Terrified to ask

grandpa Love · Oct 23, 2019

my Ford 960 came with a draw bar off a non row crop tractor. I would like to have one with the correct drop. Friend of mine ,who is a welder and heavy equipment mechanic said he could bend me one at work in the machine shop. What material should he use? Will bending change the metal? I will be pulling a square baler with it. Original one is hard to come by and expensive....

Two Dogs · Oct 23, 2019

For Heaven's sake don't use a grader blade!

grandpa Love · Oct 23, 2019

I saw that coming. ... .

larry@stinescorner · Oct 23, 2019

Do you poke at a bees nest when you see it? lol

ollie gm · Oct 23, 2019

I had a local fab shop make mine out of mild steel. It made a 40 ton metal brake snort a little with the tight radius, so I figured a Ford 4000 would have a hard time hurting it. However, I?m the only operator which helps with tractor parts destruction. Mild steel can be formed without losing its inherent properties.

Good luck!

SVcummins · Oct 23, 2019

Your a glutton for punishment aren?t ya?!?!?!? 🙃🙃🙃

wjytexas · Oct 23, 2019

I have an opinion but I am all out of 10 foot poles to touch it with!

old · Oct 23, 2019

I've made and modified a good many over the years. Big thing is being sure you have some good thick steel that will handle what ever load your going to put in it

SVcummins · Oct 23, 2019

🙃🙃🙃 Poke it he!! He just grabs it and starts hugging and kissing it

Geo-TH,In · Oct 23, 2019

I had to remove draw bar on Farmall to attach mower. I bought a 2 inch reciever for HF and bolted it to the tongue on 6 ft woods belly mower. Used turn buckets to support receiver. Now I can attached a receiver with 3 different size balls or a receiver with just a tongue. I think you could get receivers with different lift.

Consult someone with an engineering degree, Redneck Engineering Degree.

It wouldn't be hard to attach a 2 inch reciever to hitch on my Jubilee.

David G · Oct 23, 2019

If it is non hardened steel you will be fine.

showcrop · Oct 23, 2019

One of mine came with a utility drawbar. I took it to a fab shop and had them cut it and weld in a piece to extend the drop.

Ultradog MN · Oct 23, 2019

My friend used to work at a giant machine and welding/fabrication shop.
He made a couple of drawbars out of some 1 1/8 x 2 1/2" X10 bar stock. They had a 600 ton press there that bent it like it was a wet noodle.
Sadly, the shop went out of business and everything was auctioned off.
Not playing one upmanship with you here.
Just reminded me of how much we lost when they closed the doors.
To give you a sense of the size of the press that cylinder rod is 24" in diameter.

db4600 · Oct 23, 2019

I?ve done draw bars for a couple things and some loader buckets and because I?m cheap... well, I won?t tell you what I used cuz I?d feel sad when you were done with me.

fixerupper · Oct 23, 2019

The factory did it so why can t you? The unknown is what kind of steel the factory used and whether it was hardened after the bend. I once easily drilled a hole in a factory JD A drawbar with a factory drop bend so it can not be all that hard.

jon f mn · Oct 23, 2019

I would find some good cold rolled mild steel. Some drawbars are no more than that, some are a bit harder. Can't you find a drawbar at a salvage yard?

formerly ny bill · Oct 23, 2019

how much drop do you need? my 3010 and 4010 JDs have a little drop in their drawbars, probably not enough for what you need. googling ford 960 had pics of several tractors with all different drops.
this site shows a drawbar for Ford 860 and 4000, among others, for $51.24. if it would stand up to a 4000, it should be ok on the 960, if the drop is right.
maybe a good time to pick the brain of our friend from Center.

Brendon-KS · Oct 23, 2019

A machine I'm quite familiar with uses a part formed out of 2.5" diameter cold-drawn 1045 bar. The forming is done cold and includes 90 degree bends with an inside radius of about 4 inches. From what I've seen if the bar doesn't break during the forming process (a very rare occurrence) it will not break in the heavily-loaded application it is placed in. With gross overloads the part might get tweaked out of shape but with literally thousands of them in the field I've never heard of one breaking in operation.

SVcummins · Oct 23, 2019

🙃🙃🙃
☹️☹️☹️

paul · Oct 24, 2019

Yea, we had a great welding shop in town, fella made his own mega ton press, he built up shafts and everything, a real wiz with metal. Huge turning lay he actually put my Gleaner F clutch housing bell in it and turned new bearing diameters. Man he had some neat tools and experience.

Someone in the family passed away, chain reaction (some sibling wanted money and wanted it now...) caused the land the shop was on to be sold so it?s all gone. They put up mini storage units on the property instead. I could throw up every time I drive by.......

Paul

Leroy · Oct 24, 2019

One thing not mentioned is getting length correctly as if it is not correct it can bust the PTO on your baler.

BarnyardEngineering · Oct 24, 2019

Whatever steel they use on drawbars, it's a "tough" steel, not a "hard" steel. Hard steels snap randomly under a shock load. Tough steels have resiliency; they will flex and return to shape.

The way I understand it, and it's been a while since college, alloys with nickel content are tougher alloys.

In this case it is not that critical. Just don't use make it from known hard steel, like a cutting edge, and don't "heat treat" it by getting it to critical temperature and quenching.

The nice thing about a mild steel is that it will bend-bend-bend long before it breaks, so you will have ample warning if the drawbar is inadequate.

NIK OWEN · Oct 24, 2019

call alexander's tractor salvage, e. texas...be blessed, grateful, prepared..

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