3020 drawbar

Straight drawbar oprions for 3020?

I can't remember a straight drawbar option for a 3020. Some JD utility models had a straight drawbar that might work.

Look at 90's era case/ih tractors. I worked at a Deere dealer at the time and the local case dealer was buying drawbars from us. They were replacing straight drawbars with the stepped drawbars from deere to change the height. I don't remember what model drawbar they were using but it fit without modification so theirs might fit the Deere also.

I am looking at raising the hitch height to keep that drawbar out of the windrow when cutting hay. I am told there are aftermarket drawbar. Was thinking about making my own out of 4140.

I have a drawbar out of a 730 laying in my shop and by the
looks of it I would say it would work in a 3020 and it is straight.
Some of the 3020 utilities and the orchards had a different
drawbar that wasn't straight but had less of an offset so that
could be an option as well.

Find a A&I products dealer and order a strait one for a 4020. I sold one years ago to a 3020 owner. We did have to grind just a little bit off the top where the front pin goes. To help with hay draging up we bolt a rubber flap six inches wide and about 1 1/2 feet long to our drawbar this keeps hay from dragging on the hitch pin. Tom

Tom

Personally I think A&I is a little proud of their drawbars. If i have to buy a drawbar and modify to fit I can make my own. A&I wants $194 for the straight drawbar. I can buy 20' of 4140HR for $164 delivered to my door (enough to make 5 drawbars).

Just wondering is anyone else has made their own drawbar. Just because its genuine OEM or A&I won't really matter, the original drop drawbar will go in the 3020 if it is ever sold.

Just remember buying the steel and drilling it are two different things. Sold a drawbar for a Deere from A&I once to a fellow who needed it for a Deutz and he had a machine shop change the holes and it was almost impossible to drill.

Why not just flip the drawbar over to gain height? I may be missing something but what your having trouble with is the hitch height, that should do the job and gain extra clearance over a straight draw bar.

OldCrow

I would go with a good used 720-730 drawbar,# R20405, very close match.. They are 3/4 in. adjustable pull [on yoke frame under tractor] same as 3020, heavy enough for 3020 , & only about 6" longer.. There should still be some out there in salvage yards, although getting scarce ; Rock Valley Trac. parts, shows they have R20405 ... I 'sure' turning your drawbar over [offset up] will not allow enough clearance for PTO shaft to turn .... Got'a be other salvage yards have a 730 drawbar too... where ya located?

I've not been impressed with A and I drawbars. I bought two for 4020s several years ago. One broke off completely the first week. The other went back to the dealer the next day.

If you pull anything on the road, the drawbar is a poor thing to try to save money on.

Dad and grandpa did the same thing when grandpa had a Deutz. They got a 4020 draw bar for it for pulling the corn sheller. And yes they are terrible hard to drill. They wanted to drill out a couple of the holes but only did one because it took too long.

Tom,

Deere lists the material for the drawbar as 4140HR. The nice thing about 4140 is that is machines beautifully and has high strength. All of the machinists that I have worked with tell me they would rather machine 4140 over A36 (typical steel from your local welders supply).

I was planning on using a mill to get the right feed and speed.

I considered flipping the drawbar but don't want that much rise as it will mess up the baler.

SWMN

What baler are you running with it? A lot of people run with the drawbar flipped over.

Can you a top strap to the drawbar to form a clevis?

Another alternative would be slide the drawbar to its shortest position and bolt an extension to the top of the short offset to match the original length, just higher.

I think Tom is referring to heat treat after machining to harden the 4140 and then draw it back for toughness. Shoot for the same surface hardness as the stock Deere drawbar.

A product's price includes:
material cost;
machining cost;
heat treat cost;
inspection (quality control) cost;
packaging cost;
inventory cost;
manufacturer's profit;
shipping;
retailer's profits;
Deere licence fees;
etc.

(quoted from post at 12:01:40 03/02/15) SWMN

Click to expand...

Where abouts in the south west Minnesota ara are you at?

Lamberton. 327 baler. Issue would be PTO hitting drawbar when pulling out of the ditch.

ss55
I am certain that I have an understanding of component cost since it is what I do for a living. I understand your concern about the heat treatment if the drawbar is heat treated. FYI machining is typically post heat treatment to hold tolerances and drawbars are not typically heat treated, rather a HSLA (high strength low allow) steel is used to eliminate the need to heat treat while maintaining ductility and strength.
My only concern would be if Deere case hardened the drawbars which I doubt since they typically list those requirements when looking at their parts online. I will have to measure the hardness and base my requirements on the results; however, the 51 HRC of 4140 is typical hardness for wear components so I would suspect minimal hardening to be needed if any.

It would be great if the other OEMs would post as much information about components as Deere does, it would be most helpful for those that are willing to make their own $52 bushing for $3 + 20min or $36 washer for $1 + min at the hardware store had they known the dimensions and material and are willing to due a little research. It is the most helpful with bearings, I just have a hard time paying deer $60-70 for a Timken bearing that I can buy at NAPA for $15.

Please forgive me for being cost conscious; perhaps if more OEM engineers were cost conscious and would use the $1 off-the-shelf washer rather than draw up some special thickness/ID/OD washer because it is the ideal size that costs 10X as much and makes it more difficult for the parts guys and the dealerships, new tractors and parts would be more affordable.

I have never heard of any one having a problem while coming out of the ditch with the PTO hitting the drawbar. Do you have the correct equal angle hitch. I guess if you want to make a draw bar go right ahead but to me it would be a lot easier to just buy one. In a liability conscious world to me if a drawbar ever broke and caused personal injury it would be nice to have some one to point the finger at( manufacturer) rather than your self if you made it your self. As a person who has witnessed a drawbar snap I wouldn't want to chance it. As far a Deere's use of special washers ect. I can see exactly where hard special washers are far surperior to your normal run of the mill hardware store washer.

You are confusing off-the-shelf with grade of hardware.

Better example:
Bolting four 5/8" ASTM A572 Gr50 plates together (2 1/2" total thickness) with 1/2" bolts. Would you use the Gr5 1/2-13x3" standard or the Gr 1/2-13x3" full thread bolt. Keep in mind that the full thread is not standard and costs $0.75 more each and you use 10,000 per year.

You would not believe how many times I have reviewed designs and found $1+ washers on M10 bolts rather than $.11 because one of my fellow engineers decided to use a 13.4 ID x 25.2 OD X 2.6 thick (mm) washer instead of the ISO standard 13x24x2.5. Supplier made them to the print and charged accordingly. Switched to the standard hardened 13x24x2.5 as save $50 per machine because of a poor design choice by a fellow engineer. I would have preferred not use a washer but was told no by boss for it would give the appearance of being "cheap" even though washers were not necessary for the grade of steel being used in the design.

Considering this drawbar is far less complicated than some I have designed in the past at work, not to worried about it. Reverse engineer: What is it made of? Dimensions? Stress Calcs?

Who is liable when I grind the A&I drawbar to fit and it fails? Deere, A&I, or me?

I say just do what ever you want then. You asked a question but already had your answer prior. If you don't like the price of either then by all means make your own. Personally I wouldn't want to waste my valuable time with such a project but you obviously have plenty of time so go ahead and make your own. Maybe you are smarter than all of us and we should bow to your superiority. I personally like the look of the washers let's say Deere uses. And if its only $50 dollars savings that's not really a lot unless its on a $500 machine. Make your own no one is here to stop you. Also you never answered if you have the correct equal angle hitch on the baler. If it is the style with the big cast 2 half hitch here is a farmboy way to stop hay from catching on the hitch pin. Don't use a pin go to a good bolt supplier and get a proper size bolt and nut and lock washer and drill a cotter pin hole in the bolt. Then install the bolt with the head on the bottom and install the lock washer and nut and a cotter pin. And instantly no pin for the hay to catch on. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

sideconsole4020guy

I do have the equal angle hitch. My baler must be one of the earlier ones since mine has the welded equal angle hitch and I use the pin that came with the hitch and extends 3/8" below the hitch. The hitch it what catches the hay, not the pin.

I flipped the drawbar this afternoon, now granted I had the blower on and was not hooked to the baler, but the PTO to hitch clearance was under 1". I measured some and discovered that this would increase to around 3 1/2" on level ground with the baler. I know there is some ground that I bale that would make it close when pulling over a berm.

I was trying to find out if anyone knew of any that were already produced and the answer appears to be "no direct replacement". Leaving me with a couple options: try a 730 drawbar if I can find one, buy a drawbar from another tractor and modify it, or build one to the specs of the 4020 straight drawbar at 1-1/4"x2-1/2" vs 1-3/8"x2-1/2" from 4140HR per Deere's information.

I recognize that the drawbar could break since every part has limits. With the drawbar being straight vs drop and no hammer strap hole (high strength option out of Deere parts book), the likely hood of failure decreases greatly due to the removal of two significant stress risers. There is no question the 4140 will be strong enough, the issue would be if the surface is hard enough to last the remainder of the life of the tractor. Since 4140 is harder than A36 it will likely last my lifetime.

There are a couple reasons I would make my own and I hope you understand since I see you post on here quite often with a lot of knowledge and they are as follows: 1. I have access to equipment to machine the holes 2. I have time to "tinker" with the equipment in the winter 3. Sometimes it is fun to just make some things rather than buy them 4. I might save a little money. It helps that I have industry knowledge to guide my design.

No hard feelings. I believe that some of the best design solutions often come from the guys/gals that built the equipment, the engineer merely takes their ideas and puts them on paper. I think we have beat the cost subject enough for now.

You asked about where is SWMN I am located and I stated Lamberton. Where are you from?

I am completely fine with you making your own. I was just giving other thoughts. I do not know a lot about the metallurgical differences of different kinds of steel. With out the extra holes will no doubt remove the stress risers and make it stronger I know that. If you have the access to the machine tools that is great. That is something I wish I knew how to do.
I am from the Luverne area.