Quick Hitches

IMPORTANT: note on Quick Hitch safety!

There have been a number of high-profile, fatal incidents relating to misuse of quick hitches. (See the reports on 26th March 2008 and 8th August 2008 on our news page.)

Whilst none of these relate specifically to our products, we have nonetheless been invloved along with other manufacturers with recent moves by the HSE to develop new guidelines to prevent future deaths.

We can assure our customers that:

1. Provided our safety instructions are followed, all quick hitches previously supplied by DIGBITS should remain safe to use.
2. All future quick hitches supplied by DIGBITS will comply with the newly formulated legislation.

Full details on the latest HSE Guidance for quick hitches can be found here.

Guidance from the Construction Plant hire Association here.

IMPORTANT: note on Quick Hitch construction

We make all the pin pick-up hooks on our quick hitches from Hardox steel. This is more expensive than conventional mild steel but gives far higher yield strength and, critically, much greater surface hardness. Since it is not possible to 'bush' the interface between the bucket pins and the quick hitch hooks themselves, we believe only a high-wear steel can give acceptable durability.

There are cheaper hitches than ours, but equally we know from feedback from customers that some of these will not last longer than 12 or 18 months - is that economic life? We don't think so, which is why we use Hardox.

Semi-QH

Our Semi-QH, or the "SemiPin Quick Hitch" to give it it's full name, is a basic, lightweight manual hitch, suitable for all smaller machines from just 0.75 tonnes upwards.

The Semi-QH is a compact, extremely simple and inexpensive to buy and is manufactured to order, with a wide variety of models available to suit micro, mini and midi excavators from 0.75, to 8.0 tonnes operating weight.

The Semi_QH picks up standard (i.e. normal pin fitting) buckets.

Connect a bucket or attachment in three easy steps:

1>> Hooking the QH onto the front bucket/attachment pin.

2>>Crowding bucket ram until the rear pin can be fitted.

3>> Securing the rear pin in place - as per a normal bucket/attachment.

In this way, the Semi-QH needs only one dummy pin per bucket/attachment.

Springlock Q-Hitch

The SPRINGLOCK is a compact, mechanical Quick Hitch (QH), suitable for use on all micro, mini and midi excavators from 0.75, to 8.0 tonnes operating weight.

Simple operation, and extremely competitive pricing make this our most popular QH for compact excavators.

Easily fitted to the machine, this QH requires no pipe work or welding and is supplied ready for immediate use.

This QH picks up standard buckets via captive, 'dummy' bucket pins (extra), using spring pressure to counter backlash and assist in coupling. Springs are pressure tested up to a million cycles for durability.

A simple, sturdy Safety Pin holds the rear hook fast, ensuring the QH and bucket remain coupled. This Safety Pin is held captive in the QH to help avoid loss and discourage unsafe operation.

IMPORTANT! All buckets must have correct pivot bracket measurements. Check with our sales team for more details, or request our 'bucket fit details' sheet when ordering. Not recommended for use with hydraulic breakers/hammers.

Fully Automatic Hydraulic Q-Hitches

There is a failsafe to stop the rear hook disengaging from the rear bucket pin in the event of hydraulic failure, which also helps prevent accidental unlocks. The rear ‘crocodile clip’ which holds the back hook in place and stops accidental disengagement of the back pin. You can only disengage the rear hook once the buckets is curled under and hence fully held by the front pin even in event of all other systems failing – at this point the latch hits the bucket link and opens the crocodile clip. This is standard on all FAHQHs above 6t. For smaller machines there is simply a gravity catch.

At the front of the hitch is an additional latch which stops buckets droppping free from the hitch when the rear hook is disengaged or improperly located. The front latch only disengages on the final part of the ram’s travel, after the rear hook has released. This also acts as a visible safety feature, which the operator can clearly see.

Wedgetype Q-Hitch

A cost effective, mechanical alternative to the hydraulic MultiLock system, the Wedge type quick hitch (QH) offers the benefits of fast, easy bucket and attachment changes, without the complication of hydraulics.

This type of QH can be fitted to any 360o excavators from 10 to 50 tonnes operating weight, and picks up standard buckets, via captive, or 'dummy' bucket pins (extra) in each bucket or attachment.

How it works; The simple, effective mechanism uses a swinging rear hook, which once engaged on the rear bucket pin, is secured by a serrated wedge. A small key fits into the serrations, preventing the wedge from moving, and the whole assembly is locked in place by the main Safety Pin, which runs through the body of the QH, from one side to the other.