Safe enough ??

wolfman · Jul 29, 2019

To help hay from dragging under the tractor I'm using a grade 8 short bolt instead of a drawbar pin. It is a stout bolt, probably 7/8 in. Today baling a steep field I wondered if the bolt was as strong as a same-sized hitch pin.

M Nut · Jul 29, 2019

I use bolts in both discbine and baler. Have for years, never an issue, keeps from making bunches and dragging like you said.

SVcummins · Jul 29, 2019

I use a lot of grade 5 one inch bolts for draw pins and then double nut them never had one break

jon f mn · Jul 29, 2019

Likely harder. We used them all the time in the clevis for plowing with pull type plows, hitch pins wouldn't hold up. Never had an issue with a bolt.

SVcummins · Jul 29, 2019

Those red head hitch pins are easier to drill than hot butter

Bob · Jul 29, 2019

(quoted from post at 21:18:41 07/29/19) Likely harder. We used them all the time in the clevis for plowing with pull type plows, hitch pins wouldn't hold up. Never had an issue with a bolt.

"Tougher" would be a better trait to hope for.

"Hard" isn't always a good thing, "hard" things break.

big jt · Jul 29, 2019

Dad bought a Vermeer 605C new in the late 70's and that was the pin that came from the factory with it. When I say from the factory I mean that literally. Mom and Dad went to Pella and towed it home like 175 miles.

jt

big jt · Jul 29, 2019

Should add I don't know what grade the bolt was but that is what it came with new.

jt

SHALER · Jul 29, 2019

I dont know the price difference between hitch pins and bolts, but I bought a couple short hitch pins at the farm store for exactly that purpose (haybine and baler).

SVcummins · Jul 30, 2019

The manuals for most balers and other hay machines say run the pin up through the bottom instead of down through . The manual for my 855 even shows how to make one using a bolt a nut and drill a hole through the bolt for a cotter key . In really heavy hay the hitch will sometimes still cause problems so then the rubber flap comes in handy

caterpillar guy · Jul 30, 2019

We do what Bruce has done.

onefarmer · Jul 30, 2019

On my tedder I made a bolt just long enough to fit thru. Then drilled it for a hairpin and install it upside down. The head of the pin doesn't hang low enough to catch any hay. Did the same for my baler.

Janicholson · Jul 30, 2019

There is little information on the bending resistance of bolts because bolts should not be placed in a position where the force applied is perpendicular to the axis of the bolt and off set from the bolts supported length (IE. sticking out between surfaces like in a hitch pin that is loose between two plates. To publish a description of strength when the bolt is used improperly would be a legal mistake.
With that said, and with the lack of published data. I took a new 6 inch X 3/8 grade 8 bolt and bent it in a 6 inch Wilton vice by hammering it sideways, with no heat. The bend produced tiny marks from the vice jaws where the bolt stuck out see image, and full hard swings from the 2 pound hammer. A similar 3/8 grade 5 bolt had much larger marks, and less than 1/2 the swings. (I do not have the other bolt, it was scrapped)
As can be seen, the bend radius is about a bolt diameter. There is no cracking or surface appearance change on the tensile side.
I hereby say grade 8 is as good as it gets for a hitch pin. Jim

Destroked 450 · Jul 30, 2019

A old rubber mud flap clamped to the drawbar with some angle iron is best.
Used to bale a neighbors hay, some of the fields were rough with hills and drainages, heading down one of the steeper hills one day I heard a odd noise and looked back to see the baler up against the tractor with the tongue burying itself into the ground.
The clip had broke allowing the pin to drop out, luckily I shut the pto off before it snapped the pto shaft off the tractor.
Had it came loose going up that hill the baler probably would have ended up upside down in a gully about 200 ft down the hill.
I'll never install a hitch pin upside down again and expect a clip to hold it up.

Safe enough ??

wolfman

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M Nut

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SVcummins

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jon f mn

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SVcummins

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Bob

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big jt

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big jt

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SHALER

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SVcummins

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caterpillar guy

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onefarmer

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Janicholson

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Destroked 450

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