Quick Hitch

Anonymous Poster · Oct 1, 2000

I purchased a SpeeCo Cat. 1 Quick Hitch from Northern Tools & Equipment about a week ago. I purchased 6 implements from Howse the week before that and had difficulty attaching them to the tractor by myself. The Quick Hitch attached to all but the dirt scoop. I welded a 1 1/4" rod across the dirt scoop and it fit perfectly.

Now all I have to do is back up to the implement and the Quick Hitch snaps on the lower pins. I get off the tractor and raise or lower the 3 point hitch to align the top link, put in the pin and I am all hooked up.

There is clearance attaching the bottom link pins which doesn't do any harm in most cases, but I made 1 1/2" by 7/8" bushings to slide over the lower arm pins, just in case I ever need them.

I am real pleased with this hitch for the money.

Billc · Oct 7, 2000

Update: Got the Quick Hitch video the other day. Looks like a great system. But it is WAY more expensive than the Freedom Hitch and works about the same way. Main difference is the Quick Hitch needs a hydrolic top link.

Rch · Oct 7, 2000

Billc, on the web site it looks like the attachment of the implement device to the 2 lower points on the implement utilize something other than the usual category 1 pins.Does the video shed any light on this? See figues 1 & 2 at the bottom of the link http://www.bubco.com/QuickHitches.asp

RCH

roysallis · Oct 8, 2000

A few days ago I got the video and it made it more understandable. I could not tell how it connected from looking at the web site or the brochure. The video is very helpful. I like the hydraulic top link. It has a gauge on it that will be helpful in setting the tilt of the equipment at the same place each time use it. I wish I could afford it but it would cost me about $2000 to get it set up for the equipment that I have now. Another feature is that the attachment for the implement can be welded on or bolted on. If anyone buys this please post your evaluation of it.

Billc · Oct 9, 2000

RCH,

Saw the video several days ago. Can't remember how the implement half of hitch system atached to implement.

My general impression is the hook up was very similar to that of the Freedom Hitch. They both use triangles. The Quick Hitch did require a hydro top link where the Freedom Hitch does not.

One thing I did not like about the Quick Hitch...other than the cost...was the release mechanism. When you want to remove an implement from your tractor you back in to where you want to disconnect from your box blade say. You lower the box blade to the ground and there is a long rope that runs from the Quick Hitch to the tractor's cab. You pull the rope which opens the lock allowing you to disconnect from the implement.

If I remember right the Freedom Hitch has a metal handle you have to move to release the implement. To do so requires you to turn around in your seat, no big deal. I don't like the idea of a rope dangling between my hitch and the cab. In referring to the "cab", I don't have an enclosed cab, rather I'm referring to the area where I sit. Around my tractor seat I have a hammer, a couple of water bottles, 2 pair of gloves, couple of pair of safty glasses, a dust mask, ant killer, cell phone, etc. It gets crowded! When I am going down a bumpy hill the stuff has a tendency to slid forward and drop to the foot deck....if I am lucky I catch the item(s) before they drop off to the ground. I need to build a storage bin(s) into the canopy. That's a Winter project. Anyway, having a rope dangling there too just doesn't make too much sense. I get in heavy brush sometimes and I know that rope will catch on something.

I think the Freedom Hitch is a better product. I thought it was too much money. I have 8 implements. But after seeing the Quick Hitch maybe the Freedom Hitch isn't so bad after all.

Someone several months back mentioned the fact that to have a belly and have the Freedom Hitch didn't make too much sense. The poster actually thought that maybe manually doing the implements by hand was a form of good exercise. My wife saw that post!!! Worse still, she agreed with the poster!!! Celery anyone?

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Billc on 10/9/00 07:01 AM.</FONT></P>

MChalkley · Oct 9, 2000

BillC - I realize I'm a little strange (well, a lot strange), but I'd say that to still have all your fingers, fingernails, toes, and toenails and not have a Freedom Hitch doesn't make much sense. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Here's a story I told once on the old board, but most of the current members may not have heard it. It relates to the reason I originally started looking for a quick-hitch-type product. Originally, my reason had nothing to do with the amount of work involved, and little to do with the time involved - my concern was safety. What happened was this: At the time, I had a couple helpers who helped me get implements on and off, so I wasn't even getting off the tractor, not even to connect the PTO shaft, so it's hard to get much easier than that. But one of the guys was a little spastic and when we were putting the 8' blade on one time, he started excitedly giving me instructions on how to manipulate the 3-point hitch. At one point, he was repeatedly saying "Raise it up!" so he could get his side link onto the pin. I put my hand on the lever to do so, then said to myself "Wait a minute, what's the other guy doing?" I looked at the guy on the left side, and he was so distracted by the guy on the right that he had left his hand on top of the left side link and it was right beneath the pin on the blade. So, if I had raised it up, I'd have crushed his hand. I immediately made a new "law": There shall never be more than one person at a time helping me hook up implements. And I started looking for a way that would allow me to do it without any help at all, at least for the dangerous part. They still help out, but they get to stand and watch while the hard part is now made easy, then, after the implement is on, one of them steps in and hooks up the PTO shaft. Of course, I often have to do all this alone and then I really appreciate the main reason most folks would want them - it's easier on me!

MarkC

Rch · Oct 9, 2000

Thanks Billc, sounds like Quick Hitch is pretty much the same but more expensive than Freedom Hitch even considering the hydraulic toplink. Do they break down pricing of the various components?

RCH

Billc · Oct 15, 2000

Rch, yea, they do. Unfortunatly I threw the stuff away. After watching the video I knew I was getting the Freedom Hitch.

Mark, I know what you mean. I don't like anyone (my wife mainly) helping me do the implements. At first I thought it was best to have her line up the lower links and start them on. But she left her hands on the lower links as I raise and lowered them. I kept trying to explain the consequeces. Then I smartly decided that it was better to let her drive the tractor and raise and lower the lower links. After the third time the lower links moved up or down without me saying for them to move I fired my wife from that job. I'm back to doing it by myself. Not to bad, but when we sell the next house a Freedom Hitch will be my reward.

jmainel1 · Feb 4, 2008

I bought one of these for my Massey Ferguson GC2310TLB. Got it for $50 at Harbor Freight Tools. Works great so far...plus if you the triangle type quick hitch you have to buy the plate for all your implements, this one hooks onto any ASE type attachment. Can't beat it...

JiminGa · Feb 4, 2008

I got a JD I-match at Christmas and really like it, only thing is as stated before, your implements have to be made to standards. BTW JD's website shows this one as well...
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