Hydraulic Lift Fits Receiver Hitch

Hydraulic Lift Fits Receiver Hitch PICKUPS Accessories Rick Robinson turned a front-mount manual lift on his garden tractor into a power lift with his receiver hitch hydraulics     “The 740 and 758 Deere lawn and garden tractors have 2 sets of hydraulics but the front-mount thatcher is a manual lift ” says Robinson “I wanted to use the hydraulics to lift and lower it I’ve seen other designs but I wanted more travel than they offered ”     Robinson knew Deere offers a hydraulic cylinder to lift and lower front-mount tillers on their garden tractors He ordered one from his dealer and designed a base arm and boom around it     “I had Schaus-Vorhies Manufacturing a local fabricator put the pieces together for me ” says Robinson     The base was a solid steel bar sized to fit in the garden tractor’s 1 1/2-in receiver hitch Two short lengths of steel welded to the sides of the bar for gussets and also overlapping the end provide an anchoring clevis to pin the base of the cylinder A vertical arm of 1 1/4-in sq steel bar was butt welded to the top of the receiver hitch bar and sits just to the rear of the cylinder     “A 1 1/2-ft length of 1 by 2-in steel bar serves as the lift boom ” says Robinson     The fabricator welded two 4 by 6-in lengths of steel plate to either side of the first third of the boom They overlap the lower side of the boom Holes drilled through either end of the plates serve as pivot points for the vertical arm and the cylinder ram     “The length of the boom beyond the end of the ram and the placement of the ram doubles the lift distance of the cylinder ” says Robinson “I always want things overbuilt The tractor hydraulics have plenty of power to lift anything the front end can handle ”     Robinson says he can easily lift and lower the thatcher He also uses the lift to transport a 4-ft harrow used to spread grass seed     “I expect that if I hooked the boom to the floor it could lift the rear end of the tractor off the floor ” says Robinson     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Rick Robinson 2342 200th St Fairfield Iowa 52556 ph 641 472-4481 or 641 919-8702

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