Worksaver 3-Point Hitch for Farmall H and M

Worksaver 3-Point Hitch
for Farmall H & M

Since most older tractors of the 40s and 50s vintage did not come equipped with a standard 3-point hitch, we have always fabricated hitches on machines that we restore or refurbish for resale. What a surprise when we had a Farmall H and a new Worksaver 3-point hitch coincidentally arrive at the shop at the same time. The hitch was ordered by an individual that mis-identified his tractor and thus could not use it. This was an ideal opportunity to save a considerable amount of work and move the tractor out the door sooner.

The hitch arrived on a pallet with the primary mainframe completely assembled, a bag of pins and bolts, and the lift arms and implement jacks tied to the mainframe. The only bolts that were not included were the main mounting bolts since the hitch takes advantage of the large drawbar mounting bolts and nuts. The mainframe was made of 3x1/2 bar stock with 2-1/2 inch thick wall tube steel and 1-7/8 inch pin stock making up the upper lift arm pivots points. The lift arms were the massive style capable of handling Category 1 or 2 implements and even had dual purpose balls to allow quickly switching between categories by simply spinning the ball 45 degrees. A nice surprise was the inclusion of the top link arm and pins which again would work for either category implements.

Not included in the kit was the hydraulic ram necessary to raise and lower the arms. If one had the older model Farmalls, you would have to locate a ram of the correct length and preferably a one-way ram to avoid purchasing a complex and expensive set of hydraulic valves to convert to a two-way system. Still, if down pressure were desired, it may be worth the extra expense. When purchasing a ram for this hitch, it is best to locate one with clevises at both ends with a 3/4 inch gap between the pin holes. Pins were not provided for the ram but most rams will come with these anyway. The width of the pins would depend on the ram purchased.

This particular hitch is extremely stout and thus heavy. When mounting the mainframe you should have a couple of friends handy or do like I did and use an engine hoist to hold it up while you line up the drawbar bolts. The first step is to remove the large drawbar by blocking it and removing the 4 bolts that hold it to the rear axle shaft casing. With the drawbar removed, the hitch mainframe will line up and bolt right on in its place. Aside from having to handle its weight, the hitch lined up perfectly though if the drawbar mounts were adjusted to any width other than the standard drawbar size, these would have to be repositioned on the axle casing.

Once the mainframe is in place, it is a simple matter to hang the implement jacks from the upper lift arms with the provided pins and hang the lower lift arms from these and the mount point on the main frame. It appears that there were three possible positions that the lift arms could be placed in to accommodate minor differences in the basic height of the rear pin connections. This will allow each user the flexibility to set the height of the arms to their specific needs. The way we set the arms, allow a basic lift of 22 inches beginning with the arms 13 inches off the ground at rest. The implement jacks then allow 7 inches of adjustment downward.

It was our desire to retain the existing Farmall H Hydraulic pump and hoses so we installed a 12 inch travel one-way ram. The leverage provided by the hitch geometry appeared to be optimum since this lift system had a much better ability to lift our heavy implements quickly while still providing sufficient travel. In general, using the off-the-shelf 3-pt hitch saved about 12 hours fabrication time and the final product was admittedly much better than any I have made. The only caution I would have about using this hitch is that it is so strong that one may be tempted to lift and pull loads that are much larger than the predominantly tri-cycle front-end Farmall H's should be handling.

Additional Reading: There is additional information available on hitches for older tractors in our Exclusive Articles section called New Hitches For Your Old Tractor. For information on purchasing Worksaver brand hitches for the Farmall H and other tractors, see our 3-Pt Hitch Conversion Kits catalog at The Store.

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