Meli....     I bought an old J.D. 2 bottom plow and it has that safety hitch on it. I need to know how it hooks to the tractor. The drawbar on my tractor only has a 3/4" diameter hole through it and there is no way the end of the hitch can fit through it.

Here is an exploded view of the "safety hitch"...     Your drawbar needs to have a loop in a horizontal plane. That can be done in more than one way. Most likely, in your case, you need a clevis. That would be part number 2A or part number 2B in the picture. Part number 2B is an antique John Deere part that you can only find in used condition. It is shown here on the drawbar... Part number 2A, below, is called a "twisted clevis". It can be bought from any tractor or implement dealer. This is a side view... And below is a top view so you can see how the loop is oriented horizontally... HOWEVER... If you have an early unstyled tractor, such as a Model B before serial number 42200, The tractor would have come with a "loop drawbar". In that case the plow can be hitched without a clevis.     ANYWAY.... Here's how the "standard hitch" works. The first picture shows it all hooked up. The tractor would be to the right and the plow to the left. The clevis passes through the opening in the hitch. Now, if the plow hits a snag, the bent hook will compress the spring and move out of the retainer stop at the top, as shown in the second picture. When the end comes out of the stop, the hook will pivot clockwise on the rivet and flop over to the right, and the clevis will come loose.     The "lift mechanism" in your plow is "ground driven" and it needs to be controlled somehow from the tractor. This is done by tying a rope to the trip lever on the plow. For an explanation of what "ground driven" means and how the lift works, take a look HERE.     Oh yeah... One OTHER thing - you DO realize that if your plow hits a rock and it unhitches, your tractor is going to keep going. That is the whole IDEA! What about the "trip rope" from the plow? If you tie it to the seat it's going to rip the seat right off and/or break the trip lever on the plow. Do NOT tie the "trip rope" to the seat! You need to get a Trip Rope Release. Find out more about it, and how to get one, HERE.

Go back to the page you just came from......