1586 drawbar hole

[Jefd]

Hello all!
My drawbar hole is badly worn and I would like to plug it and re-drill. What type of material should be used?
Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Ray,IN]

The problem is trying to drill out the egg-shaped hole. A 2-flute drill bit will just grab, you need a reamer to make the correct size hole to plug.
Were it mine I'd just have the hole filled with weld and start from scratch.

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

It stands out in my mind, that you can use a length of copper pipe that has an ID the same as your pin's OD to insert in the egged out hole & weld around it. Once you're done filling in around it, you can pop it out of the drawbar & grind the top & bottom of the drawbar smooth.

Fairly certain I was told that here, when asking how to fill the hole on the clevis for my disk.

Mike

 

[Jefd]

Thanks for the info. I do have the capability to interpolate the hole on center using a mill, then make a plug for the hole and drill a new hole. What type of material are drawbars made of?

 

[rustcollector]

Why not cut(shorten) the draw bar to the front of the hole and drill another hole the correct size with enough material behind the new hole?

 

[Jefd]

I could do that, but don’t I need the same distance as I have for running the PTO?

 

[Eric in IL]

Hello all!
My drawbar hole is badly worn and I would like to plug it and re-drill. What type of material should be used?
Thanks,
Jeff

I used 4140 to make a custom height adjustable drawbar for a 10,000 lb. pro-stock puller many years ago. I never heard any complaints about it not holding up.

 

[will-max dairy]

Thanks for the info. I do have the capability to interpolate the hole on center using a mill, then make a plug for the hole and drill a new hole. What type of material are drawbars made of?

That sounds like how the guys on the CET Australia YouTube channel would do it... except... they would probably...

Mill the hole in the drawbar round.
Taper the edge of the milled hole to a point.
Create a plug to match the hole.
Bevel the edges of the plug to match the taper of the hole
Set up some automatic MIG gun thingy to weld about 600 passes from the root of the taper to the surface on each side
Grind and polish from 60 to 6000 grit
Twelve coats of primer and paint wet sanded from 600 to 6000 grit in between each one
Charge the customer a reasonable amount
Make up the rest of their cost on YouTube sponsorship...

 

[will-max dairy]

I could do that, but don’t I need the same distance as I have for running the PTO?

If you have used the tractor for years, enough to egg out the drawbar hole... you have probably optimized all of your connecting implements and their PTO drivelines to that distance. Or you just lucked out and never had a problem with a shaft pulling out or getting bound.

Good chance that, if you cut the drawbar down... there might be one implement where under just the right conditions, like going through the bottom of a swale...you'll bang the sliding male section of the PTO stub shaft into the cross at the other end...

Proceed with caution, if you plan on changing the length of the drawbar.

 

[paul]

I’m a terrible welder I could never accomplish it, but I’m surprised by most of the answers.

Thought it wasn’t a difficult thing for a good welder to use a carbon rod and weld the hole shut up to the carbon, leaving a round hole again? The copper pipe mentioned is on the same track.

Sure wouldn’t want to shorten a hitch.

Welding the hole totally shut and redrilling would be an option, but drilling through built up weld has its issues too.

On a IHC 300 I had a hitch hole wearing out, young and dumb I welded a good sized washer on the top of the hole, with my poor chicken po welds. That held up to the 35 hp for a few decades, but not for a bigger tractor or something you want to look good.

Paul

 

[farmersamm]

The larger drawbars are heat treated. Not weld friendly, but that depends on your stomach for risk.

You can verify by seeing if a file cuts the metal.

If it was me, I'd use a boring head to take the egg out of the hole. Any kind of annular cutter, or mill, will grab in an egg shaped hole.

I had to rebuild the drawbar pin underneath the transmission. The one that the drawbar attaches to in front.

The hole was slightly egg shaped, but I couldn't get a boring bar completely through it to line bore it on the mill.

The pin sits in the sleeves/bushings you see here.

Luckily, the bores weren't too far out.

I like Loctite Retaining Compounds. I was able to fill in the few thou with Loctite 660. Very good stuff for large gaps.

Made a new retainer plate, and installed it. Been quite a few years without any problems.

NOW TO THE DRAWBAR.........................

