[AT] IH Fast Hitch

[Aaron Dickinson]

About 1958 Massey Ferguson offered lift arms with flex/adjustment ends to aid in hitching implements. MF 85 had it. Not sure if MF 35 did. 

Aaron Dickinson
Mason, Michigan

From: deanvp at att.net
Sent: Sunday, March 3, 2019 12:37 PM
To: 'Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group'
Subject: Re: [AT] IH Fast Hitch

I don’t know where this bit of information fits into the whole quick hitch, Snap Hitch, Eagle Hitch conversation but one thing that JD did on their 800 Hitches as well as their conventional three point hitches was to offer sliding or adjustable draft arms which allowed the operator to slide the connecting points to match with the implement and then the operator could back into the implement and lock up the draft arms. Ford and Ferguson did not offer this feature for ease of hook up. And JD offered a version of the snap hitch on one of their versions of the three point on the New generation tractors.  Where the draft arm could be slid out a bit by just pulling a spring loaded pin, hook the ball to the implement and then back up and have the spring loaded pin snap back in place without the operator having to get back off the tractor. I wonder if this offering had anything to do with JD contacting I/H about using the fast hitch concept??? Was their a possible patent conflict?


Dean VP
Apache junction, AZ

From: AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com> On Behalf Of Indiana Robinson
Sent: Saturday, March 2, 2019 7:51 PM
To: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Subject: Re: [AT] IH Fast Hitch

If they had Al they would have probably been too dumb to make them cross compatible...  :-)
If they had gotten together and made them fully cross compatible and maybe pulled in some decent third brand (like Oliver) they would have had a good chance of walking away with control.
There was a couple of down sides to the IH Fast Hitch (like about anything else on the planet) but as I mentioned recently we had a new International 300 Utility tractor in the mid 1950's with Fast Hitch. I always like that tractor... About the only thing I would change if I had one now would  be to build an insulated heat shield over the top of the hydraulic tank under the seat. That and the steel lines by your leg got really really hot during long runs.
I also liked the Fast Hitch. The biggest down side I recall was that when plowing if you crossed an old fence line, back furrow or ridge at a right angle the tail of the plow would raise out of the ground or if you crossed a dead furrow or dip it tried to bury itself a bit. Not a big problem really, more of an annoyance.
The other downside was that we (like many others) already had a full stable of 3 point equipment and IH was far more interested is selling new implements than working at helping farmers adapt their existing implements to the new Fast Hitch. We only had 3 Fast Hitch items... The plow, a sickle mower and the drawbar. Yes, I consider the Fast Hitch drawbar to be an implement. We kept a long drawbar extension on it and I loved being able to release the lock on the lever and drop the drawbar down and back into an implement hitch, like a wagon tongue and lift it up off of the ground without climbing off of the tractor. I used that extension tip as a jack for all kinds of things.
After plowing and disking we put the most hours on the 300 U pulling the hay chopper (AC), the combine (Deere) and the corn picker (Woods Bros. then New Idea). One thing I liked about the 300 U we had was that it had wider rear tires than I ever see on them now at shows. I don't recall but it must have been an option.
I recall several dealers we knew ordering all of the tractors with a few options already on them from the factory that they kept on the floor. Wider tires and rims was one of those frequent options here. Another such option was often a more deluxe seat.
One big advantage the Fast Hitch had over AC's Quick Coupler was that you could see the Fast Hitch at a glance (The same for Case Eagle Hitch) but on the AC hitch couple you were flying by the seat of your pants and guessing at what was going on down there under the tractor out of sight.


.

On Sat, Mar 2, 2019 at 2:46 PM James Peck <jamesgpeck at hotmail.com> wrote:
Did Deere ask to buy Fast Hitch rights after they already had three point hitch developed in 1953  on the JD 40. Draft and position control.  

Maybe it was a backup strategy.

https://www.farmcollector.com/implements/the-ih-fast-hitch-story
 
[Al Jones] Of course the funny part is if IH hadn't been so stubborn, and licensed the Fast Hitch to Deere when they asked for it, the three point hitch might just be a footnote in tractor history......
 
_______________________________________________
AT mailing list
AT at lists.antique-tractor.com
http://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com


-- 
-- 

Francis Robinson
aka "farmer"
Central Indiana USA
robinson46176 at gmail.com








Virus-free. www.avast.com 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.antique-tractor.com/pipermail/at-antique-tractor.com/attachments/20190304/f1ff8e1a/attachment.htm>