these from Tractor Supply and PalletForks.

Any personal experience anyone want to share?
 
   / Quick Hitch Questions #2  
Thinking of getting a Cat 1 Quick Hitch. Asked the sales guy when he delivered my tractor and he said they are more of a hassle than it's worth. States most attachments won't fit and it's easier to hook up without one. I don't have a clue since this is my first tractor. Won't have many attachments but do need: box blade, landscape rake, and auger to start with.

Looking at these from Tractor Supply and PalletForks.

Any personal experience anyone want to share?
I have a quick hitch and wouldn't be without it. I also added one to my dad's machine to help him out. It takes a ton of the beating off your body it takes to get an implement into position to hook up. This is especially true when hooking up to very heavy implements like a tiller or brush hog.

It is true that all attachments won't work with a quick hitch. Post hole diggers come to mind as you don't use a toplink with them. Older equipment also didn't necessarily adhere to the same set of standard and oftentimes has welded in brackets that wouldn't allow for the top hook to slide into place or might not have the correct spacing from the bottom pins to the toplink. This becomes less of an issue with newer equipment as quick hitches are increasingly common and companies design for them to work with their equipment now. PXL_20200919_205025227.jpg

The 5 implements out in front of my tractor are all quick hitch compatible/set-up. Tiller, rotary cutter, back blade, landscape rake and box blade.
 
   / Quick Hitch Questions #3  
I have a quick hitch. I had to modify just about every piece of equipment I own to make it work. Some involved just a bit of trimming with a cutting torch while others required a minor redesigning of the mounting system. I also installed a hydraulic top link and now I can hook onto anything that I use with my tractor without major hassle.

Yes it was a bit of work but I've saved the time I spent modifying my equipment many times over by being able to hook equipment up very quickly. The only down side is that it's a bit crowded to install any pto shafts but I can live with that. There are many more upsides than downsides.
 
   / Quick Hitch Questions
  • Thread Starter
#4  
I have a quick hitch and wouldn't be without it...........

Good to hear you like your QH. So I should probably be OK with the other attachments with the exception of the auger. I won't mind attaching it manually on occasion when needed -- sure beats digging holes by hand.

Thanks for your input.
 
   / Quick Hitch Questions #5  
Good to hear you like your QH. So I should probably be OK with the other attachments with the exception of the auger. I won't mind attaching it manually on occasion when needed -- sure beats digging holes by hand.

Thanks for your input.
If you know you have a quick hitch and don't have any equipment already....you can buy with that purpose vs those who had to modify their stuff they already owned.
 
   / Quick Hitch Questions
  • Thread Starter
#6  
...........The only down side is that it's a bit crowded to install any pto shafts but I can live with that. There are many more upsides than downsides.

Will have to keep that in mind when I go for a brush cut mower.
 
   / Quick Hitch Questions #7  
They can be hit or miss in my experience. I have one, made by Titan. It fits my landscape rake made by King Kutter, "kind of" fits my 6' mower made by Titan, doesn't fit my box blade made by Titan, doesn't fit my trailer hitch made by Titan. The Titan brand implements that don't fit, are all labelled "quick hitch compatible" in their description written by Titan. When we (my dealer) contacted Titan directly about these not fitting, their official response was "sound of crickets".

The ones that "fit", I have installed the adapter bushings on the lower pins for use on the quick hitch. So if I wanted to use them without the quick hitch, the bushings would have to come off first (kind of a pain to put on, so probably a pain to take off). Also my neighbor wanted to borrow my rake once, but with the bushings on the lower pins, he wouldn't have been able to use it on his tractor since he doesn't have a quick hitch. I was using my mower on mine at the time (also using quick hitch), so I couldn't just easily loan him the rake + hitch. Ended up taking mower off and just using rake on my tractor at his place, then coming back over swapping back to mower and continuing my mowing at my place.

I also went with the removable pin setup that Bolt On Hooks sells for adjusting the top hook position on the quick hitch. Even though I only have 2 attachments that can actually USE the quick hitch, they each need a different top hook height position to hook up. So I have to change the hook height when I swap one to the other. Most of the time, the mower sits on the 3pt in summer, and the box blade in winter anyway.

Not sure I would do it again (get quick hitch) myself. Depends on your situation. My lower link arms on my 3 pt do extend, and both sides are adjustable, so hitching up straight to the 3pt isn't as difficult as some would be with just straight arms. And even when I use the quick hitch, if I'm changing from one attachment to the other, I'm getting off the tractor anyway to 1) change the top hook position, and 2) for the rake, it's so light weight the tractor lifts it off the ground before the top pin drops all the way into the top hook anyway, and I have to get off and lift up the back end of the rake to get it to drop into the bottom of the hook all the way.

TL--DR

If you get ALL your attachments from the same brand as the quick hitch, and they are NOT TITAN, and you test them all against your new quick BEFORE you buy them, and they all work together, then you may have something worthwhile. If you're buying various attachments from different sources OR TITAN, they will probably be more of a hassle then they're worth.

I will probably do away with mine eventually. Maybe another season or two of grumbling about it first.
 
   / Quick Hitch Questions #8  
I bought a quick hitch maybe 13 or so years ago for my MF1540 when it was my primary piece of equipment. I’m in the camp that it was more hassle than help. I don’t think I was able to get any if my attachments to work with it very easily, if at all. It’s been sitting in my junk lumber pile for just about the whole time.
 
   / Quick Hitch Questions #10  
Sale/deliver person is behind the times..... I have QH and loving it.....The very first thing I bought for mu tractor was the QH knowing some implement manufacturers do not subscribe to the "standard"......... Yes there is "some" issues, modify implement once to fit QH and be happy forever..... No quick hitch you are going to fight connecting implement up every time you change it for previous implement on tractor (PTO auger excluded) ....

Some implement manufactures are finally getting on board and actually making implements that are "Quick Hitch" compatible....

ASAEquickHitchImplementDim.jpg

Dale
 
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