Aftermarket 3 pt. hitch Questions

I have a Ford 8n, so all my implements are 3 pt. hitch mounted. I'm looking at a Farmall H with a 3 pt. hitch conversion, and have a few questions. Is there generally any weight limit on these, or should it be able to handle whatever the N can lift? And will it hold up to plowing with a 2 bottom 3pt. plow? I'm assuming it will have live hydraulics and non-live PTO? Any feedback would be appreciated.

There are a lot of "maybe" answers to your questions unfortunately.

The weight limit depends on a number of things, like if its a home made conversion, or if its something like the unit made by Saginaw. How many cyilinders are on it? You may have to worry about weighting the front of the H depending on what you want to lift with it.

Most H's are non-live pto, but also non-live hydraulics unless a live pump has been added onto it. (Also, there was the option for an aftermarket hand clutch, which made the tractor behave like there was a live PTO)

If the H only has the belly mounted hydraulic pump, its not live. You would want to look for a pump mounted to the engine in front of the distributor, or driven off of the fan pulley.

It has 1 cylinder, and the pump is mounted to the engine in front of the distributor. The heaviest implement I've got is the 6' disk, it's probably around 800 lbs.

If you try to pick up more than about 500 pounds, the front end will get light. I also suspect that an H will lift anything that an 8N could handle.

Greg

I have seen many such kits and have made a few but NO 3 point kit plus a tractor and I repeat NO! is a match for a tractor originally engineered for 3 point from the factory. I have a factory made one now on my M and it is a workable unit but no match for the later tractors. I also have a factory conversion kit on a FH Super C. It converts the 3 point implement to FH. I made one for a WD Allis but did not work well with a Ford 3 point plow as the Ford plow did not have enough adjustment. Also many kits for older tractors make the tractor more difficult for the operator to mount the seat. Kits work satisfactorily for blades and bale carriers but lacking for use with sickle mowers, plows and cultivators. I know some may disagree but even some 3 point tractors do not work as good as we would like.

Dave If the H has a live pump between the timing gears and distributor it will have live hydraulics. Belly pump system is not live.

On weight an H with a live pump should lift about same as a 300. I doubt it it will require any front end weight to lift implements you have been using on the 8N. It seems the Saginaw hitch is the best 3 point for an H, I never owned one but what I have seen they will lift with the 300 fast hitch. Having said that, 50 years ago, I was using a sprayer on 300 that weighed 350# and held 100 Imperial gallons. 1350# and I never used any front end weight, and was able to spray up hill and down.

To say an H will get light with 500# behind is ridiculous. To worry about a H not lifting any implement 8N does is also ridiculous. One look at the wheel base should answer both these questions. I use a 24 blade, 18" blades, disk, mounted behind my 130 and 140, must weigh close to 1,000# and I only have to use 300# of front end weight. If the front end weight is not close at hand, and I have just a small area to disk, I can get by without the front end weight, being careful.

If you plow, you will find these after market hitches don't control the plow as well as factory draft controlled hitches. This will not be crucial unless traction is a problem. Let me assure you, traction will never be a problem pulling any plow the 8N pulled, pulling it with the H.

Hugh,

If I put my 10' Einbock tine weeder on or 4 JD 70 planters on the three point, the front wheels will come off the ground if I am at all abrupt with the clutch.

Each planter weighs 106 pounds.

Greg

Dave,

As alredy stated, next to an H, the 8N is a garden tractor.

The H will very easily handle anything the 8N will.

Allan

i use a 10 ft ford disk behind my H with 3 point and it gets a little light up front,just hang a few suit case weights out front, a H will eat a 8-n for lunch

Greg: Over the years, if I were rough enough on the clutch even the 1066 with no implements and no front end weight, front end would come off the ground. I've never had a tractor that wouldn't do that if you drop the clutch quick enough at much over half throttle, and no load on hitch.

I've also worked that tractor many hours with 8,000# on the 3 point hitch, at lower link hitch pin. I've sprayed thousands of acres with 656 and 200 Imperial gallon 3 point hitch sprayer, 300 with 100 gallon sprayer. Even my lowly 130 handles a 60 gallon sprayer quite handily with 200# of front end weight.

My H will not power lift the front end in third gear, ever, without an implement on the three point.

When bringing home a JD 4 row rear mounted cultivator I had to steer with the brakes as the front would just push.

I think the whole point is that the dynamics of the H change when using three point mounted equipment. It is worth paying attention to that.

Greg

I built my 3 point hitch for my M and it only uses the belly pump which will lift with the ONE cylinder anything I have wanted. I would think my sprayer is the heaviest with 125 gallons of water. I would think the H belly pump is every bit as powerful as the M's pump and it is easy to add weight to the front of the H

The H will handle all your equipment fine. You may have to watch for the top link clearing the PTO shield when lowering some equip. I have a Saginaw hitch and extremly happy with it. I pick up large logs with the boom and drag them to the fire to top them out and then to the splitter to be cut up. Takes a green/wet log of 2'x 20' to get the front loose. If it does then I steer with the brakes and all is good. I do have to watch that the log doesn't hit a stump as there is a chance of flip over so I go slow in low gear and have my clutch foot ready. The H will walk circles around the 8N, but the 8N is easier to get on and off of, if you are going to do that kind of work.