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RyanC

Snow Plow Transformation! This is an Experiment.

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massey

Nice work. What are the headlights from?

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Operator

You went the lift tube way! That worked out great! Good fab work.

Randy

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TT

For the most part, it looks like a D series grader blade morphed with an early Lawn Ranger dozer blade. :D

I hope you're planning on adding a few gussets in the area of the original piece of "A" frame and the vertical mounting section, or you might see some twisting if you get in to some hard-pushing - or something a little solid. :ychain:

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Don1977

I think you may want to keep an eye on where the transmission bolts to the frame.Other members have had to reinforce this area with a 1/4" plate and bracing up to the frame rails. You have taken the load off the rear axle and put it on the frame rails.

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catman81056

It's really great when a plan comes together :D Looks like you've accomplished what you set out to do.

Now from what I have seen here, you have an eye for visualizing what you want to end up with. I have a suggestion for you to ponder.

How about coming off of the right side of the frame with a lever assembly that you can use to shift the plow angle? Since the blade has such a high lift I'm thinking some kind of covered cable control such as a car emergency brake cable. Have I got you thinking? This would complete the "package". And, from what I gather from your post's, this would be right up your alley with the fun factor :D

Sleep is over rated anyways :ychain:

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TT

I think you may want to keep an eye on where the transmission bolts to the frame.Other members have had to reinforce this area with a 1/4" plate and bracing up to the frame rails. You have taken the load off the rear axle and put it on the frame rails.

You actually have it backwards, Don. The tranz mounting plates get cracked and broken because the blade frame fastens to the rear axle - and also from "pulling" things that shouldn't be pulled - like tree stumps, etc.

All of the force is transferred rearward when the blade hits a solid object - which literally tries to drive the transaxle out of the back of the tractor.

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RyanC

Darren, the blade angling system is somewhat of a question at this point. The good thing is that pretty much anything will be better than before. When I previously used the plow I had to get off of the tractor pull a little wire on the front of the

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WH Raider10

That looks real good! Nice job! :ychain:

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btrrg1969

:ychain: That lifts almost high enough to be a loader. Good Job

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Polaris2007

I think you may want to keep an eye on where the transmission bolts to the frame.Other members have had to reinforce this area with a 1/4" plate and bracing up to the frame rails. You have taken the load off the rear axle and put it on the frame rails.

You actually have it backwards, Don. The tranz mounting plates get cracked and broken because the blade frame fastens to the rear axle - and also from "pulling" things that shouldn't be pulled - like tree stumps, etc.

All of the force is transferred rearward when the blade hits a solid object - which literally tries to drive the transaxle out of the back of the tractor.

TT, from an engineering standpoint, I have to agree with Don. The traction of the wheels inpart forward force on the transmission housing, which pushes forward on the plow frame which pushes the plow forward. The frame, engine, and rest of the tractor are just along for the ride. You are correct when you say that when the plow fetches up on something hard and stops the tractor dead, there is some stress on the frame mounting flange as the frame and engine try to continue forward due to inertia. The four frame to tranny mount bolts are put in tension, and the mount flange is stressed forward by these bolts. But this stress is much less, and much more desirable than the stress that the frame and tranny mount flange would see if the plow were mounted to the front of the tractor, and the plow fetched up on something hard and stopped the tractor dead. In this situation, the plow fetches up and stops, and the wheels and tranny want to keep going forward, not JUST due to inertia like in the first example, but because the wheels are still driving the transmission forward, putting the frame and mount flange in compression. This compressive force would be quite a bit more severe than the tensive force created by the frame/engine's inertia in the first situation. I believe that this reasoning is why the wheel Horse engineers decided to attach the plow to the tranny and not just attach it to the mid Tach-o-matic like other implements. My buddy made a modification to his plow on his C120. He shortened the frame and modified it to hook up to the mid Tach-o-matic. After the first session of plowing, he discovered that his frame had cracked around tranny mounting flange. Because of the reasoning I have just discribed, I believe mounting your plow anywhere other than the transmission is a bad idea. I certainly do not mean to rain on the original poster's parade....It looks like some clever figuring & fabricating, and that is what we do here on Red Square. I just don't think this particular modification is a good one. :ychain:

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TT

I guess there's always two sides to every coin. (but there's also an edge :D )

I have never seen a tranz mounting plate pushed or buckled forward on a Wheel Horse. The bolts either pull back through, or the whole plate tears out to the rear.

I borrowed this picture from Rod(NASNUT):

100_0468.jpg

That's an example of what happens when trying to pull a stump out of the ground - and no engineer can argue with that picture. I have seen the exact same thing happen from ramming frozen snow piles, etc. on a few other Wheel Horses. The force acting upon the mount is the same - whether it's pulling from the rear of the tranz or pushing back at the axle tubes, correct?

There are quite a few brands of GTs that fasten the dozer blade to the front of the frame - or in the case of Bolens - directly to the front axle. None of them have the same (weak) style of tranz mount though. Personally, I would be more concerned with the notched area of the frame where the footrest rod is mounted.

