Scintex Machinery FAQ
How does my vehicle connect to your equipment?
There are three common connections that are associated with towed equipment. Which one is used is often dependant on the weight of the equipment and its intended tow vehicle
- Ball hitch. These are the most well known and simple hitches. They allow a large range of movement and are common in trailers for this reason.
- Clevis Hitch. This is a very simple hitch working on the idea of two U hitches interlocking. The downside to this hitch is the lack of up and down movement
-Three point hitch. This is the most complicated of the hitches and works using three contact points, these are more commonly used on larger implements to connect to a tractor.
Will my vehicle tow the load?
This is not a simple question, and there isn’t a definitive yes or no answer. Each vehicle will have a towing capacity and this must be adhered to or you can risk damaging your gearbox. Below is a bit of a guide to whether or not your vehicle will be capable.
Maximum tow capacity of a quad-bike is about 560Kg. There is no Hard and fast rule, but most ATVs over about 400cc should be able to pull the loaded flat bed as well as the tow behind mowers and smaller trailers. Most quad-bikes use ball hitches.
Most Side-by-sides or ATVs should be able to tow the flat trailer but only very few will be able to tow the full weight of the loaded Heavy Duty Tipper. Most use ball hitches.
Flat Bed loaded tow weight – 440 KG
Flail tow weight - 260KG
Finishing mower – 180KG
What tractor hitch do you supply?
3-point hitches are used on most tractors. These involve two lift arms and a top link. This offers the machinery more versatility and stability over a single point hitch such as the ball hitch. Below is a table of the categories, this includes the link size and an approximate tractor horse power.
| Category | Tractor HP | Top Link Pin Diameter | Lift Arm Pin Diameter |
|
0 |
Up to 20 |
5⁄8 in |
5⁄8 in |
|
1 |
20 to 45 |
3⁄4 in |
7⁄8 in |
|
2 |
40 to 100 |
1 in |
1⅛ in |
|
3 |
80 to 225 |
1¼ in |
1 7⁄16 in |
|
4 |
180 to 400 and up |
1 3⁄4 in |
2 in |
What if my tractors HP is larger or smaller then recommended?
The power rating is largely based on the hitch category. Therefore it is entirely dependent on your hitch to what you can use. Adapters are available but only between cat 1 and cat 2 and depending on how you do it, it can be up to $475 (to downsize from a 2 to a 1) www.farmbitz.com .
In saying this if you have a substantially larger HP motor you may need to use lower RPM to reduce the amount of torque in the system
Will I be able to connect my PTO to your machinery?
PTOs are reasonably standardised. They are ether 6 spline 540 RPM or 20/21 spline 1000 RPM, newer tractors may have dual PTO gearing and spline adapters are reasonable cheap. However it is not good to run a 540 RPM implement on a 1000RPM PTO and vice versa, you will damage the implement or the engine. You can buy PTO adapters but this will involve changing your whole PTO gearing and isn’t just a quick pull on pull off. They are also well over $1500.