Did something dumb today.

[Ljohnsaw]

His ball was so rusty it creaked when the boat trailer turned.

Well, at least he knew it was still hitched up! ;)

[Old Greenhorn]

Now I just remembered another one and this was definitely a buddy of mine in TX, not me. He was a ham, like me, and he got a deal on a load of 100 feet of Rohn 55 antenna tower sections. This makes a good load for a 16' utility trailer, which he borrowed for the job. It was a 60 mile run and he was headed home with the load down one of those 2 lane TX roads that is pretty much straight as a pencil line and whatever speed you want to drive until it goes through a small town, with a stoplight, then out the other end and back up to cruising speed. So he is hitting these towns and cruising between. In one town he gets stopped at the light, then takes off when it turns green and thinks "man my little truck is handling this load great!" Another mile or two down the road he glances in the rearview and sees he has no trailer. ;D
 He turns around and goes back. He finds the trailer still sitting at the traffic light. The ball is in the coupling and the ball nut and washer is a few feet behind the trailer. He tells me that in TX, you don't need safety chains on small trailers. I don't know if this is still true, but that's what he said. Anyway, he put the ball back on, but the threads were a bit buggered (ya think?) and he lacked any proper tools to do the job fully. SO he drove like a granny for about 20 miles checking the ball frequently until he passed a ranch and saw a guy working on a tractor. He pulled over borrowed some tools after explaining his 'issue' and got the ball tight. He told me the worst part of the 'experience' was listening to that rancher laugh and laugh and laugh and relate stories about the dumbest things he had ever seen. :D :D ;D
 Wish I was there. ;D

[Otis1]

Not a huge concern, but one none the less is to make sure your ball doesn't get stolen. Usually only a problem when I travel for work but scrap junkies will take anything not locked down. I usually put mine in the bed under a locked topper when not in use. I tried one of those locking pins but I ended up having to sawzall or grind it off after a salty Wisconsin winter.

[SawyerTed]

Reese sells a Teflon grease for hitch balls. The only reason I know that is my Dad had some in his shop when we cleaned it out.  It's best to keep a cover on the ball if you grease it.  Otherwise be prepared to use a wire brush.  :D

[doc henderson]

I have never used grease, and have kept the rust off with use.  I have never worn out a ball or coupler.  It might be quieter.

[beenthere]

Also never used grease on the ball or coupler. I do remove the hitch and store it with ball inside. Saves banging a knee or leg on the thing. 
 

[moosehunter]

I use the ATF bottle that I lube the mill with. Put a little on the hitch and ball when hooking up. Doesn't make the mess that grease does and keeps the noise down .
mh

[chet]

I'm not a tuff guy like a certain somebody , but if I wuz, applying grease might be rather soothing after da wire brush.   :-\

[SawyerTed]

 :D :D Now that's funny!

[Peter Drouin]

Cut the bottom out of a tennis ball, put grease in it. pull the ball off grease is on. When done, put the ball back on to keep it clean.

[samandothers]

OGH,
As I read your trailer post I expected to read when the back twinged you dropped the tongue.  This would lead to the fingers inside the coupler being trapped between ball and trailer coupler.  GLAD to read that was not the case.    

[Big_eddy]

I will admit to regularly pulling my tandem axle dump trailer with 2 5/16 ball around the yard with my tractor with 2" ball. Works fine with the bucket ball, as I can see the trailer, and I can lift the bucket to keep lots of weight on the ball.  I didn't have the bucket stinger on the other day, so I dropped the trailer hitch onto the drawbar ball instead. Was fine until I crested a small downhill, and left the trailer teetering at the top. Of course it rolled over the edge and picked up speed chasing me on the tractor. I got lucky and the tongue hit a rear tire, not the rear mounted hydraulic pump or transaxle.

I really should mount a tri-ball on the tractor drawbar.

[doc henderson]

I do the same around the yard.  2-inch ball for everything.  do not have to get out of the skid loader.  i use a 10 foot "stiff arm" crane.  it has a 2-inch receiver and different items can be put in.  It also has a 2-foot chain with hook for lifting logs over trailer sides with lifting tongs.  


 



moving the mill.  I can do three point turns in a small area.  

 

[kantuckid]

OGH,
As I read your trailer post I expected to read when the back twinged you dropped the tongue.  This would lead to the fingers inside the coupler being trapped between ball and trailer coupler.  GLAD to read that was not the case.    