Every plow truck/SUV I have ever seen have the plow mount attached to the front of the frame too, and I can't recall any rear axles torn loose or out - except under extreme circumstances. I have seen a few bent and/or broken frames and plow mounts though. :D

There is absolutely no reason why any blade mounting design should cause problems at the tranz mount under normal use. (clearing snow)

When the operator thinks he's on a D-11 Cat and forgets it's just a garden tractor...... that's when things start breaking. :ychain:

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jdog_kustoms

i personally distroyed the frame to rear mounting plate on my 416-8 last year slammin those blizzards back off the drive way with my plow i hate to say it but i have to agree with TT my thought would be if the blade is bolted to the front of the frame it was just make it loose traction

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Forest Road

Looks great! I picked up a cable and clevis hook fro mthe late 90's style of plows. They used the cable in place of the crappy wire to pull the release pin on the angle adjustment. I plan to use the cable and mount a hand brake on my raise implement lever to relase the plow angle. Then like an ATV plow I can just turn the wheels left or right to angle the plow. No electric motors. Keep it simple!!!

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WheelHorse_of_course

Nice project. Nice modification of the push rod concept to maintain clearence.

If you will ever push anything with the blade anywhere but down, the push rod and mount will need significant beefing up.

Keep us posted as you use it.

No need to tell the Mrs why you modded the plow. Go ahead and get that second tractor ASAP!

:D :ychain:

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Horse'n Around

Its turning out great,and in record time too! You did a great job of figuring out the linkages and all.Good Work :ychain:

John

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RyanC

Just went out to the garage for an hour or so and added the top brace to the plow to give some strength to the drop down piece. I think this is going to work real well.

I'm going to try to get out and push some snow tomorrow after work. We have a few inches on the ground right now.

I have two questions at the moment.

1. Has anyone used actuators of some sort on your homemade implements? I thought it might be kind of cool to add something like that to this plow; however, I do like the keep it simple method most of all.

2. Can you use the Farmall implement paint that you find at home improvement stores to paint your WH implements? Just wondering if it's the same color.

By the way, I'm considering adding a hinge to the top of this plow and adding the front part of a Johnny Bucket, but that will be another project.

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Operator

Good idea Randy. :ychain: You can catch those Harbor Freight 2500 lb winch's on sale for $50.00. That would be worth it. I have a cheepy fron Rural King and it's a pretty good winch. Might save alot of aggravation.

Tim now you got me thinking, I have a D - blower here that needs new chute turning cable and the crank handle. I was thinking electric windo motor fabbed up to turn, but with a cable system couldn't quite figure out a good system.

$50.00 winch!!!! pull cable off and use smaller cable double wrapped then around chute. :D

Comes with weather proof switch too!! Another :D

Thanks Tim

Randy

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COMMANDO1

Now would be the perfect time to use the $59.00 electric winch from harbor freight.

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rickv1957

Nice fab work on your blade!! Rick

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RyanC

Ok, just took the converted snow plow out for a little test. The snow is melting now so it could be a bit slicker but I can tell that I have lost a fair amount of traction.

I think the tractor is not as balanced as it was previously which would make sense since I stuck all of the weight up front. The rear end is definitely lighter and the front is heavier. I'm getting a fish tailing affect.

Think I'm going to have to add some weight to the rear end. Anybody have any good ideas?

I'm wondering where would be the best place to start, wheel weights, fluid in the tires, build a weight box... I'm also considering putting on a set of duals. What's your thoughts? I'm sure many of you have been down this road before.

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Coadster32

Really nice fab job. :ychain: (interesting pics and discussion on the frame forces as well).

As far as weight on the back, it depends on what you can get away with. I have to plow right next to a chain link fence, and my weight can't stick out past the tires, as the plow is the width of the tractor, I found that filling the tires with liquid is really neat for saving space at 75 lbs each, but you can "flat spot" them if they sit too long without moving. (I used to jack up the rear end when not in use). Weight at the wheels are ideal as they won't put any extra load on the tranny bearings, etc. Weight boxes are compact also, but see the last statement. You could goto chains in the rear, or some sand bags in the tool-box. Perhaps eating a few extra donuts before plowing might help. :D With your fabrricatioon skills, I'm sure you'll figure something out. Good Luck.

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JimD

This is a great thread with a lot of fine fab kills and ideas on display, along with engineering thoughts by some great thinkers. Ryan, you have some excellent skills. A fine job on the project. Karl, I hope you're watching, this would make a great thread for the GPOAT section when it is finished. :ychain:

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hm12460

It is pretty tough to beat self taught engineering, who needs a stinkin' degree anyway?? My Mobil 1 hat is off to you Ryan, excellent job!

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Horse Fanatic

The front axle that used to be on the tractor was very worn and had some broken parts so I just chose to do away with the whole system. The only part remaining on the tractor is that sprocket on the rear axle that ultimately drove the front wheels.

What kind of axle was originally on the front that could be chain driven and allowed for steering?

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