[AT] DS3PH was IH Fast Hitch

Tue Nov 26 02:34:08 PST 2019

Jim,  I have struggled with this ever since I did my research on JD's 800 Series Hitches.  But I have found that being able to get a clue on draft sensing or not from how the top link is attached and to what.  As far as I determine the Oliver 60 70 series tractors had Hydraulic lift on the lift arms but a static top link hitch point. That would be the only way they could have wiggled around the Ferguson System patent at that point until 1952 and not get sued by Harry.  It had the advantage of the common three point hitch geometry connections and common implements but not an "Active" Top Link which is a term I've kind of coined to differentiate the difference. So yes, Oliver had a 3 point offering on their tractors from 1947 on but they were not with an "Active" Top Link until the Super 55 and its brothers came along. "Active" = Hydraulic Feedback for Depth and Load sensing.  I suspect other manufacturers tried to figure out how to do the "Active" Top link sensing in a Non-Hydraulic method but I'm not up to date on that. JD's Hitch history goes back to the "Yakima" Hitches starting also in 1947 but unlike Oliver's three point, they required Proprietary Implements even though the hitch was very three point like. The immediately after the suit was settled between Ford and Ferguson in 1952, in the fall of 1953 JD announced for their Row Crop tractors the model 800 hitch. It too did not have and "Active" top link and was even a bit more strange because the new model tractors then, the models 50, 60 & 70. Had no place to attach a top link  So they essentially did an Oliver and worked on both sides of the rear centerline and had dual Upper links to a n Evener bar for a top link. Then JD sold adapters (Mast Brackets)  so the standard 3 point implements could be connected to the Evener Bar. JD sold a line of Conventional three point hitch implements for their Row Crop Tractors in the fall of 1953 but didn't have a three point hitch on their tractors at that time.  Then in the Fall of 1955 JD announced the model 801 Hitch which did load sensing but not hydraulically, it did it with a very ingenious mechanical feedback set up. Why did JD go through all this goofy Rube Goldberg design during that period.

 It all started back in 1949 when JD had a major Come to Jesus Management/Engineering meeting when they made several huge decisions. The first was the JS A, B, G & M needed a facelift ASAP. In order for the replacement to the M to compete better with the Ford 8n the replacement tractor would need a 3 point hitch. JD decided they would go face up to the legal battles with Ferguson  that would occur on announcement and made several hitch design changes that they thought gave them a legal workaround the Ferguson patent. They also made a decision to NOT pursue designing in a three point hitch capability on their new Row Crop tractors for what they thought was a very straight forward reason.  A three point hitch wasn't needed on the JD Row Crop tractors because 70 % if their weight was already on the rear axle. This was a really bad decision which they hastily started correcting in 1953 with the 800 version Series Hitch.  They had mistakenly overlooked the fact that farmers did not like proprietary implements and that is the other reason farmers liked the 3 point hitch for implement commonality. But they quickly learned their lesson by designing standard three point hitch implements in 1953 and adapting them to the 800 Series hitches.  And 3rd the Ferguson patent was no longer being protected as of the Ford/Ferguson Settlement in 1952 which saved JD a ton of legal fees upon announcement of the JD 40 with a Conventional The Point Hitch announced in the fall of 1953. Then in 1956 JD came out with a whole new line of tractors, the 520, 620, 720, 820 that had "Conventional" Three Point Hitches as an option , all with hydraulic "Load and Depth sensing.  But notice... all the implements they sold starting back in 1953 were directly compatible with this new "Conventional " 3 point hitch.  That made farmers really happy that they could use the same 3 year old implements on the newer tractor.  Very good forward thinking on JD's part. 

Now you will notice I am using several different terms for the same thing. So to avoid any confusion, in my mind these all mean the same thing:  "Draft Sensing" = "Active Top Link" = "Hydraulic Load and Depth Sensing" = "Conventional" = Hydraulic Top Link Sensing" Three Point Hitches. .  In my simple mind they are one and the same.  YMMV. 😊  Hope I haven't made this more confusing in the process.  

Dean VP
Snohomish, WA 98290

-----Original Message-----
From: AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com> On Behalf Of James Peck
Sent: Monday, November 25, 2019 8:36 AM
To: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Subject: Re: [AT] DS3PH was IH Fast Hitch

I feel the need for a term like "Draft Sensitive Three Point Hitch" (DS3PH). Would you know the Oliver  Super 55 DS3PH fact from a reference source accessible by all comers or from insider knowledge? This fact might need to be recorded in Wikipedia.

Harry Ferguson put a lot of 3 point technology in the public domain when he walked away from Ferguson-Brown in 1939.

The M-H GP had gear reduction castings extending down roughly as far as the rims. Not good. IH has already eliminated it.	 

Dean VP Snohomish WA 98290 Deerecentric AT List Member (deanvp at att.net); As far as I know the Oliver Super 55 would have been the first Oliver with draft sensitive 3 pt hitch and it was the first Super model introduced in the summer of 1954. This would be consistent with the Ford/Ferguson Settlement in 1952. JD's first full conventional 3 point hitch was on the JD 40 announced in the fall of 1953. Full Conventional 3 point hitches were announced on the Waterloo built Row Crop JD Tractors for the 1956 models. 

James AT List Member and advocate of upgradeable tractor vocational training (jamesgpeck at hotmail.com); My grandfather had a M-H General Purpose and my dad drove it. If MH had put a three point hitch on the back they might have had something.

1930-1938 - Massey Harris develops its M-H General Purpose tractor, the industry's first four-wheel-drive, steel-wheeled tractor. It also has an adjustable track width. Unfortunately, the benefits of four-wheel drive were not yet fully understood. The machine was modernized in 1936 with the installation of rubber tires, but sales failed to increase.

https://www.farm-equipment.com/articles/4269-feature-articles---timeline-of-ag-equipment-firsts

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