talkin' hitches blues

Let’s talk hitches.  One joy of being a nascent hops farmer is getting acclimated to the myriad ways humankind has sought to connect one thing to another and…pull it.  Turns out, not every Thing 1 can hook up to Thing 2. 

To provide a baseline, here’s the hitch I have on my vehicle.  It comes in handy when pulling the trailer I don’t have to bring home the new tiller I haven’t bought.

This next one is called a drop-pin hitch.  It’s great for pulling small, red wagons filled with sticks collected by grandchildren, or a few kittens, or a couple dozen plastic Easter eggs.  Or maybe a glass of milk.

Next is a classic officially known as the draw bar, which is shown here on a beloved 1950 Farmall H (that starts, eventually).  It has a satisfying roll-n-swivel feature that allows you to tow things off to either side, plus several holes where rugged-looking bolts can be stored or dry pasta servings measured.

Finally, here's a 3 point hitch, the standard on every Thing 1 manufactured since the 1960s.  (Notice how this 3 point, in conjunction with the covered PTO,  looks like a robotic nun reaching out to give a techno-death hug.  I think it’s thinly veiled religious commentary from the smug designers at New Holland.)  The 3 point can pull most anything, but things designed specifically to be pulled by a 3 point usually can’t be pulled by anything else.  Which can create a conundrum for those who prefer to use whatever machines Dad happened to buy…very used…25 years ago.

And thus is cued up next week’s post:  the hero’s journey called “tiller acquisition.”