Why does it swing?

Ford 2000; 3 cyl. gas; 4/1 trans.....The draw bar on my 2000 will swing one way or the other and can be fixed in position with a pin. Now, this is a newbie question...why does it swing? Is it to align an implement to right or left or is there another reason? Just curious. Thanks.
 
While it makes hookup easier the real reason for a swinging drawbar is to allow rear wheel drive tractors to turn easier with heavy tillage equipment. It allows the tractor to start turning before it has to pull the equipment around. This stops the plowing forward of the front wheels when turned.
4 wheel drive pretty much made a swinging drawbar not necessary.
 
Old fashioned disks, as well as harrows, and other implements stayed in the ground back in the day when you turned around on the end. They
pulled much easier if you let the drawbar swing. On the corners/ turns.

Much easier to hook up implements.

You can do minor adjustments of setting a plow, baler, etc by moving over a hole. Often this isn't ideal, but can work....

If you have a 30 inch planter, move the hitch over 7.5 inches, and you can double back in your same tracks and plant 15 inch beans. Or 9.5
inch for 38 inch wide planter.

Paul
 
Ah! Swinging the drawbar over as you make a turn to line up with crop rows makes a lot of sense. I need to look back at my tractor manual and see if it lists those kinds of dimensions for drawbar use. My first implement was a 1940's bog harrow which had a swivel hitch rather than fixed. I found out that the swivel hitch on the harrow made it easier to make a turn at the end of a field. Makes sense that the swivel drawbar would serve a similar purpose. Thanks for the info.
 
It makes it easier to hook up wagons, etc. that do not have extendable hitches also. Just get into the ballpark, swing the drawbar into the wagon hitch till holes line up, drop pin, pull ahead till bar is back where you want it and lock it.
 
So far, the primary benefit, in my opinion/experience, hasn't been mentioned. It reduces the chances of the disk to rear tire contact during turns.
 
I used to help my FIL back when he was farming. Pull type plows and discs only and he didn't like to plow the headlands. We never let the drawbars swing. Just the way we did it.
 
Am I correct in understanding that the draw bar, once attached to an implement, should be pinned or would you leave it free to move right or left as you are working the implement? Thanks.
 
(quoted from post at 13:49:41 02/23/17) Am I correct in understanding that the draw bar, once attached to an implement, should be pinned or would you leave it free to move right or left as you are working the implement? Thanks.
ou leave it free to move, otherwise the tire clearance that I spoke of will be lost.
 
Marcus,
In almost all cases, I would pin it in place. Some examples were given where you may not pin it straight back, but most times it is pinned.
The examples of cases where it would not be pinned, all had something in common, the equipment was engaged in the soil (Disk or Harrow).

I believe it would be dangerous to have a piece of equipment that could swing and was being towed. That would be very bad in a hilly situation.

Envision going down a hill, on a public road, with a load behind you swung to the right
that suddenly decided to swing that drawbar to the left. The load would swing and go out into traffic.

All that said, I remember having a Farmall H with a "Hillside Hitch". It allowed me to very precisely align the trailered plow in the furrow.
That made it much easier to plow my contour stripped ground where I plowed out one strip and back two strips up, throwing the furrows in opposite directions.
HTH
Keith
 
"the equipment was engaged in the soil (Disk or Harrow). " Yes, it facilitates turning..........the whole reason for a swinging drawbar! Tractor will turn easier, more tire to implement clearance in turns, tighter turns, no trying to pull implement sideways in a turn.
And of course, if you are simply 'traveling' or backing, or any number of ops, you likely will be happier with it locked & not swinging. Use it for its intended purpose, and if you don't have pull behind ground engaging implements, you don't need it.
 
All my implements are 3 point hitch type. However, I think I'd probably use the drawbar if I was pulling logs or other dead load so that the towing load is down low. Thanks for everyone's input.
 
Out in the field, it's usually preferable for the drawbar to swing, allowing tighter turns. On the road, pinning the drawbar is preferred.

Some implements, notably one-way disks, need the drawbar to be pinned to one side.
 

About the only time we allowed the drawbar to swing was when pulling a disk in the field.
With three point hitch plow we pinned the drawbar to the left side so the front coulter wouldn't hit it.
When pulling any type of free rolling equipment (wagon, trailer, rake, baler, ect) the drawbar needs to be pinned to prevent side swing that would allow the equipment to zig zag back and forth, possibly into traffic or with enough force to throw that load of hay off the wagon.
I broke a pin last year (should have already replaced it) while tending hay, didn't effect tedding but while bringing the tedder back to the house 1/2 mile on a gravel road it got to swinging back and forth and nearly overturned.
I normally have someone raking while I bale, with my 256 bar rake most tend to drive near to the first half of the wind roll, pinning the drawbar to the far right gets a little more hay in the wind roll and keeps them from flipping the first half back out.
As for pulling logs, allowing the draw bar to swing makes turning easier, but it also allows the chain to get closer to the rear tires while your turning, I'd rather pin the draw bar and deal with turning than have a tire lug grab the chain and rap it around the axle or pull a small log up on top me. Just my .02 on that as I've had the tire lug grab a chain.
 

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