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Hitch pen problems


DaleC

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Does anyone else have problems with their hitch pens loosing the hairpin clip and then falling out. I seem to fight this more than anything. Will anything work besides a bent nail?
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Dale, My local farm store sells three styles of hitch pins. The first style is looks like the pins used for trailer hitches and the like. The next style is very similar to a saftey pin, but much heavier. The third style is shaped like a square. The pin makes up one side of the square. The other three sides are used to keep the pin attached. I prefer the third pin. I swithced to this style because the styles kept falling out. That being said, I don't see why you could not use a hitch pin with a cotter pin with the ends bend over. The only problem with a cotter pin would be the time spent removing the pin when you need to change attachments. As I understand it, the only reason for the "safety pin" is to keep the heavy duty hitch pin from falling out. There is no real force on the safety pin. Rick.........
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Rick is right but clips do get weak. It is the spring tention that holds them. If you can take them out with not much of a pull. That's why they fall out. Get some that hold tighter.
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When the hairpin clip is weak I just push them on through to the round end and turn the hitch pin so that the long end of the hairpin is down. They usually stay that way because the majority of the weight is on the bottom. Haven't lost a pin or clip like this.
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The loose pins, I push all the way through to the big O. Or I tighten them up, or get a new one. Aren't losing them, maybe don't use tractors enough. Don't know Dale, maybe it's those prayer circles the bunkhouse boys hold down there. They're always petitioning some TV minister to help fix one thing or another.
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I guess when you use your tractor as much as I do, you are going to lose some. Dad always said that if you didn't break something, you were not doing anything.
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I no longer use the hair pin type of clip because I loose them or bend them, I get the type that look like a large safety pin where you unclasp them stick it thru the hitch pin and then close the clasp. Seems like Farm and Fleet has them and the little parts boxes in the True value stores.
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I had this problem last summer when I did some mods to raise the cutting hight on the deck...I even put in some that was very hard to get in but would still loose them...I found that the pin was hitting something on the bottom of the tractor when the one side of the deck was raised and it would nock out the pin.... I put in a shorter pin and haven't had any problems since...
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I know that it can be pure agravation. I lost a pen that was all the way through to the big O when I was clearing snow. I could have bent the hitch but caught it before I did. I am going to get some of the safety pin style and give them a whirl. I hate straightening out nails with my bare hands!
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Evening, You might try using a cotter pin that has been slightly modified. While holding onto the legs of the cotter pin take a hammer and smack the eye of the cotter pin. This will put a little spring tension on the cotter pin legs. These are easy to install/remove without tools and the tension should keep it in place. Later, Chad
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Try using the new safety pin style, Simplicity part #176012. I have had good luck using these, have not lost any in 3 years and have replaced all of my hair pin clips with the safety pin style.
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Dale, I wish you luck with those safety pins. I've actually lost one of them and the hitch pin. Don't have a clue how. What I don't like about them is that they are hard to open sometimes with one hand and I end up getting pinched or gouged.[:0]:(
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I have never had the opportunity to lose a hitch pin. I wonder as mentioned before if the pin is too long and you are hitting it with something. I know the clips are quite inexpensive if you buy a load of them. I think about a dime a piece on eBay and TSC. I wonder, if you are hitting something due to the pin being too long, could you put it in upside down? If the retainer came out, it would be sure death to the unit being used but it might work.
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I've also found that if the hitch pin is a little too long, that using enough flat washers to fill it up to a snug fit with the hairpin clip helps somewhat... The hitch pin doesn't wiggle around nearly as much, so it's not as likely to lose the hairpin clip.
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