My neighbor has a White isekui 2-30 field boss tractor. The lower bottom hitch uses a ball sockets that can rotate to make it easier to attach equipment. After years of farm use the ball sockets became so worn that the balls themselves fell out of their sockets. He still continues to use them, but they are not functioning in the original intent they were designed for. The balls did not fit into their sockets and bounced around not holding the lower equipment pins in a secure position.
After three years of watching him perform his ritual of sliding the lower bottom hitch on his bush hog, plow, harrow, or whatever; then slide on the balls, then washer and finally the clinch pin I finally said lets fix it. Now, don’t think I’m a masscasist and enjoyed watching him struggle. No…not at all. Being of the male gender it’s always “We’ll do it later”, which never happens.
Anyway, enough of the story. The fix was quite simple. We made two thick washers, about 3/16” thick and 2.5” outside diameter out of 1018 steel. The inside diameter had a 30 degree straight bevel machined into it on one side to produce a line contact point which would eventually wear into a surface contact with the radius of the ball.
Years of misuse has caused the sockets on the hitch to deform and egg out the hole. So both hitches were grounded down on each side to make a smooth surface as possible.
The balls were then sandwiched with their plates on the hitch sockets and welded together. The fit permitted the balls to rotate within the hitch. This fix brought the original design back into service and I didn’t have to watch the neighbor fussing with those socket balls again. I believe the fix we did is more robust than the original design and hopefully will outlast the life of the tractor.
A little imagination and time can go a long way. Hope this helps anyone else with a similar problem.
Ball & Hitch Socket
Machining Straight Bevel into Washer
Ball Retained in Washers - Ready for Welding
Finished
After three years of watching him perform his ritual of sliding the lower bottom hitch on his bush hog, plow, harrow, or whatever; then slide on the balls, then washer and finally the clinch pin I finally said lets fix it. Now, don’t think I’m a masscasist and enjoyed watching him struggle. No…not at all. Being of the male gender it’s always “We’ll do it later”, which never happens.
Anyway, enough of the story. The fix was quite simple. We made two thick washers, about 3/16” thick and 2.5” outside diameter out of 1018 steel. The inside diameter had a 30 degree straight bevel machined into it on one side to produce a line contact point which would eventually wear into a surface contact with the radius of the ball.
Years of misuse has caused the sockets on the hitch to deform and egg out the hole. So both hitches were grounded down on each side to make a smooth surface as possible.
The balls were then sandwiched with their plates on the hitch sockets and welded together. The fit permitted the balls to rotate within the hitch. This fix brought the original design back into service and I didn’t have to watch the neighbor fussing with those socket balls again. I believe the fix we did is more robust than the original design and hopefully will outlast the life of the tractor.
A little imagination and time can go a long way. Hope this helps anyone else with a similar problem.
Ball & Hitch Socket
Machining Straight Bevel into Washer
Ball Retained in Washers - Ready for Welding
Finished
