This invention targets a group of specialty tractors that include "skid steer" 4-wheel-drive fixed axle tractors such as "Bobcats" that are typically factory-outfitted with front loader "dirt buckets", conventional farm tractors that are optionally equipped with front loader buckets, and the larger articulated 4-wheel-drive gravel bucket loaders such as "Payloaders". These specialty machines are often used at construction sites and for various tasks on farms and ranches. One increasingly common use is for moving trailers and wagons around farm yards and construction sites.
Of this group of machines, the typically smaller "skid steer" tractors that have the unique capability of "spot" turning by independently reversing direction of their left or right drive wheels are by far the most maneuverable and, as a result, the most popular for trailer and wagon moving. In this scenario, trailers and wagons are normally connected in some manner to a bolt hole located centrally in the forward or "lip" section of the tractors' bucket, thus enabling a connected trailer to be either "pulled" or "backed" with relative ease. It should also be noted that it is relatively easy to "back" 4-wheeled wagons connected to a skid steer tractor in this manner--a feat that is normally considered to be very difficult with any rear hitch configuration.
There are, however, two problems commonly encountered when moving trailers with these tractors. First, most loader buckets manufactured before the early 1990's were not made with bolt holes in the hardened steel bucket lip. It is usually not possible to drill a hole in the heat treated bucket lip with readily available drills. A gas cutting torch can be used to burn a hole in the bucket lip, but it can be difficult to obtain a good quality hole suitable for secure fastening of a trailer towing ball. Further, the torch heat may reduce the temper of the surrounding steel, making this area vulnerable to subsequent stress, cracking and premature failure.
Second, even when a factory hole is supplied with the bucket, it is often not practical to leave a trailer towing ball permanently installed on the bucket as the ball interferes with most normal uses for such a loader. Hence, when used frequently, it can become a time consuming and frustrating exercise to install and remove towing balls affixed via a conventional bolt.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds