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Towing one tractor with another

Z

Zachary Hoyt

Well-known Member
I am back to thinking about something I have wondered about before, which is whether it is (A)possible and/or (B)very stupid to bolt something to the two holes in the bottom of the NF on an H such that it can be towed by another tractor. I am picturing a piece of box steel or C channel for a tongue and a 5/8" bolt to make a pivot so that the tongue can be moved up and down, like a hay wagon tongue. This would be handy when my H needs to be towed (which hasn't happened for a while), and it would also be handy if I do win the bid on the 300 at the auction in a couple of weeks. The auction is about 6 miles away over fairly flat roads, and if I was using the towing apparatus here it would be on rough ground, but at a very slow speed. I believe that it should not be possible to turn the front wheels with a tongue, since it a worm gear being driven by a normal gear, but I have definitely felt at times like the steering wheel was being turned by the front wheels while on rough ground, so I do not know what to think. Any advice will be much appreciated.
Zach
 
If your going to pull off the front bolster you want to pull off the top not the bottom. You can make a clevis and bolt it to that. you could also make a frame that would go all the way around the front, pretty smilar to how a front weight bracket would look on a latter model tractor, or a 'puller' bracket. but i would personally not pull off the bottom stress the bearings and the bolt holes in the bottom are only 1/2" with not a whole lot of material arond them. Im sure others will disagree etc lol



Andrew
 

As Andrew Z said, you want to pull from the top of the bolster, not the bottom. I fashioned a hitch using the best part of a severly bent swinging drawbar. Welded a couple of "eyes" to the top end, and then made a corresponding piece to bolt to the top two holes of the bolster. Used it to bring home an H from about 5 miles away, and now it is bolted to a parts H that still needs to be moved from one part of the yard to another periodically. It follows along just like a little puppy dog.
 
Connecting a tow bar to the two holes on the bottom side of the front wheel pedestal? I've thought about the same thing, be a great way to be able to get 2 tractors to a location.
 
When the going is easy and the tractor rolls free, it will work fine.

Just don't try to pull a tractor that's buried up to its axles from there. You'll only get PART of it unstuck.
 
Go to the front of the tractor, side view, where is the leverage.and weight, if you tie onto the front end below the frame I wouldn"t pull on it any more than you yourself can pull. Ok.. it will take a little more than that but not much.
 
There is a local guy around here that tows them with a bar similar to what you are talking about. I have seen him whistling along with an H in tow behind his Silverado 1/2 ton at what I would guess to be 35-40 MPH !! He is a long time IH mechanic, now retired. I have n t seen the tow bar up close, so I don t know for sure how it attachs.I do know the tractor is real close to the bumper of the truck. If I was doing that, I would go slower, and I would want some kind of safety chains on it.
 
Friend of mine done that, until the bolts broke and luckily the tractor went into the ditch instead of oncoming traffic.
 
When the fields had bad mud spots during corn harvest, we used to hook 2 tractors together with a long cable to get through the mud holes. The clevis was attached to the flat plate above the wheels, it never caused any harm . Pic is of the actual tractor that was "towed" in this manner.
a68823.jpg
 
Zachary - Before I got my trailer I used a Super M to tow a Super H many miles with a homemade hitch.

The hitch is made from 4" channel and a few scraps of 3/8" plate. It bolts to the flange at the bottom of the bolster pivot shaft (ie above the front wheels).

The outfit works great. The towed tractor rides nice and easy at road gear speeds (15 mph). And it follows the towing tractor perfectly through turns.
 
Used to tow them 4 miles one way with another tractor then back when finished. Tow bar was made to bolt to the two bolt holes near the top of the lower bolster, where some bolt a hitch plate. Left the towed tractor running at low engine speed to keep the pilot and input shaft bearings lubed in the transmission.
Steering will turn but don't try it with a power steering like IH put on some 300 to 450 tractors. Probably not with a charr lynn also. Found that out the hard way once upon a time and the result was a broken worm gear.
Towed some dead tractors a short distance with the clutch pedal blocked down and in gear.
 
Agreed.

I've seen the same hitch used to pull the tractor and a large wagon of hay out of a low water crossing. The tractor doing the pulling was a 1486 and was none to gentle when it pulled them out - with no driver on the H (quit and wouldn't start in one of the worst places possible).
 
Forgot to mention: If towing more than a couple miles I'd start the towed tractor's engine and let it idle. This was to keep the transmission countershaft spinning and thus the upper tranny bearings lubed - especially the mainshaft pilot bearing.
 
Dad built one year's ago out of square tubing that was basically a long A frame that attached to an extended front hitch plate. A heavy tubing was welded to the hitch plate and a bolt was run through the tubing and the A frame. You could remove the pin and frame and still use the front hitch. Simple to build and easy to use. Pulled many H's and M's without any problems. However, never pulled much faster than regular tractor speed
 
It is just plain, but the ratio is low enough to allow it to turn with two conditions. One is that there is no power steering, the other is that it is lubed well. Jim
 
We had a front plate on the narrow front end of all our Farmalls. We mostly used it to back wagons in barns. My dad would hardly ever back a wagon in, he would turn the tractor around an push it in. 10 times easier.

We used that same plate to Un-stuck em.

Should work just fine for towing.

Gene
 
Thank you all very much for the advice and pictures. I have found some material to make an apparatus that I hope will work, I will post pictures once I get it together to see if you all think it will be suitable.
Zach
 
Bob, interesting thought and probably a good one. I would think that the bull gears would sling enough oil for that, but I might be mistaken. Would be really cool to take a video of how the oil is slinging in the tranny in both cases.
 
As the othes have stated, it is possible, common, & if good welds on the bar, relatively safe. Even the wheel dolly in the pic, that is nice too, & can tow any narrow front . All good ideas.
Guess I just do things a bit differently. In the rare case a machine dies & can't be easily repaired where it sits, hook on a chain, get a buddy or family member to steer the dead one, & drag it to the shop.
As to the 300 at auction, I would drive it home. If no buddy or family member avail for a ride, swipe the kid's bicycle. Even walking the 6 miles would be quicker than disigning & building a tow bar.
Willie
 
As to the 300 at auction, I would drive it home.
Click to expand...

Have you LOOKED at that 300? There is NO WAY it will be running and driveable by the auction unless I missed something.

Zach will be lucky if the tires hold air long enough for him to drag it home.[/quote]
 
Friend of mine in our tractor club has a set-up like that. He tows 4-5 tractors when we do a parade. Seems to work good for him.
 
I borrowed a Farmall tow bar one time to tow my Super M-TA to the shop for a paint job. It was made by IHC.

At a show in Ohio a few years back, one guy had three of them (IHC towbar) and was pulling all his tractors home !
 
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