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Harbor Freight Quick Hitch Adapted To Front-End Loader
Erik Hewitt, Hillsville, Va., has a long and steep driveway. After a heavy rain he often needs to smooth and redistribute the gravel.
    He had been using a 3-pt. mounted, 8-ft. rock rake to do the job. However, every time he wanted to use the rake he had to detach the backhoe on his Deere 970 backhoe loader and then attach a 3-pt. hitch, which got old. So he bought a Harbor Freight 3-pt. quick hitch and adapted it to fit the quick-tach mounting brackets on front of the loader.
    “It’s a real time saver and works great,” says Hewitt. “The rake’s 3-pt. bracket hooks up to the loader just like it hooked up to the 3-pt. hitch back of the tractor. But the rake now faces backward, so I have to pull the rake backward down my driveway. However, pulling the rake backward isn’t a difficult job because I always have a good view of what I’m doing. I leave the rake attached to the quick hitch permanently, which makes it easy to hook it up. I just pop 2 pins and am ready to go.”
    To modify the Harbor Freight quick hitch, he cut short lengths of pipe in half and welded them to both sides of the hitch. He also welded metal brackets with holes to the lower part of each loader arm, where the bottom part of the hitch pins on. The quick hitch came with a pair of handles on top that are used to open or close spring-loaded hooks.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Erik Hewitt, 4859 Danville Pike, Hillsville, Va. 24343 (ph 607 227-2691 or 607 342-6836; khewitt45@yahoo.com).


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2019 - Volume #43, Issue #4