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Vehicles

What Is a Drawbar?

By Lori Kilchermann
Updated Feb 13, 2024
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A drawbar is a type of hitch found on many farm or heavy construction implements. Manufactured of high-quality steel, a drawbar is almost unbreakable. Built to withstand great amounts of stress and resistance, this hitch is able to pull extremely heavy attachments such as plows and earth moving equipment with minimal risk of breaking.

The drawbar on a typical farm tractor is approximately 3 feet long (almost 1 meter), 4 inches wide (10 cm) and 2 inches thick (5 cm). This drawbar can weigh as much as 200 pounds (90 kg). This is due to the high quality of high carbon steel used in its manufacture. A drawbar on a locomotive can weigh thousands of pounds.

The drawbar is typically constructed with holes on each end. One end of the drawbar is attached to the vehicle with very strong bolts while the other is typically left open. A draw pin is inserted through the implements hitch and through the hole in the drawbar. The draw pin is also constructed of a very high quality steel that prevents it from bending, wearing through or breaking under the tremendous load.

Rarely, a drawbar will require changing. These are designed to last the lifetime of the vehicle that they are installed on. When a replacement is deemed necessary, the mounting bolts are also replaced with new ones. The incredible load that is placed upon these bolts dictates that they not be reused.

A drawbar is not cast from iron or steel, but rather forged from a block of billet steel. This type of steel is the strongest and most pure type of steel available. The quality of the steel allows it to ring like a bell when struck with a hammer. It also resists denting or nicking when struck repeatedly with a hammer.

The drawbar is heat treated to be harder anything that will be attached to it, as well as the draw pin which will be inserted through it. This prevents the drawbar hole from becoming oblong or worn out and the drawbar will not be worn through by the weight of the implement's tongue riding against its surface for long periods of time.

The drawbar is perhaps the strongest part of any machine that it is attached to. It is the most critical part in the completion of any type of job. If the drawbar fails, the job typically cannot be accomplished.

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Discussion Comments

By pastanaga — On Dec 05, 2011

@croydon - The problem with that is that there are usually not all that many advancements made to farming technology. Not of the tractor kind. They don't need to be more powerful anymore, or more sophisticated. They already do one of the best jobs possible, and can be made with techniques that means they will endure.

While most other goods, like say a television, will be outdated within several years.

Now, you could cater to needs rather than wants, but that's not the way to make money.

Unless someone comes up with the ultimate form of television where hardly any kind of advancement is possible (and I don't even know what that would look like) there's no point in making it as durable as a drawbar pull, because it will just be tossed out in five years anyway.

By croydon — On Dec 04, 2011

@browncoat - The effort they put into making sure tractors are going to last is incredible. I once went to a farming museum which had sheds full of old tractors, and most of them were still usable. Some of them were almost a hundred years old and they could still be used to plow a field if necessary.

I imagine the drawbar pull on each was still functional, and indeed they were occasionally used to pull little train carriages for the kids.

My friend and I were very impressed. It made me think it's a shame that more consumer items aren't made to last in this way.

By browncoat — On Dec 03, 2011

It sounds like they put a lot of work into making sure that this one part of the equipment isn't going to fail. I know with tractors and heavy machinery, they usually do a good job on all the parts, because people want something that will last a very long time.

I guess it's because they cost so much. A decent new tractor can cost as much as a cheap house. It's possibly the most expensive thing on a farm.

I know with small farms they often band together and get a tractor everyone can share. And even then, it's usually a used tractor, not a new one.

Or they rent a tractor instead.

But, at any rate, that's why they put so much into individual parts like the drawbar pull.

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