I chose 'door #3'.

I've converted my 3PH implemnts to Snap-Coupler.

Ok, I'm NOT a 'real farmer' but I found dealing with 3PH to be a PITFA compared to Snap-Coupler.

Really, the 5' rototiller is a 'hybrid' setup. SC with a top link. The toplink is BOLTED to the rototiller, so after the first adjustment, it NEVER has to be played with. While this cost me a bit in material( adapter and toplink) it saves me BIG $$$ at the chiropractor and time !! Instead of fighting to get 3PH on... 60 seconds and I can till the wife's garden...

Might be an option for you ??

re: One main reason I want the 3 point is to have a bar with 2" & 5/16" ball spanning across for moving the trailers

20 years ago...when I got 'Troy', I ditched the loader and made myself a Snap-Coupler 'carryall' using forklift forks and  a 2" receiver. the forks are GREAT at moving heavy things like 3400# logs( not 3600# , I tired....).

 The 2" receiver allows me to sleeve in a 2" ball or 2 5/16" to haul trailers ( I do that a lot....) OR pin in a balless sleeve that I use as a 'drawbar'. That works great at moving my 2000 Gallon empty water tank built on a semi frame.

yet another 'option' ??

Jay

 Not sure where this kit I have came from? It was on the WD45 I got a few years back.

This kit does attach to the drawbar. I made the top link bracket.

Regards,

 Chris

I’m an Allis guy but let’s be honest was at best the third best option at the time.   Thankfully most of my tractors are new enough that’s not an issue.   Between snap coupler and traction booster definitely Allis’s biggest design errors.  Makes 3 point the standard was the right move.  

You must have the 'charm' to get 3PH implement off and on as I've never had luck, especially on lumpy ground, wet dirt, etc. I don't have a nice level concretet pad to change implements and the old body is saying NOT to push,pull, lift heavy 'things' anymore....

I no longer have the time to waste on 3PH, less than a minute to get tiller on and into the field with NO adjustemnts, NO stress and NO hernia.

That is just a temp draw bar from a WD series tractor I put on to try the 3 point set up. I do have a custom pulling drawbar, (shorter)  for the D17 also.

Good luck with your conversion to 3 point. 

I was just running the 272 groomer on the 17 today. The right adjuster had unscrewed out about 4 inches. Guess I need to zip tie that, or wire it? 

Regards,

 Chris

 Thanks I dont know what the sway control looks like? Maybe I need it?

Regards,

 Chris

re: Interesting how the 3-point hitch had to evolve into having a quick hitch on it as it got larger and larger

yeesh, they have them for all the 'little' tractors now too, including my BX23S ! A lot of guys complin though as 'CAT1' implements do NOT fit properly, PTO shafts too long, etc.

I still haven't put the 3PH on it though, lil digger is real useful... and there's always a D-14 nearby !

The lift latches does sorta resemble the quick hitch idea in a way.  I put the drawbar back on as a teen and know as a 40 something year old I could easily do it again on my D17 but no way in he!! would I want to remove the drawbar on my 7580 or 8760.  I by far am not an IH guy but I think they had the best idea.  I also don’t like the added slop. 

Why in the #$%K would you need to remove/reinstall a drawbar on your JD tractor ??

Pretty SURE "that" project would be easier than replacing an entire front axle assembly

My point was it’s a good thing that snap coupler wasn’t the go to way.  The Deere has 3 point had snap coupler been the chosen way it would have been a b!tch to drop the drawbar. 

re: We always just slid 4 big sticks of wood under the drawbar

yeah, around here , 'someone' would grab 2 of the big sticks for their use..sigh..

I picked up an aluminum "bread cart" years ago and wheels are big enough to use it in the yard if I can't get backed into the shop entrance.

If a fella was doing plenty of swapping, 2 carts would be ideal  so you can store the draw bar assy. but I tend to grab another tractor for draw bar work; fertilizer buggy, hyd barge wagon, etc.

Have a number of "fixed" HD OEM adapters and OEM wishbone type and have used the same wishbone type for many years on cutters as they are darned tough.

Keep an eye on swivel points for wear and check the small bushings specifically but I have yet to use the other two adapters that I picked up for spares as the first one is still going strong. The two "backups" are like new as show no wear (no, not for sale!).

All depends what you do with them as the wishbone adapters don't have much for sway control and you do need to check the draw bar hanger brackets for wear as the long pin for sway control will egg the brackets eventually.

Have used the OEM wishbone type on a heavy 6' cutter for years, literally thousands of hours cutting for both commercial cutting and on my place, upright adjusters can be found at any farm store when they do wear out but I think the main one I use will outlive me.

Would I put even a 2-bottom 3-pt. plow on one? Nope, not sufficient sway control.

See the OEM adapters pop up occasionally, 150.00 to 350.00.

I do like my AC equipment. It’s easy to use, well designed, easy to fix and a joy to use. 

I have all AC tractors that range from standard hitch, snap-coupler hitch and 3 point hitch. The tractors that get used the most have the snap-coupler hitch. Why, it’s Not because of color as they are all the same, it’s not because of HP as they are all about the same. It’s because the snap-coupler just works better all around. Easy to attach, the pull point allows the tractor to pull more and better. As for installing the hitch, the past post have addressed that. A simple frame on wheels made by everyday people. Just think how much better if the manufacturer would have supplied a “hitch cart” with each tractor.

 As for the snap-coupler being used on the big HP tractors of today. I’m sure that the manufacturers would have designed a way for the hitch to be removed and installed easily. I wouldn’t be surprised if the hitch was just moved out of the way and not totally removed. Maybe even just push a button in the cab. Sad thing is we will never know.

 VictoryAllis we just have a difference of opinion which on this subject really doesn’t matter anyway.  3 point won the day and the snap-coupler is passing away. I wish I could buy new snap-coupler equipment but I’m stuck with 3 point so I’m forced to adapt. 

It is important to realize that the reason WHY there are unique variations of hitching systems between tractors, is because every company had it's own file cabinet of PATENTS.

Harry Ferguson patented his 3-point hitch.  Case had EAGLE Hitch... IH had theirs, Allis had SC.

It wasn't until Harry's patent expired that other manufacturers went that way.

The 3-point's 'versatility' came from a few simple concepts- first, is a parallelogram where an implement's physical height could be articulated without affecting it's angle...

But the second, is that it's relative position from a PTO, meant that the PTO shaft of a given implement would be easy to utilize without interference from lifting hardware (that triangular 'window' was 'open for PTO business'

And the third... was that 3-point lifting made it so that SMALL manufacturers of all sorts of power implements need only make it work with 3-point, which had been defined by characteristic dimensions STANDARDIZED for interchangeability.

I built my D17's 3ph... I can use it with or without the drawbar,  but it will NOT allow me to snap-couple a plow, as it's a rather stout piece of square tubing under the axle.  This causes me no issue, as I don't use the plow... I use a forklift attachment (not a mast, just a face with forks), I use a multi-function hitch (ball, pintle hook, chain hooks, etc.), and (with a quick-hitch) a 10ft lifting boom, a 6ft bush-hog, a post hole auger,  and finally, with just the lift arms, a New Holland backhoe attachment.

It wasn't the design of the 3 point hitch that made it a 'de facto' standard it is now... it was the standardization of the 3ph system that enabled proliferation of implement and attachments by non-tractor manufacturers.

It wasn't intended to be 'better' at any one aspect, it was just intended to offer lots of flexibility, which it does very well.

While ultimately, 'markets decide'... it is the course of history which decides WHEN 'markets' may decide.  It is not a simple condition of 'black and white', and in the realm of agricultural equipment development from 1920 through the present, the greatest 'market battleground' occurred between legal departments, courtrooms, and patent offices over 'intellectual property rights'.

Harry developed his 3-point prior to 1921... received his US patent in 1926.  That patent, and the ancillary re-patenting maintained substantial strength up to about 1959/60.

EVERY COMPANY had it's files of patents.  Any company that infringed on another company's patent, or even came CLOSE, was at risk of legal action, and there was LOTS of legal action.

I noted the other types of hitches, because, along with patents, were included trademarks and copywright.  None of this made a hoot of difference to the farmer and his soil, but it TOTALLY affected how, and when, a standardization occurred.

It was in the best interest of EVERY manufacturer, to constantly apply for patents.  Companies came up with concepts, and applied for patents EVEN WHEN they had NO INTENTION of using the concept.  Why? Because if some OTHER company built something that used a simililar principle, they could either BLOCK it's production, or demand royalty and license revenue.

It was not unusual for someone to perform 'industrial espionage' on another company's development department, and as soon as they saw something, race off, draw a sketch, and apply for a patent.

Dirty?  Yep.  Illegal?  Nope.

Oh, and once a patent was granted, it meant absolutely NOTHING... until you sent lawyers out to investigate others, and file infringement suits.

Harry's patents weren't fully expired when other companies started designing their lifting systems.  Ever wonder why so many 'branded' hitching systems were so similar?  Because they could get-that-close without being beaten in a courtroom...

And manufacturers KNEW that once the Eagle, or the Snap Coupler setup was in a farmer's hands, they would MAKE the remaining pieces to give what they wanted... OR, the AFTERMARKET would do it... thus isolating the manufacturer from patent infringement action.  Very often, a small manufacturer was SO small, that an infringement suit would yield no profit from enforcement (it'd cost the patent holder more than the cost of suit), and the judgement would be unpaid (aftermarket manufacturer bankrupted).  The eventual reality is that, like a war, there's significant financial casualties on both sides, the small guys are smothered, but the large guys have burned up all their resources fighting a legal war of attrition, and in the end, weakened themselves beyond recovery.

The market doesn't exactly 'decide'.

There's good ideas in EVERY hitching system, always based on the application and circumstance.  What became 'the most popular', did not automatically become the 'universal'.  As noted by others above, the hitching point of other systems, placing the pivot of draft load AHEAD of, and BELOW the axle, provides much better stability in a ground-engaging application.  

The laws of physics cannot be violated, and farmers don't have the liberty to make insensible decisions.  My neighbor has an 8-wheel articulated, and two 6-wheel conventional tractors.  He pulls some amazing heavy tillage, prep, and planting equipment, and not a single one of those implements are on a 3-point... they're on drawbars.  When he runs his spot spray rig, it's on 3 point, using a quick-hitch.

It all comes down to doing what's most necessary for an application's demands.

Back to OP's question, the factory 3 point on the D15 Series II that currently resides under my stewardship was found to have been busted, repaired, and busted again. Gave up on that and converted hitch back to snap coupler, with Cross Manufacturing conversion kit.

We were able to retain the original factory 3 point lift arms, so about as good of a solution as I could imagine. I have NO snap coupler attachments, so wasn't an issue for me.

Have concluded this conversion setup to be far more robust than the original factory 3 point was.

I went to the factory to pick mine up, but OK tractor sells the same thing.