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The Dukester
01-11-2002 13:15:10
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Re: Pintle hook hitch in reply to ScottyNY, 01-10-2002 17:57:44
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The breakaway hitches our rope lift plow had required a securely tightened "D" shaped clevis on the end of the swinging drawbar(used a sidehill lever too) and the big spring loaded hitch on the plow drawbar. The rope(hence the name "rope lift plow") ran from the mechanical lifting operating arm on the land wheel of the plow through a ring at the tractor end on the depth adjusting lever to a knotted loop which held a sort of figure 8 shaped spring loop, and then down to the spring hitch on the plow drawbar. The figure 8 shaped loop/spring went through an approx. 1 inch hole in the tractor seat bracket or would "clinch" in something appropriate in the seat area of the tractor when you hooked up the plow. The breakaway hitch could be hooked up by getting the rope and holding the plow hitch up in line with the tractor mounted clevis and backing into it with expert alignment and "authority". This took a little skill and practice, and strength too, and maybe, some patience too. So, when plowing and you hit an obstruction(in Michigan, we called 'em "another blankety-blankety blank rock"), the breakaway hitch would release the clevis because the springs in it compressed beyond normal caused by the sudden increase of pull on the drawbar caused by hitting the rock enbedded in the ground. Clear-okay? The plow stopped, the tractor accelerated away, the operator jammed in the clutch and jammed on the brakes. On JD's you yanked the clutch and jammed the brakes-samo-samo. Now you put 'er in reverse and back back to the plow carefully, lining up the clevis with the hitch by grasping the rope(which had broken loose by pulling the figure 8 loop out of the hole on the tractor) and lifting the heavy plow drawbar and hitch assembly, when you get hooked up, you can reenter the figure 8 loop thing in the tractor hole. Now you usually try to raise the plow over the rock by using the depth lever-unlatch, push down all your guts will stand and ease the plow forward over the rock. If that don't work, you've got to back up the whole works 3-4 feet and pull the rope to raise the plow when you go back forward, over the rock and once over, pull the rope to trip the plow to go down again, reset the depth lever, swear under you breath you'll leave Michigan someday and never come back, and get back to plowing. When you use a hand clutch John Deere, you even like all this more. Then when you get to the headland at the field end and upon raising the plow, discover that you've broken a plow point(share) if you're using old JD Syracuse bottoms like we did, you get to change that out for a new one(which you could break on the next round too). If you can follow all this, and think it's fun, you're ready for the good old days--so get rid of your newer stuff and get back to the simple fun of manually operated equipment. And if your operation features no-till, think of what you're missing.
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