The patented device which is called the Safehitch has been developed to address the frustrating issue of safely and quickly attaching an implement to a tractor on the lower 3 point linkage.
The inspiration for the innovation has come from a growing realisation that tractors and implements are getting bigger, farmers older and children are being exposed to greater forces than in days gone by . As one of their boys pointed out” In the 21 st century there must an easier way to do this “
The pre set nature of the safehitch allows the user to align the lower arms to any device prior to mounting the tractor and allows one person to easily initiate attachment of an implement unaided without dismounting from the vehicle.
While it is a labour saving device, they view it primarily as a safety feature in that they find that many older farmers are physically uncomfortable mounting and dismounting in order to set the lower arms, many farmers tend to resort to dragging implements into place opening up the risk of physical injury, while in many cases a second person often a child is called on to push the arms into place exposing themselves to the risk of being crushed when the tractor moves back.
In light of the number of injuries and fatalities in recent times on farms we feel Safehitch has an important role to play in limiting risk in this crucial area.
Please circulate this press release for me in the run up to Ploughing, I will have images and a short video in the next day or so and will send these on also. anything you can do will be much appreciated.