I have a 2003 Grizzly 660 Titanium Limited Edition. Have others had trouble with the stock hitch bolts loosening and requiring to be retightend often and then eventually breaking? I use the wheeler to haul firewood around the house also the custom snowplow I have hooks to the rear hitch. I dont think I am abusing the hitch with these uses but I know that there are stresses on the bolts for sure. Has anyone installed a receiver hitch? I see some on Ebay but they look like they are attached to the original hitch anyway.
Just wondering if others are seeing the same thing and if there are some work arounds.
Ray

 

I used to have the same problem with my '02 Grizzly early on. This was from pulling logs, and there were bigger logs that I had to get moving with a "****** and jerk" (very hard on equipment, I know). Then one day I actually broke one of the two hitch bolts doing this (they were a little loose when it broke). So I got the broken bolt out, took the other bolt out and drilled out the bolt holes on the frame, just large enough to take the threads out using the next largest bolt size. I then put in two grade 8 bolts to match the new hole size (after drilling out the holes on the hitch tongue as well to match) and fastened them with a couple of nuts each. It never came loose again.

However the next thing I did was break the hitch tongue itself. So I bought a hitch tongue for a truck (2" receiver size) which is probably 1/2 or 5/8" thick steel and cut out a chunk of that (using a metal band saw that I have) to use as a replacement hitch tongue for my Grizzly. I drilled the necessary 3 holes in it (2 for the mounting bolts, 1 for receiving implements) and have not had any problem since...

 

Those original bolts are meant to shear at a certain load, so more expensive stuff doesnt break. They are like shear pins, and replaceing them with stronger bolts isnt the answer. You can use locktite on the threads, and it wont loosen up, and they are still removeable by using a bit of heat on the bolt before removing it.

 

Thanks 2TV. I think I will drill it out and bolt it down. There is no reason to have it threaded. If you get a chance I would appreciate a couple pics of your set up to see what you have.
Ray

 

Hondabuster, you are right I'm sure. However for the abuse that I subjected my Grizzly to (dragging logs), I just needed to have it stronger. So far, I haven't had any other problems associated with doing this and I've had this machine for 5 1/2 years now (it's even still on the original drive belt).

BuckblasterCanada, sure, I'll take some pictures for you. I probably wont get a chance to do that until next weekend though...