Modifying Curt Hitch from 1.25" to 2"-Compared to Ecohitch 2"

[eldrijt]

I needed a heavy duty 2" hitch for a few reasons.  1st I have ALS and will be using a heavy power wheelchair in the near future. So I need to mount it on a lift on the back of my Cmax. Combined weight is about 350 lbs. 2nd I have a great 2" bike rack that doubles as a hitch hauler.  My choices were a 350 lb 1.25" Curt and the 150 lb 2" Ecohitch. I probably won't carry more than 150 lbs on the rack so the Ecohitch (150 lb limit) would have been fine for that.

 

So I ordered the 350 lb limit Curt hitch from Amazon delivered for $120, and had a welder modify the hitch to 2". I brought him the hitch and a 6" long, 2" Drawtite receiver bar from Tractor Supply ($20). He cut off the 1.25 bar and welded on the 2" bar for $75. See pics. All modifications were under the bumper so I knew it would still fit on the car. We then sanded off the heat affected paint with a drill and a paint removal poly wheel and painted with Rustoleum gloss black paint.

 

Then I got 2 friends to come over and install the hitch which I'll cover in a separate thread.

 

I am very happy with the result. And the difference in capacity vs Ecohitch is obvious when you look at the picture of the bolts side by side. Ecohitch uses 6 of the small bolts threaded into Cmax frame rail inserts while the Curt uses 4 small bolts into inserts and 2 large bolts with a 1"x2"x.25" steel load spreader bar up inside the frame rail which is much stronger than an insert. The big bolts go through the 2 holes you drill. These big bolts are in almost pure tension so they're also in the right place to increase capacity.

 

Now the bad news. Nobody would install a modified hitch so if you go this route plan on installing yourself or get a welder who specializes in hitches and get him to do it all.

 

And finally i'd like to say I'm not criticizing the Ecohitch. For most people it's a very good and easy to install hitch. I just needed more capacity than most do.

 

Oh and btw that's an electric lawnmower on the back of my Energi.

 

• Jim

Edited July 7, 2015 by eldrijt

[Bugblndr]

Nice work, glad to see you got it done and installed Jim!

[ls973800]

Glad to see you were able to get something that works for you.  Nice job!

 

Moving into a house next month, and just started looking at some lawn equipment I will have to buy.  I have done a little looking on line at the cordless electric mowers but the choice is limited right now for self propelled ones. 

 

The two or three I have found so far use the older lead batteries which add weight, don't provide as much power, and have a different charging routine than the newer batteries.  The cutting width is usually smaller also.  I think the largest I have seen is 20"

 

I may just buy a used gas mower for the rest of this season, and see what comes out next spring.

 

Until I started driving a C-Max Energi in April, I wouldn't have even thought about an electric mower, edge trimmer, weed eater, etc!  :)

Edited July 8, 2015 by ls973800

[kostby]

 

 

Reposted my electric lawnmower comments in the Off-Topic, Electric Lawnmower thread.

Edited July 9, 2015 by kostby

[eldrijt]

We have about a 1400 sq ft lawn on a very steep lot so a 45 lb mower that always starts makes sense for us. This Ryobi comes with 2 batteries so overkill for us. Somebody had returned it to Home Depot so we got it for $300. They probably had a huge lawn. Very quiet and push button start. No gas cans no fumes.

 

Jim

[ls973800]

Sorry to have "hi-jacked" this post.  I am going to start a new topic in order to continue this discussion about electric lawn mowers and tools.  I appreciate the additional information here, and hope to see more on the correct post.

 

Steve

 

Just posted "Electric Lawn Mower"  under the Off Topic group

Edited July 8, 2015 by ls973800