801 hitch on 70D

[ryan3020]

I resently inherited my grandpa's 70D. Gonna seed 5 acres to hay and i thought it would be fun to use it. I have a set of 3-16" semi mounts I would like to use. I plumbed into the side of the powertrol so now i can operate the hitch and hydraulics at the same time. My problem is the front btm wants to dig to china! When I put the plows in the ground and then try to lift the front up for correct depth the rear hyd lift the back out of the ground. I set the rear depth by installing the stop spacers on the cylinder. Is there a depth stop for the hitch? I noticed I am missing rods, Part # 32570A. Could these solve my problem?

 

[Carlyle hoffman]

You need a DEPTH GAGE WHEEL, on the LEFT FRONT CR of the PLOWS wear the JACK STAND normally goes and the things will work fine. Upon raising , the rear will come out of the ground first, but you have to live with that.Nice to have a GAGE wheel on both ends , but gets EXPENSIVE unless you already have a pair, but mounting brackets are also diff.

 

[ryan3020]

That makes sence. Thanks. So what is the purpose of the rods that i am missing? Also what would be the model number of 4pt hitch plows of that vintage? I have a set of 4-14" for it that have the gauge wheel on them but the rim and tire is junk. Perhaps i can make it fit without to much modification.

 

[Mike Aylward]

Ryan, I don't know what brand of plow you are using but I am assuming it's an F145 from the way you are talking. Some things to remember for you. On those plows you always fully retract the cylinder (get rid of the depth stops). This lets the rear of the plow down on the depth stop on the rear wheel. If the depth stop is properly adjusted however you have the front of the plow set for depth the rear will be exactly the same. If the plow were mine I would try to find a depth wheel from an 810 series plow and put it in the jackstand mount (it will go right in). That way you can have control over the depth of the front end of the plow and if the rear depth stop is set right it should follow right along at the same depth. All this is explained in your plow manual that I am assuming you probably don't have. Get one. Mike

 

[Pete in MD]

The rods do the same thing the top link on a standard 3-point hitch does. As draft increases down pressure on the axle/tires increases for greater traction. Deere called the 801 a Traction-Trol Hitch.

 

[ryan3020]

Mike, yes they are f145 that i just bought. I had tried plowing last year with a set oliver plows and used the depth stops on the cylinder as the plow had no provisions for a stop. Looking at pictures of the 810 plows i believe that is the other set that I have which have the gauge wheel. Thanks for your help.

Pete, thanks for your explination.

 

[Mike M]

If you just added couplers to the side of your power-trol then you ARE NOT able to work the 3pt and the cylinder seperatly ! You would have to add a Baker valve for that,or another seperate hyd. control valve before the pressure oil gets to the power-trol unit.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I have not done this so this is NOT experience talking but rather considering things in my past BUT.....

He says when he tries to raise the front, the rear of the plow raises out of the ground before the lift arms raise the front. That tells me the rear is easier to lift for a given hydraulic pressure and cylinder bore than is the front.

MIGHT it therefore be possible to counter that "rear lifting first" action by using a smaller bore cylinder at the rear?

With a thousand PSI hydraulic pressure a 3" bore will lift about 7000 lb but a 2" bore only 3140 lb and a 1.5" only about 1750 lbs.

The small bore cylinder may be able to lower the rear completely to the tail wheel stop and let it STAY there until the rock shaft cylinder has reached the end of it's lifitng stroke.

I'm thinking it might still be tough to control. May tend to rock back and forth but maybe not. The front may still have enough "suction" to pull it down & raise the rear anyway but if there is a small bore cylinder around the barn some place it MIGHT be a simple easy thing to try!

A dirt cheap idea if you have a small bore cylinder to experiment with & you're willing to monkey a bit.

 

[F-I-T]

What if you put a gate valve in the cylinder line and closed it until the flow "rate" to the cylinder was equal to what was needed by the rockshaft? Sort of like a poor man's flow divider?