Pulling Hitch

On my M do I need a different drawbar than the stock one? If I use the stock one I'm pretty sure I'll have to remove the triangular looking extension (yellow arrow) and replace it with a clevis or a ring. Do I need any thing else? Don't worry the 3 point is gone.
Thanks

You want the hitch as short as possible, so the extension needs to come off. If your group will allow it, you can put 2 long bolts in the center two holes of the drawbar and use them to center the hook. Some clubs don't let you do that, so the next best is a bolt-on plow ring.

I doubt any sled would let you hook without the actual drawbar being conected to the belly pull point of your tractor. Under load the C shaped piece that your current hitch is bolted to will break and possibly throw you off most likely between the tractor and sled. A guy tried to do this a couple of weeks ago and the whole group got a lecture. Find an original drawbar and cut it to the length you need and weld a clevis to it thats the safest route.

Sorry, misread the post! You said that you will be putting the original drawbar back in! Should have read it twice! Oh well, felt like typing! Good luck!

Your idea of pulling directly off the "horseshoe" is great for the guy doing it, but it shore ain't fair to the guy with a legal hitch. The width of the drawbar effectivly raises the eye of the hook because the hook won't flex freely. This results in a higher point for the last chain link giving a slight advantage to the puller using it. Any club worth their salt won't allow it. Mike

Well I thought I would inform you that I pull off the loop without the drawbar and dont have any trouble.....The same loop that has been pulled off of in the past 12yrs....Theres also many other H's and M's that are pulled that same way.

Mike, It cannot be helped that thats the way IH built their hitches like that. There are far better, STOCK hitches you should complain about before picking on the most common hitch in antique pulling today. A legal hitch is to rule book specs, farm stock, you have to have a starting point to work with. If you was to measure a M, from the back of the horse shoe, then pull the drawbar off an 88 oliver, measure em, betcha they are within an inch, with the oliver being closer. One has a tremendous advantage over the other in factory design alone.

JD's you cant do much, other than the classic phrase,,, that drawbar is a cotton picker drawbar! When it came of a 4020. Ive seen a farmall drawbar graphed into a JD, and its the best hitch Ive ever seen for a Deere. If your rules are laxed, then do what you can, but for the M in the picture above, he is legal. JMHO, not saying this as pick on ya thing, but the IH horseshoe is stock. But, alot can be changed and rearranged to make that setup great, if the rule book lets you do so. So, whats a legal hitch in your own words? ChadS

O K Guys lets get some terms right.
The "U shape thing" IS THE DRAWBAR
on Farmmall M & H.
The "regular drawbar" as you say is the swinging
Drawbar and is listed as special equipment in a H or M operators manual.

Thank YOU,

LET

depends on the class you are pulling in? if Farm Stock you need to read the rules for that pull because they are not all the same.
Some will let you pull off the U bar others require the draw bar pulling off the front pivot
I use the U-bar with a bolted on flat plow clevis
also you want to know the hitch ht. requirments for that pull and make the adjust for it Good Luck

Chad, I don't think you understand the basis for my reasoning. I have no problem with an IH pulling off the horseshoe (loop,drawbar) as long as you use a clevis or similar device to actually put the hook in. Most clubs have a maximum diminsion for the cross section of the hitch behind the point of hook as well as the thickness of the hitch at the point of hook, both usually being about 1.25". If the cross section behind the point of hook (width front to rear) gets to the 2-3" range the sled hook won't pivot freely and will effectivily make the hook more horizontal, raising the back of the hook up. Not a lot of difference, but on a 48" chain would probably give an extra 50-75# of downforce on the drawbar. I've seen this happena number of times over the years, and unless the tractor is a piece of chit it'll usually win. A long chain will greatly lessen the effective advantage. Mike

Ive seen that too in hook points. Its an old school trick to get more draft to lift up the sled. I too suffer from this, I have 1.25 round stock bent to shape to my drawbar, bout 3 inches opening, chain hangs free. But, its the exact same trick as being too close to the center of the rear axle, it gives you the same effect. I dont agree with that style, but it is a trick of the trade. Only rules can control that situation, I had a conversation once about the same thing, I suppose the fella I was complaining to, hadnt been pulling long and not understanding how it works, so he wrote it off as nonsence. Funny thing was, two weks later, he had something simular, may as well say Identical to what was just described, won with a clean sweep in all 3 classes he ran that day. It can get you the inches needed to win. Other tricks can be done to the hitch that can give alot better than the trick clevis. Problem is, if its a stock class, the mods I have in mind would be considered modified, and not allowed in most places, but, if its ok in the club, its ok. Monkey see monkey do kinda thing, or, work harder. ChadS

(quoted from post at 09:29:57 06/19/09) Its an old school trick to get more draft to lift up the sled.

Click to expand...

(quoted from post at 09:29:57 06/19/09)Other tricks can be done to the hitch that can give alot better than the trick clevis.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a rewording of "classic way to CHEAT" No different than having a clevis w/ a 3/4" pin in a 1-1/4" hole in the drawbar that hangs way down, under 18"....until the chain pulls it up tight and its 20"ish.

If you have [i:3bb9bfda1b]decent tech guys [/i:3bb9bfda1b]at your pulls, you dont have to worry about that crap because it wont fly.

I have seen a few Farmalls with the U shaped draw bar mounted on the front side axle. I dont remember how it was bolted on though.

LOL, yeah, no gentleman way to say it is there. Tricks are cheating, Trix was supposed to be for kids! I think it should be based on the majority of the design in the classes, if 85% of the tractors have a hook point that lets the hook set freely, then the other 15% should be matching to the others. JMHO. Around here, 85% of em have that trick hook point, so whats a fella to do? My thoughts are, I look at an oliver, how the support braces go waaaayyy up past the rear axle in stock form. Most set turnbuckles in place, and leave the points loose so it is allowed to make due of the higher point of leverage of the factory design. H or M IH cant do that, but could be added. NATPA barred that to keep em below or equal to the axle centerline, good way to equal it all out, but the tractors that compete on a local level,,, well, they do what ever they want to, and get away with it. Not trying to pick on oliver, but they are a good example of a good design from the start. IH did not have any option like that for a puller till the TA tractors with fast hitch with new bolt locations to give that option to a puller. Anyways, I go with the flow, its a thinkers sport, experience will get you far, but cheating gets you further, sometimes, its just the way it is, till someone does something about it. Not gonna happen around here,,, it flies low, but it still flies. Gotta love that huh? Chad

Do you guy's mind posting some pictures of these hitches so I can see what all the fuss is about?

Id like to add to this post above,,, if the pullers who know bout this trick, and lets say they did manage it by majority of design, if out, he should know better to bring another hitch/drawbar/clevis with em to make it right with the group. Some Ive seen can take 10 minutes or less to swap, some might take an hour to change out. He would be legal if he chose to do so and not go home with nothing if he ran exhibition and ran good enough for the others to say, MAN! IM GLAD HE RAN EXHIBITION! HE WOULDA WON! I do have a picture, but dont wanna give Drew any ideas. LMAO! Around here, most IH U drawbars, they should be doubled up in thickness across the back. Ive straightned em, after a 4000lb SH bent it on takeoff, put it in a press, straightned it out, then welded another loop cut from another U loop, on the bottom side,,,, then bolted the clevis to that. One more trick to do,,, but you need a swinging drawbar to do it, our club bars this practice, but it works. Chad