300/ 350 Utility fast hitch questions

Binder folks,
First of all, Thanks for the recent answers on my rainwater in tractor questions.

Now for the question of the day.
I run two Utilities, a 300 on gasoline and a 350 on LP. Both have fast hitch with the Draft control option, using a vertically oriented cylinder. With the 300 I use two inserts with spherical pin balls and a top link bracket that someone welded to the rockshaft eons ago. It works, sort of. With the 350 I use an adapter that is identical to the IH adapter that utilizes a frame connecting two inserts with a top link mounted to the frame above. It also works, sort of. My main uses, in descending order are; 1) (Rear)finish mowing with either a 72" woods or a 72" King Kutter, depending upon location. 2) Regular blade to move minimal amount of dirt and gravel around. 3) 72" Box blade for road maintenance. 4) Brush hogging and lastly 5) Occasional post hole digger. I never plow, and don't see myself ever needing to plow, as I use a troy-bilt for the garden.

On both tractors, the draft control (apologies if I have the terminology incorrect) is a cobbled up contraption consisting of about 36lbs. of welding rod, 19 feet of salvaged re-bar, and various dubious pieces of metal. The original IH pieces are there, they have just been broken, welded, and "repaired" countless times. This makes blade work quite the challenge with all of the slack and lost motion. I have been collecting up original IH pieces to with the intention of putting together an original fast hitch/ 3-point adapter for each, with the top link integral to the rockshaft, and get rid of all of this draft control nonsense. I am wanting to accomplish three thing-1. Get rid of all of the slop and slack of the current setups 2. Make both tractors identical so that I can share implements and drive shafts.3. Bring the implements close to the tractor, as I use each in very tight quarters and a few extra inches of implement is a real nuisance in use.
So, here are my questions-
1) Are there any drawbacks (other than $$$$)to the original IH fast hitch that has the cylinder to the left of the operator and the top link attachment integral to the rock shaft setup?
2) If I do the switch, how much, if any, of my current setup is common with the "Non- draft- control"?

Apologies for the long post, jt

Not sure on what all will swap from one to the other as far as parts. Now the part I want to comment on is why don't you get some 1 inch flat bar and make fast hitch prongs that you can weld onto your implements this will help you a lot and then both will swap implements.

Kub6040,
Thanks, I may very well do that,(add fast hitch pins to my implements) but it doesn't really solve the lost motion/ slop issue. It makes no difference for either mowing or post hole digging, but blade work gets really tough when the blade can jump around by an inch or so. I have threatened for years to get a real motor grader, but so far I have resisted.
Thanks again, jt

Two recommendations: Replace the welded up components and get the hitch systems back to original as best as you can. The slop is going to be found in pivot points and lift arm connections. To fix these will require enlarging the holes and using bigger pins, or using bushings to keep pins "original" Bigger are more robust and desirable. The lift arms can be rebushed, and the pin/pivots at the top can be welded up and turned back to original size. The draft control is honestly pretty worthless on both hitches. So don't expect real hydraulically adjusted draft control. The sway bracket attached to the lower cross shaft is critical to keeping side to side sway under control. The pivot on the hitch end of the bar is unusually strange and needs to be tightly fit into the hitch tube. Best of luck. Jim