I bought 2 of these at a government auction a few years ago. Gave one away and managed to bury the remainder under junk in the “workshop”. I wonder if I can machine an adapter so that it can fit in a regular receiver and retain the rotation feature. Just for no other reason than it looks cool.
shooftie 
#1 by Old Fussbudget on January 3, 2012 - 8:58 pm
It’s not supposed to rotate, mate. It lines up vertically with the swinging part on top and the trailer has a horizontal ring.
Very sloppy hitch, lots of play in it. Suitable for the army.
#2 by albell on January 4, 2012 - 7:13 am
I think this one is supposed to rotate David, to allow the trailer to articulate more over those rough trails. I’ve seen them with the pintle fixed and the ring (lunette?) with rotation. Here’s and example:
Oh, and here is an adapter to allow a fixed pintle to rotate:
In any case, for me it would only be for show I don’t have a trailer š
ab
#3 by Old Fussbudget on January 4, 2012 - 7:32 am
Yes, ok. There are swiveling pintle hooks. Here’s a drawing of one: http://www.easternmarine.com/media/downloads/4561/1326244_dia.gif
Pintle hook capacities seem to start around 10,000 lb. Better get some more granny gears.
When I was a kid in the junior part of the Civil Air Patrol, we had an Army 6×6. Four speed transmission with two-speed transfer case. In low-low with any load we managed to put on it, the clutch had two actions: on and off. Even half a mile per hour is fast if you get there in a tenth of a second…
It had a pintle hitch.
#4 by albell on January 4, 2012 - 7:50 am
Further reading on the page where the swivelling adapter was shown in my earlier comment (http://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/187703-rotating-pintle-hitch-install-fj40.html), he writes:
“I should have updated this long ago….
The hitch rotated too easily. I found the military specs and it should require the use of a long crowbar to rotate it. It is not supposed to articulate under normal use, even off-road. It is supposed to rotate only if the trailer runs out of articulation, and rotation is supposed to prevent damage to the towing vehicle or trailer. Basically it is highly controlled articulation once there is no more free articulation.
This may also be why you see pics of trailers using lock and roll style hitches flipped over. They do not have resistance to articulation at a point where the trailer may flip over. The military specs will help prevent rollovers.
BTW, I have reached free articulation limits and have exceeded them. The pintle and the lunette on the trailer have both been torqued over at a combined 45 degree angle. But the resistance prevented the trailer from flipping. I believe a lock and roll hitch would have allowed the trailer to flip.”
Jeez you’re being an old grumpus David, would I have got the same “harumphs” if i had suggested installing clips for blackout screens? š
ab
PS love the clutch description