These drawbars hang on a bracket. The bracket cut grooves in the bar over 50 some years.

Rather than fill the grooves with weld, I cut them square, and filled them with matching mild steel pieces.

Standard 2 part epoxy. The tops were then ground flush.

And, a cover plate epoxied over the fillers.
All of this was done to avoid welding on the drawbar. I have the full procedure for making a new hangar if you need it, or are interested.

 

[farmersamm]

Anyways.............point being...........you can sleeve a drawbar. Same as I sleeved the drawbar anchor pin on the front of the drawbar.

 

[wore out]

The larger drawbars are heat treated. Not weld friendly, but that depends on your stomach for risk.

You can verify by seeing if a file cuts the metal.

If it was me, I'd use a boring head to take the egg out of the hole. Any kind of annular cutter, or mill, will grab in an egg shaped hole.

I had to rebuild the drawbar pin underneath the transmission. The one that the drawbar attaches to in front.

The hole was slightly egg shaped, but I couldn't get a boring bar completely through it to line bore it on the mill.

View attachment 117656
The pin sits in the sleeves/bushings you see here.

View attachment 117657
Luckily, the bores weren't too far out.
View attachment 117658
View attachment 117659
View attachment 117660
I like Loctite Retaining Compounds. I was able to fill in the few thou with Loctite 660. Very good stuff for large gaps.
View attachment 117661
Made a new retainer plate, and installed it. Been quite a few years without any problems.

NOW TO THE DRAWBAR.........................

View attachment 117662
These drawbars hang on a bracket. The bracket cut grooves in the bar over 50 some years.
View attachment 117663
Rather than fill the grooves with weld, I cut them square, and filled them with matching mild steel pieces.
View attachment 117664
Standard 2 part epoxy. The tops were then ground flush.
View attachment 117667
And, a cover plate epoxied over the fillers.
All of this was done to avoid welding on the drawbar. I have the full procedure for making a new hangar if you need it, or are interested.

X2 to not welding on a potentially treated drawbar, to much to lose should it ever break.

That being said, a neighbor's 4020 drawbar snapped clean off while pulling a loaded New Holland bale wagon, he had just exited a busy main road and he was taking it easy on his lane when it snapped. Not much damage was done, there was a control cable to a lever mounted on the fender with a breakaway mount that popped off, and, of course PTO shaft. And so far as I know that drawbar hadn't even been welded on, so such things can happen!

The bale wagon thing would have been really bad had it broken on the main road!

 

[Jefd]

I do want to sleeve mine. What material should the sleeve be?

 

[jhwis]

I do want to sleeve mine. What material should the sleeve be?

How much is a new or used draw bar?

 

[NDIHC]

I lost the draw bar for my Hydro 70 years ago. I made a new one from an old plow frame that was the same dimentions as the draw bar. Cut to length and drilled a couple of holes. It was the telescoping one that slides into a sleeve.

 

[Brendon-KS]

I could do that, but don’t I need the same distance as I have for running the PTO?

You do not want to shorten your drawbar for the very reason you mention. The distance from the PTO shaft to drawbar hole is an industry standard and you don't want to deviate from it. PTO use aside, you'd also get the implement tongue into the tires quicker during turns.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Jus weld it up. I've welded several of them including ones on the Stiegers I just weld till they look close then open up just to clean up the weld to a smooth surface. Grind off the top and bottom smooth. Only one I ever broke was one of those telescoping versions that IH had in the 1466 broke that tube right off in the middle welded and broke again so put the out of the setting 1086 in with a smaller pin has been fine since.

 

[DRussell]

How much is a new or used draw bar?

There are used ones on ebay for about 150-300. You can also buy them new, including at this site, for around the mid 300s-400.

 

[wore out]

Jus weld it up. I've welded several of them including ones on the Stiegers I just weld till they look close then open up just to clean up the weld to a smooth surface. Grind off the top and bottom smooth. Only one I ever broke was one of those telescoping versions that IH had in the 1466 broke that tube right off in the middle welded and broke again so put the out of the setting 1086 in with a smaller pin has been fine since.

There's quite a difference between an (older) Steiger or Versatile drawbar, which is a big, wide chunk of (apparently) mild steel and an IH drawbar that is likely some sort of hardened steel, IMHO.