I've learned that all couplers are not well made! I added a HF Chinese cheapo one to the tongue of the hay wagon I re-built to tote wall logs to my build site. It can be VERY un-cooperative. My RV coupler is far better indeed. I don't cover my RV ball ever but I do take a paper shop towel and wipe it off from grit between campsite moves as it just does better with some lube, not like I've ever had ball become unusable. The only large than 2" balls are equipment trailer rated and a must have for certain heavy tows. 

[Silverfoxfintry]

We are better placed in Scotland. 2" tow balls were replaced by 50mm 40 or so years ago.
As far as I am aware that is the only size of Ball hitch in current use.
Heavy farm trailers and similar use a Ring Eye on the trailer.
    My Caravan hitch has an "anti snake" device which clamps on to the Ball and dampens any tendency for the van to misbehave.
 The ball is greased and covered when not in use. The grease is cleaned off before using the hitch.
Take care.
Silverfox.

[Old Greenhorn]

I note that 50mm is less than 2" in diameter (1.960") and am wondering what the weight rating is on that sized ball. I have 3 sizes: 1-7/8, 2", and 2-5/16". To the best of my knowledge all 2-5/16' balls are rated at 6,000 ponds or more. 2" balls are 4,000 6,000 [edited to correct] pounds, and 1-7/8 is less than the other two, but I really don't know what.
What you call a Ring eye, we call a Pintle hitch, probably the same thing. Yes, your system is simpler but I am wondering what the weight rating is. I do wish I didn't need to have 4 different hitches to handle all the possible trailers, but that's the way it is.

[WV Sawmiller]

   The Scottish system sounds like what they used in Norway. The ones I saw had a long (2' or more) curved neck with the ball built on to the end. It appeared to have been cast on it and was not added like ours are. They all looked like they were smaller than our 1-7/8" ball but I never measured one. Very small sedans would have a trailer hitch on them and all seemed to have electric brakes. The trailers looked to be something like 5'X8' or on that range and looked way to big for the small cars towing them IMHO. Every gas station/convenience store seemed to have a couple for rent. I never saw a big rental place like our U-Haul. Pick up trucks were pretty rare and apparently much more expensive to license and operate over there.

[Ljohnsaw]

2" balls are 4,000 pounds

FWIW, My 2" have 5,000 stamped on them.

[doc henderson]

I think the ball size and max weight can vary.  You can buy 2 inch or 2 & 5/16th inch balls with different threaded diameters and therefore fit into a heavier hitch.  I have one with an over 1-inch threaded bolt bottom and it goes into a heavy forged hitch.  I think it is rated higher than others with the same ball size.  only as strong as your weakest link!

[Old Greenhorn]

FWIW, My 2" have 5,000 stamped on them.

SO noted, and I have corrected my post above. John , now you are making me go out the the shop and look at my balls, all of them, the see what the rating is.
 Weakest link, yes, of course. Mine weakest link is between my ears. ;D At least that's what my pop would say sometimes. :D He did Love me though (I think).

[doc henderson]

Well Tom, at least you are not out standing in the driveway looking at your balls.         :

[SawyerTed]

Here are 4 hitch balls (of the 8 spares I have no recollection of acquiring).  I believe several of my collection came from  my Dad's shop when I cleaned it out. Who knows where the nuts and lock washers are?

2 5/16 is stamped 16,000#
One 2" is stamped 5,000 #
One 2" is stamped 3,000 #
The 1 7/8 is stamped 3,500 #

The 1 7/8 has a larger shank than the 3,000 # 2" ball.

The point is it's best to check the capacity stamped on the ball/hitch combination before trusting that one is correctly sized for the weight of the towable.

Thinking all 2" balls have "x" capacity could mean trouble.  

By the way, see how shiny they are?     ;D

[KenMac]

That's not akin to the perverbial 4 balled tom cat I've heard about before is it?

[Old Greenhorn]

Ken I don't think I can answer that. ;D
 But yeah, I did wind up out in the driveway looking at my balls. The 2-5/16 on the truck had a rating of crazy high rating which I forget now, the 2" was 5,000#, another 2" on the mule was also 5,000# but the adaptor was not rated near that (1-1/4"). I also checked my balls in the shop, about 4, and they were rated similar to what Ted stated, if not identical. I could not find a 1-7/8 but I forgot about checking the shed where I have another pile. I also note the he hitch couplers have their own ratings which vary.
 As Doc said, you are only as good as your weakest link, so you have to check coupler, ball, ball adaptor, and hitch rating. I guess from now on, when changing what I pull or how I pull it, I will have to check my balls and everything that connects to them.
 Learn something new everyday here on the FF!

[Crusarius]

don't forget the 4 or 6 little bolts that are supposed to hold the tow hitch to the towing vehicle frame. I swear the balls have a higher rating than most of those.