adding a 3pt to my 400

[SDE]

I bought a 5 ft snow blower and wish to use it on a 400. Can I attach 2 brackets to the sides of the center section of the rear end using the threaded holes that are already there? The arms would then attach to those brackets. Or do I need to make brackets that will allow me to attach the arms to the hitch brackets that are on the axles?
TY
SDE

 

[Janicholson]

Too many assumptions are needed to make a good answer. Does the 400 have a Fast Hitch? does the blower need to have the tractor control the height using a hydraulic system? Is there a chance to show us pictures of both the 400 and the blower? Jim

 

[SDE]

No, it doesn't have a fast hitch. Just your typical straight 400. My concern is the strength of the center section. Will it handle the stress of the lower arms pushing or even pulling 3pt implements. I guess I should use brackets to attach the arms to the axle housing. I just don't have the same access to the bigger tools that I had before I retired.
TY
SDE

 

[gmccool]

I wouldn't be concerned about the strength of the axle as lots of old loaders used the axle to mount and push off of with no support to the front or side rails of the tractor.
I would be concerned about how high the pivot point of your three point arms will be if you use the existing holes in the axle.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

The fast hitch brackets spread the load around to multiple locations on the rear housing, and you're proposing that all the weight be carried by only two of those points. Snowblowers are kind of heavy, and I'd be concerned about putting that much weight on so few locations, especially when there's the chance you could back into something solid and put quite a shock into the system.

In the past I have seen some rear mount finish mowers attached directly to the U-shaped drawbar with some short links to allow it to oscillate. Of course you don't really need to lift a finish mower, and being able to lift the snowblower would be handy. I'm sure you could come up with some way to lift the snowblower from the U-shaped drawbar.