# mower lifts up 3-point arm backing up. broken 3 point hydraulics?



## indianajo (Apr 15, 2009)

I attached the tongue of the flail mower to a 3 point arm to offset it so I can cut the ditch edge. No driveshaft, it is self powered. When I back up, the mower rolls on its back, lifting the 3 point arm up. The mower engine shuts off due to gas starvation. Is the 3 point broken? It lifts fine hydraulically, but doesn't push down. I thought the goal of a 3 point was to push down on a plow. Not true? I don't have "draft control" which I thought was only a sensor on the upper arm anyway. Tractor is a Ford 1520 compact. Maybe it is just cheap, and a real tractor pushes down on the 3 point arm. I can re-hang the mower to the drawbar which is fixed, but it is in the middle and won't hang the mower out over the edge of the ditch to cut the weeds. The back of the flail mower has a roller all the way across.


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## LouNY (Dec 15, 2016)

Your 3 point is working fine, they do not have down pressure.
They will float up by design.


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## Groo (Jan 17, 2020)

Are you sure you don't have draft control? I don't know if it was standard or even a factory option, but there were kits to add it at least.
My understanding of draft control is that it lifts the plow when the tractor is pulling to hard. It might read backing up as pulling hard, depending on how it works. I wouldn't be surprised if that hoe they would make it work, so as not to damage the plow.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

As mentioned above, the three point hitch doesn't have down pressure. When one lowers a plow, for instance, with the three point hitch, the plow will dig in and pull itself down. You use the three point to stop the plow at the depth you want. The draft control will try and keep it there.
My rear grader blade works fine going forward, but if I back blade in reverse, the the blade will climb over any gravel piles that I am trying to spread. Makes it easy to pick up more gravel without messing with the three point setting.


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## Ultradog (Feb 27, 2005)

Lou is correct.
No down pressure on a 3 point hitch. Well, except for some home built or aftermarket add-on units for older tractors that came without 3 point.
Think about it; down pressure on the 3 point would tend to lift your tires off the ground giving you no traction. 3 point implements - a plow for example, work by setting the angle of the plow so it digs itself into the ground as you pull it forward.
Being a mounted plow it ADDS weight to the rear wheels, increasing traction. 
Draft control allows you to to adjust how hard the tractor is pulling - to avoid tire slippage.
In draft mode the mechanical sensor causes the hydraulic lift to automatically raise up in hard spots and lower it in easier to pull spots.
The genius of Harry Ferguson's "System" as originally installed on the 9N Fords in 1939 was twofold.
First, the draft control was a simple mechanism which allowed you to set how hard the tractor was pulling and automatically Raised the implement before the tires began to spin.
Secondly, by having the added weight of a mounted plow and the soil the plow is lifting, the little Ns would out plow tractors (of the same HP) that had to weigh 50% more than an an N to get the same traction.
50% less weight meant a big savings in manufacturing cost and a big savings to the end user - the farmer.


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## dozer966 (Dec 30, 2014)

Nice little bit of history ultra dog thanks


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## indianajo (Apr 15, 2009)

okay thanks. a lot i don't know about tractors.


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