Some more fun on my 682

[thenrie]

Today I added a tongue to the rear hitch of my 682, so I can tow my garden trailer. Took a piece of 2"X 11" X 3/16" steel and mounted it between the Cub hitch plate and the ball hitch mount the PO bolted to the hitch plate. The PO's ball hitch is mounted to a 1/2" piece of steel that bends upward to accommodate normal trailer height. My new hitch for the garden trailer is at normal height for the garden trailer, it just extends a little farther out behind than the ball hitch, so I can use either. Forgot to take pics. Maybe tomorrow.

Also loaded my Carlisle Super Lugs with washer fluid today. Broke the bead and poured it in. Didn't take long at all. Ready to go!

Drove it around the yard and blew some leaves with the 44C. Fun! Now to start on the blade that needs some work before snow flies. Then again, it's about 61* outside right now at 8:15pm on December 21. We may not get any snow in Virginia this year.

[ACecil]

You've been busy, Tony! Looking forward to your pics.

[thenrie]

Pics, as promised.

New garden trailer pin hitch and the new seat neutral safety switch adaptation of a 60A button starter switch from Advance Auto. As you can see, the PO reinforced the stock Cub hitch plate to handle heavy trailers with the ball hitch. My pin hitch is made of 3/16" steel, but I wish now I had made it of 1/4". Still, should be fine with the tongue weights of my little garden trailer.

Not shown, I used the seat bumbers purchased for my 1650 to set the proper height of the seat frame off the seat safety switch. Not shown, I also installed a DPDT toggle switch (on-off-on) switch so I can selectively bypass the seat safety switch. One direction the seat safety works, so that if my daughter gets off the seat the tractor shuts down. The other direction bypasses the seat safety switch, for when I'm dragging logs or trailers, or using the dozer blade, etc., when I want to be able to get off the tractor without shutting down.

Now I find the PO also bypassed the brake neutral safety switch, and when I looked at it, I found the lever that depresses the switch is broken as well. So, I have some more parts to order. Oh goody!

[weaverama]

Be careful to not overload that tongue! It's pretty long and could bend the plate or worse. I love my 682, the Kohler II twin performs better than my Magnum 20. And it sounds better too.

[ACecil]

That's nice, Tony! I bet, it comes in pretty handy.

[thenrie]

Thanks guys.

The PO reinforced that hitch plate with 3/8" gussets welded on the underside (see the pics). Not going to bend! Besides, like I noted, the 3/16" tongue I made would bend long before anything else. The loads my little garden trailer will put on that tongue will be pretty light. Anything heavy will be handled on the ball hitch.

[thenrie]

Well, got all the safety switches all hooked up properly, but the seat switch doesn't seem to make any difference. Once I removed the bypass and installed the switch and hooked it up, I connected a bypass switch in-line, so I can bypass the seat switch when I want to. Doesn't matter whether the switch is bypassed, active, or anyone is in the seat. It starts right up and runs. Apparently the PO has bypassed it somewhere else in the line as well. Going to require tracing out some wires. Shouldn't be too bad, since the wiring diagram shows the blue wire coming from the ignition switch and the white/violet wire going directly to the coil. Nothing in the circuit but the ignition switch, the safety switch, and the coil. I expect I'll find an extra wire running to the coil from the ignition switch.

Sure pleased with how it's running, though.

Oh yeah. I also sharpened and installed a set of used Oregon Gator Blades on the 44C deck. Bought them from Vince-O (Thanks much, Vince). Going to hit the yard one more time to get the leaves mulched before winter (it was 50* here today). Haven't had time to get to it yet. Then the deck goes into storage until spring and the front blade goes on.

Waiting for a bunch of parts to arrive now, so I can change out the exhaust manifolds and install the stock muffler, as well as install a new drive shaft fan and change the engine and trans fluids.

So much fun.

[thenrie]

Somebody on the other Cub forum suggested I add reinforcement on the ball hitch mount to add support from the frame or axle, so I won't pull bolts out of the rear and/or bend the rear plate on the trans. He said the way the hitch is mounted will put a lot of leverage on the hitch plate and could cause damage if a trailer with too heavy a tongue weight were hitched up. I have seen tube hitches made for the Cub hitch plate, so I figured my setup was fine, but I can see where the ball hitch mount configuration could put some real stress on the mounting bolts on the hitch plate. I don't plan on moving anything terribly heavy, but I have a 16' landscaper trailer (GW 7500#) and a two-horse trailer I might move around the yard either unloaded or lightly loaded.

What do you guys think? Add reinforcement or am I good as-is?

[maddog784]

There's always a "weakest link" and when you reinforce the hitch plate, your transaxle casing becomes the weak link. Best case scenario is you would break bolts. Worst case, you could crack or break the bolt holes out of the casing. The leverage that the tongue weight would put on the hitch is multiplied incrementally as you move away from where it bolts on. So, 500 lbs on the ball would be the equivalent of 1,000 lbs on the original hitch hole. That is if the geometry is right, but you can see how it multiplies. Would definitely recommend looking at it in depth. Also, a sleeve hitch with a ball on it would lessen the stress on your transaxle case.

Good Luck!

Nate

[maddog784]

One more thing, if your hitch point is above the axle tubes (like the ball hitch in your photos), your tractor will have a tendency to drive out from under the trailer. If the hitch point is beneath the axle tubes (the factory hitch hole), the pull on the implement will try to pull your front tires onto the ground. Something to think about.



Nate