One-person hitch saves time and increases safety

By Marcia Miquelon, Outreach Specialist
UW Madison Healthy Farmers, Healthy Profits Project

"I can't tell you the number of times I've had situations that could have turned bad as I tried to insert a pin, a trailer moved forward or a tractor wasn't properly stabilized," stated Tim Power of Laws Nursery in Hastings, MN. "This [one-person hitch] eliminates the problems altogether… the safety factor cannot be overestimated."

For nursery growers who use tractors and wagons to move plants, one-person hitching systems can dramatically save time and reduce the risk of serious injury. Without having to climb down off the tractor, you can back up to a wagon until the coupling device locks the wagon in place. Unhitching is simply done by pulling a release cable. With this system no second person is required to guide or latch the hitch.

"It's fast," claims Paul Morlock of Laws Nursery. "I don't have to keep climbing on and off the tractor, particularly with a loaded wagon where you have to be just perfect to get it to line up and slip in a pin, and this is very quick."

Trials by the University of Wisconsin's Healthy Farmers, Healthy Profits Project found that hitching with the one-person hitch, using the same experienced worker, was 91 percent faster than without it. In fact, workers saved a minute per hitch/unhitch cycle.

"The safety benefits and time savings are more than enough in my opinion to justify the cost of the system," Power stated. " It's like buying a good insurance policy. It pays for itself immediately."

The one-person hitch could also be a factor to reduce medical or workman's compensation costs.

The one-person hitch has two units which are sold separately in order to correctly fit your tractor and wagon, based on the drawbar hole and hitch pin. There are several one-person hitch systems on the market and you can find a system that will best fit your nursery's needs.

The Healthy Farmers, Healthy Profits Project is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), to find and promote the adoption of more efficient, safer tools by nursery growers. For more information, please see http://bse.wisc.edu/hfhp or contact Marcia Miquelon or Nicole Hosto at (608) 262-1054.

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