Components
The three-point hitch is made up of several components working together. These include the tractor's hydraulic system, attaching points, the lifting arms, and stabilizers.
Three-point hitches are composed of three movable arms. The two lower arms - the hitch lifting arms - are controlled by the hydraulic system, and provide lifting, lowering, and even tilting to the arms. The upper center arm - called the top link - is movable, but is usually not powered by the tractor's hydraulic system. Each arm has an attachment device to connect implements to the hitch.
Each hitch has attachment holes for attaching implements, and the implement has posts that fit through the holes. The implement is secured by placing a pin on the ends of the posts.
The hitch lifting arms are powered by the tractor's own hydraulic system. The hydraulic system is controlled by the operator, and usually a variety of settings are available. A draft control mechanism is often present in modern three point hitch systems. The draft of the implement, the amount of force it is taking to pull the implement, is sensed on the lower arms and the hydraulic system automatically raises the arms slightly when the draft increases and lowers the arms when the draft decreases.
The primary benefit of the three point hitch system is to transfer the weight and stress of an implement to the rear wheels of a tractor.
Read more about this topic: Three-point Hitch
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