Front-Mounted 3-Pt Boosts Productivity

Front-Mounted 3-Pt Boosts Productivity HITCHES Hitches 20-6-10 "It gives our tractor the versatility to do a lot more jobs," says Mike Bennett about a front-mounted 3-pt. hitch he and his father, Jim, use on their Deere 7600 2-WD tractor. It allows the Monticello, Ill., farmers to spray, cultivate, carry big round bales and push snow with equipment that's out front and easy to see. The Bennetts also own a Versatile 276 tractor which comes factory-equipped with a front hitch. They liked it so much, they decided to mount a LaForge front hitch on their Deere 7600 (4480 Treat Blvd., Suite No. 230, Concord, Calif. 94521; ph 800 422-5636 or 510 827-2010). They use it to push their 16-row (30-in.) sprayer with 40-ft. manual-fold boom. The sprayer uses a Mid-Tech direct injection system with two 15-gal. tanks up front and a 500-gal. tank mounted on the tractor's rear 3-pt. Meters underneath the two front tanks meter rates for the Bennetts' post herbicide applications. The Bennetts built mounting brackets to fit the front 3-pt. out of angle iron and square tubing. "Having the boom up front evens out the load a little between front and back," Bennett says, "but mostly it provides much better visibility." In addition to spraying, the Bennetts use the front hitch for their 8-row Deere RM cultivator. In order to push the cultivator rather than pull it, the men simply turned shovels around and remounted them back-wards. "We also use it to carry one or two 5 by 6-ft. bales on front with a Gehl unroller mounted on back," he says. They also use the hitch to mount a 15-ft. blade on front of the tractor for snow pushing in winter. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jim or Mike Bennett, Monticello, Ill 61856 (ph 217 762-3101 or 3196).

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