Hitch Makes Trailer Hook-Up Easy

Hitch Makes Trailer Hook-Up Easy HITCHES Hitches 30-3-40 "I never have to get off the tractor to hook up or unhook. Also, it solves the problem of trying to line up hitch pins. I don't know how I ever got along without it," says Ronald Martin, Cookeville, Tenn., about his round bale trailer that has an unusual hitch. The trailer has an 8-in. dia. steel ring that's picked up by a home-built pintle hitch on his tractor. The hitch ring is held up off the ground for easy hookup by a pivoting hitch stand. By raising or lowering the 3-pt., Martin can hook or unhook the trailer without ever getting off the tractor. The hitch stand is made from a couple pieces of channel iron welded into a box shape. It slides up and down on a horizontal bar under the tongue that allows it to pivot back freely if it hits an object. There are two V-notches cut into the top that lock onto a crossbar when the trailer is parked. The 30-ft. long trailer can handle four 5 or 6-ft. bales and rides on the wheels and axle off a Ford 3/4-ton pickup. "It's the handiest piece of equipment I own," says Martin. "I use my New Holland 4630 4-WD tractor to pull it. Even when the pintle hitch is open, I've never had the ring jump off it. The reason lies in how the trailer is balanced. One third of the trailer frame has to be behind the axle and two thirds in front, in order to keep enough weight on the trailer's tongue at all times. To keep the right balance, I load the front part of the trailer first and unload the back part first. "The trailer will stay on the hitch whether it's empty or loaded with one, two, three, or four bales, as long as it's loaded correctly. Even if I go across a rough field empty the trailer will stay on because of the weight balance. The only time I have to close the hitch is when I travel on a public road. "I built it three years ago, using 6-in. channel iron to build the frame. I spent about $700 to build it, but if I couldn't get another one I wouldn't sell mine for $3,000." He used 1-in. thick steel to build the ring hitch. "The big 8-in. diameter ring makes it easy to back up the tractor and hook up to the pintle hitch, even in muddy conditions and from any angle," says Martin. He built a bale spear on the same 3-pt. frame that supports the pintle hitch, using the rod out of an old backhoe's hydraulic cylinder to make the spear. "I can use the bale spear to load and unload bales from the trailer, or to place bales in my feed bunks or on the ground." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ronald Martin, 7770 Anson Rd., Cookeville, Tenn. 38501 (ph 931 526-1836 or 931 260-5196).

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