After doing a bit of research on this site, I came to the concensus that if I was going to build a hich for my tractor I should make a cat 0. So I did, it took me about 10 months, a bit of trial and error, but I got it done. I started at the rockshaft, I knew there had to be a way to use the frame location of the IH hitch. I found pics on another website of a guy who did it; from the pics I was able to copy it and make it work. I added a grease zerk so I can keep the shaft lubed without having to pull everything apart. My frame did not have the welded collars and since I am not a fan of frankenstein bolts, I made bolt-in instersts for the frame. They are the same thickness as the weld in collars and can be used with an IH lift rockshaft.
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For the lower lift arm mount, I welded on tabs that grab two of the axle tube bolts for more support. I welded the nuts on the back of the tabs so the pins could be supported without a nut on the outside, it gives more clearence between the tires. Since I had to remove my hitch plate to install, I decided to patch it up as well.
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I bent my own lift arms from 1/2" by 2" steel bar and welded swivels on each end. The lift links I made with 3/4" rod to give me adjustability for leveling etc.
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For the top link, I didn't want to rely on the back cover bolts so I added straps to bolts on top of the rear end. You can see in the top view pic, two notches I cut in the frame for more travel. The only other modification I made to the tractor was a notch on the corner of the battery box for lift arm clearence.
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Figuring out how I was going to attach the liftbar to the hydro lift took me the longest. I wanted to get the most lift I could and take advantage ot the 6" cylinder stroke. I decided to weld a "wing" onto the float arm of the tractor lift and attach the liftbar to that. Because that shaft pivots, its not 6" of throw, but still more than I would have gotten with the IH liftbar attachment. Another advantage is I get full 3 point travel no matter where the deck height adjuster is. It will be handy if I make a trailer dumper or rear scoop. Not all of us have a tractor for each task
, so this will allow me to do more without having to take the deck off everytime.
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I only use the rear most hole in the liftbar, the two holes were originally a slot to allow the arms to float. I planned on making a shim that would go in the slot for downpressure should I want it. Interference on the other end of the liftbar with the frame made me shorten that end so I had had to weld the slot shut and lose the float. I may end up extending the bar so I can get the float back, will have to see how it works.
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Now that you've suffered through that, here it is! By pulling the pins on the lift links and the lower arm mounts I can easily remove the lift arms. It's not a bad thing since my first time blowing snow with them on I almost backed one arm in the side of my truck.
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Now that I have this done, I can get down to business of making this tiller run after 10 yrs of sitting. I bought this beauty....cause I had to, I'm sure most of you have been there. Besides, it gave me the excuse to build the cat 0.
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Bill