Hitch for an agricultural vehicle

#This disclosure is directed to a hitch for an agricultural vehicle, and more specifically, this disclosure is directed to a dual axis hitch for hauling heavy equipment.

#When using farm machinery to work a farm, it is necessary to tow heavy equipment across rough and uneven terrain, such as manure tanks, manure spreaders, wagons, and the like. A problem with towing such heavy equipment is the load on the hitch between the tractor and the farm implement, especially on uneven terrain.

#Various hitches have been proposed to provide slack in the hitch to allow the tow bar to move up and down and side to side to accommodate the jostling of the farm implement. However, these hitches have not been fully successful in solving the various problems that are associated with towing relatively heavy implements. These hitches are prone to snapping under the heavy loads.

#These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood by reading the following detailed description, taken together with the drawings wherein:

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hitch connecting a farm vehicle to a manure tank according to this disclosure.

#FIG. 2 is a close-up perspective view of the hitch of FIG. 1.

#Disclosed is a hitch 100 for towing heavy equipment. While hitch 100 can be used for towing any type of heavy equipment, hitch 100, as shown and described herein, is particularly useful for towing a manure tank 200 with a farm vehicle 300. With reference to FIGS. 1-3, shown is hitch 100 for towing manure tank 200 with farm vehicle 300 according to this disclosure. In this particular implementation, hitch 100 is designed to connect at one end to a tow bar 102 that extends to farm vehicle 300. At the other end, hitch 100 is connected to a tow rod 106 that is connected to manure tank 200. Hitch 100 is particularly advantageous for towing manure tank 200 over rough terrain because it has three axes of rotation, as shown in FIG. 3, a first axis 112, a second axis 110, and a third axis 111. This allows manure tank 200 to jostle around in three dimensions of movement without breaking hitch 100. It should be noted, that hitch 100 can be attached to manure tank 200 without third axis 111 and still provided improved maneuverability over rough terrain.

#Hitch 100 comprises of a first assembly 101 pivotally attached to a second assembly 103. Second assembly 103 is combinable to the heavy equipment, in the illustrated case farm vehicle 300, via connection to tow bar 102 by hitch pin 104. This allows second assembly 103 to pivot horizontally, side-to-side on second axis 110 extending through hitch pin 104. First assembly 101 is pivotally attached to second assembly 103 to allow vertical up-and-down movement about a first axis 112. First assembly 101 can be fixed to a tow rod 106 that is attachable to manure tank 200 in a manner that allows axial rotation about third axis 111 or attached in a manner without axial rotation about third axis 111.

#More specifically, first assembly 101 comprises of a bearing assembly 121. Bearing assembly 121 can comprise of a pair of spaced-apart bearings 120 (illustrated as pillow-top bearings) combined to a plate 124. Plate 124 has press-fitted therein a shouldered tow rod 106 that extends from plate 124 and is attachable at its other end to manure tank 200. Tow rod 106 comprises of a shoulder of a diameter larger than a hole in the back of plate 124 from which tow rod 106 extends to prevent tow rod 106 from separating from first assembly 101. This is an added safety feature that prevents manure tank 200 from breaking free from hitch 100.