Trailer Hitches

[wolfcoln 0]

I all,

I just purchased a 523 DXI and I want to be able to use it to move some of my empty trailers on my farm. Is there an comerical hitch made that will handle up to a 2 5/16 ball? I really do not want to hall anything in the trailers just be able to shuttle them from one part of my farm to another.

Thanks for your help.

Terry

[pond195520032003 27]

Hi Terry, and someone will be along shortly to help you out :banghead:

[GlenPettit 1,716]

There is a person selling some nice looking hitches for the rear of Wheel Horses on eBay, for about $50. Also, I've seen a front mounted hitch on a Wheel Horse (used his Snow Blade 'A Frame'), it really helped when backing a trailer into his tight garage.

Michigan Glen

[CasualObserver 3,408]

Hi Terry just wanted to say Sorry, but I don't know anything about the xi series... perhaps Nick will be along shortly and can help you out!

Please jump into conversations and look around. There's tons and tons of great pictures and good information to be seen here!

[Teddy da Bear 11]

:banghead: Terry!

So glad you could join us!

I am somewhat familiar with moving trailers with a wheel horse.

I run 2 hitches on my B-100 for instance.

One is the standard drop sleeve hitch that the tractor comes with.

The other is an "L" style hitch from my 63 lawn ranger(shown with

the ball). It mounts on the bolts on top of most trannys and seat

bracket.

I just have a 1 7/8" ball on this hitch, but I have moved my large

flatbed trailers. One with a 2 5/8" hitch and one with a 2" hitch.

The ball and shank I have are old and I do not believe are available today.

They have only a 1/2" diameter shank and are two-piece.

Both trailers are around 2000 lbs. each. I do not have any trouble moving

them with the differences in ball and trailer hitch. My 2" trailer hitch

still "holds" on to my 1 7/8" ball even if loose. My 2 5/8" hitch holds on

from sheer tongue weight alone.

Now I believe it would be necessary to fabricate something for yourself

if you want to use a 2 5/8" ball and shank.

Attached Image

[CasualObserver 3,408]

Keep in mind Mike... the xi series doesn't use the Uni-Drive. He'll probably have to do some fancy fabricating to get something to work.

[Teddy da Bear 11]

That's why I said he would have to fabricate something.

Mine was only used to illustrate some notions....lol

[wh500special 2,226]

If you want to trade your 523 for a bunch of my old junkers, let me know! I'd love to have one of those suckers in the garage!

Actually, I think the 5xi series do use the Unidrive transaxle. And - even better - the transaxle is even "captured" in a full length frame (unlike the "classic" series where the frame is merely cantileverd off the front of the trans). Great machines.

I have tugged some small trailers around just by putting a ball on the tractor's drawbar. But, as you know, the WH drawbar is pretty low and may be too close to ground to do what you want to do. if you're talking about something with a 2-5/16" ball, you're talking about something pretty big with tandem axles, so the low hitch height is a killer since you'd likely need to lift the rear axle of the trailer off the ground to get the tongue low enough to reach the ball.

You CAN use the existing drawbar and put a riser under the ball to get the hitch height where it needs to be. And/or you can also bolt on some type of extension to get the proper clearance you need. But I wouldn't

The extra height/length increase the leverage put on the hitch, and especially on the little "boss" that is cast into the Unidrive that pins on the factory hitch. That boss can be snapped off (I've seen it before more than once). And, the way these drawbars mount doesn't really provide much stability for a load that is pushing/lifting on the drawbar which would be the loading condition you encounter on a tail heavy trailer and when moving in reverse.

I think you may want to consider having a hitch made to fit your tractor by a competent welding shop (or yourself of you're a welder). You can even put the hitch on the front of the tractor which would provide better manueverability anyway. And, since you have power steering on that tractor, it should be a breeze to handle.

If you fab something to fit the front, try to make it such that it snaps into the front and mid attach-a-matic hitches. Hitting both of those mointing points makes it resist up/down movement easily.

If you fab something for the rear, I'd envision a "triangle" where you clip into the rear attach-a-matic (snowblade hitch) and find a fixed point on the frame rails or top of the transaxle to bolt to.

I could probably sketch something up for you, but I don't know exactly what the rear end of the xi's look like.

There are some hitches for sale on ebay like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/WHEEL-HORSE-TORO-LAWN-...id=p3286.c0.m14

but although I think that gent's front mount unit looks great, I'm not crazy about the rise/reach of the rear hitch. Again, I have seen that boss break on a transaxle, and I would want to avoid that when possible.

Best of luck,

Steve

[Duff 206]

Hi, Terry, and Lotta knowledge rattling around this place, and glad to have you aboard!

I don't know how to post links, so here are the item numbers from eBay for the hitches Michigan Glen referred to:

130251667709

130251667838

130251667953

130251668060

These look to be quality units at a fair price. I'm thinking about the "permanent front hitch" for my 312-8 since I move both a boat and a utility trailer around in a small yard and hooked to full size F-150 it takes a lot of jockeying room.

Again,

Duff :banghead: