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Stigian

Snowplow/blade build, Im getting on with it at las

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Stigian

Afternoon all, sorry, evening all. I need to wake up a bit :D:D

It been a "no play on the plow" kinda weekend ;) , been replacing the carpets in my Wife's Vauxhall Corsa.

Not as much fun as working on Wheel Horses, but at least Wifey can now drive to work without fear of getting her feet tangled in ripped carpet :)

As always, many thanks for the kind words B)

Compared to a couple of sections of garage door spring, that's one classy looking piece

Thank you Greg :( i quite like the look of them as well. Be nice if they keep the colour when i weld them tomorrow.

Ian you most deffinatley bring entertainment & education to all of us here at Red Square!

I can't wait to see you useing the plow with some action shots!

I'd also like to know what you smoke & whats in your coffee that helps motvate you?

You seem to get going on a project & just run with it!

Glad i can be of service and entertain you all ;)

Action shots will be posted when some action happens :)

Im not sure any snow will be in the photos :( but im sure i can find something to push about :(

As for whats in my coffee and what do i smoke???

Mind your own business Stephen ;);) Only kidding B)

Coffee is just good old Nescafe, i cant get on with fresh coffee :(

As for the smoke.......... Im saying nowt :o

Once i start on a project i do find it hard to stop, its always on my mind trying to work out how to do things. I just find it hard to turn my brain off if you know what i mean B)

Stephen, I'm starting to think it has something to do with all the Tea they drink across the pond

Im not sure if Jim is a tea drinker B) i cant stand the stuff, its nescafe or death :D

Ian. Your story and pics about the progress of your plow project make for some great reading. Better than any novel out there

LOl cheers Mike. Im glad you like my writing :o

I feel im just starting to find my feet in "forum land" :o When i first started forum life i didnt really know what to write :D

These days its pretty much the same, but now i just sit back and let the alien in me do the work :P:o:D

Ian, that bike fork mod was brilliant

Cheers Karl :o It was the result of many hours :( ing.

I must of looked quite daft standing for hours with a long fork spring in one hand, :( ing with the other one :D

More to come tomorrow with the spring/reverse shock thingys being mounted.

You never know i might even get started on the blade angle change lever :woohoo:

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T-Mo

Ian,

It's coming along so nice. And Sparky is right, this reads like a novel. Excellent documentation. :D

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WheelHorse_of_course

:D About coffee. When I have been in the UK a have not been able to get good fresh brewed coffee. I even tried starbucks. :P

Good espresso, yes, but not brewed coffee.

I was surprised at how popular coffee is over there, but when I go I either bring my own (to make in the hotel room) or just drink tea! <_<

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Stigian

You tried starbucks :P

A braver man than me :(

Stand by for another update, when i find where the photos have gone on my HD :D

Found the photos, now photochuckit is having a bad hair day <_<

The joys of this new fangled interweb thingy eh :(

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combatmp29r

Ian, had the same photobucket issue had to do it the old fashioned way :D

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Stigian

Chapter 8

More sparks and springy thingys.

Well, you all keep saying it reads like a novel :(

Sorry im a few days out of date on my updates, its been a few busy days followed by very tired nights :o

First of all, a big Thank You to Garry for the help and for taking a few photos with your posh camara :(

Starting with an "arty" photo, taken by Garry and potatoshoped into monochrome :o

PICT0049.jpg

Here's what i was welding, the top of the reverse shock thingy has had a washer added to take out the slight bit of sideways movement. The end of the piston rod has been shortened and welded a bit more solid. he hole was already there, which was handy. It just needed a quick pass with the drill to make it bigger :P

The masking tape works very well at protecting the nice shiny silver bits.

PICT0053.jpg

Time to introduce my long suffering Apprentice Garry :( A rare shot here of him in action cutting a couple of bits of box for me.

PICT0059.jpg

A bit more welding later and the bits of box have become lower shock mounts.

PICT0079.jpg

After a bit of :D ing on how to mount them at the bottom, it was decided that a Westwood dash panel should sacrifice some more metal.

Its thick old stuff :(

Note to ones self.. Buy some more cutting disks <_<

PICT0082.jpg

The brave and courageous bit of Westwood dash had to put up with some drilling and welding a big bolt through the hole, before being welded to the main blade pivot thingy.

PICT0089.jpg

Ta-Daa...

Now featuring top shock mounts :o

PICT0117.jpg

A shot from the side, as the fleabay ad would say "legs not included" :o

PICT0119.jpg

Back in a few mins, a bit of tack welding then a trip into the great outdoors B)

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T-Mo

Ian,

I'm starting to see stars....wait, a minute, that's sparks. :P

Great pictures, especially the action shots of the sparks flying and the various cutting, welding, etc. that's going on. And yes, that's a great shot in that black and white photo. Love it.

Oh, yeah, lastly, the project is looking great. Good work so far. :D

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Stigian

Welcome to the great outdoors, well my garden :(

After tack welding the top shock mount thingys onto the back of the blade, i was able to fire the old girl up for some outdoor shots :(

This is the first time i have seen the plow from er.. all round really :( and im quite happy with how its turning out :o

It was getting a bit dark, so not the best of photos :o

The right side.

PICT0127.jpg

The left :D

PICT0130.jpg

And from behind/off to the side a bit :o

I think the first photo taken with the rear lights turned on... HHmmm i wonder if Garry had been stroking them a bit B)B):(

PICT0132.jpg

I wouldn't want to meet this down a dark ally :o

PICT0139.jpg

Back inside and forward a day to yesterday :D i noticed i had a problem :o

With the blade fully down the front of the A-frame was also on the deck <_<

You guessed it, more coffee/smoke/ :P ing followed :woohoo:

In the end i welded a thick strip of flat bar to the bottom edge of the blade to allow it to dig into the ground with the A-frame bottoming out.

At least i was able to get the bottom of the blade flat and level, when i re-angled the er.. angle it bowed a bit in the middle and i didnt fancy my chances of getting it straight again. :D

100_2289.jpg

Thats all for now folks, tune back for Chapter 9 which may (or may not) be called, Angle adjustment mechanisms, and the art of getting more grinding dust in your hair B)

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T-Mo

I kind of missed the road sign look. :P

Looks good, Ian. When can we buy this novel at Amazon? :D

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TT

Ian....... that looks great ! ! ! ! :D

A nice coat of red paint and no one will know it's not an original "store-bought" dozer blade. :(

If you need any more detailed photos of the angle lever, just shout! :P

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Stigian

I kind of missed the road sign look. ;)

Looks good, Ian. When can we buy this novel at Amazon? B)

Working on the deal with Amazon now ;)

Might have to employ a "look-a-like" for the book signing bit though, im not good with big crowds :(:o:woohoo:

I miss the road sign as well JD Terry, but all hope may not be lost :D

The welding splatter has made quite a mess on the stainless sheet, and i dont think it will clean up well <_<

I might have some of that reflective sign making plastic sheet stuff somewhere, so the road sign look may make a return :(

Ian....... that looks great ! ! ! !

Thank you sir :(

A nice coat of red paint and no one will know it's not an original "store-bought" dozer blade

:( I was going to paint it silver as i have a very big tin of silver hammerite kicking about the place :o

Your right, it does need to go red :o If i have enough thinners left i may well spray it B) I think the red will help show off the shiny shock things well. B)

If you need any more detailed photos of the angle lever, just shout

SHOUT :D:D

Cheers Terry :o have you got any close up snaps of how the angle lever mounts to the A-frame?

Space is a bit tight for running the lever up behind the clutch pedal :P

Oh just in case anyone has 30 seconds they want to kill, while Garry was playing around with his camera he took a couple of vids of me welding.

One without a mask.

http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc140/S...ent=Welding.flv

And one through the mask

http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc140/S...ldingbehind.flv

No eyeballs were hurt during the making of these vids :o

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T-Mo

Those are some cool videos, especially the one through the mask. Pretty impressive images through the mask. :D

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TT

SHOUT :(:(

Cheers Terry :P have you got any close up snaps of how the angle lever mounts to the A-frame?

Space is a bit tight for running the lever up behind the clutch pedal :D

Ian,

Make your bracket up first and find a piece of steel about 1 1/2" wide by 1/4" thick for the lever. Drill the hole in both parts (weld a 1/2" nut to the back side of the mounting bracket) and secure with a 1/2" bolt and a jam nut on the back side.

Your angle lever will need a bit of an offset bend to clear your pedal and footrest:

levermount3.jpg

Put your blade in the straight position, figure out where the rod from the lever to the blade mount will fasten:

12308008.jpg

and measure back to a point on the A frame close to where the lever bracket will be fastened and put a mark. Angle the blade to the left until it latches and measure the distance again.

Once you have the two bolted together, you will need to hold the bracket straight up while pulling the lever back until the bottom of the lever below the pivot bolt moves as far as the difference in the two previous measurements and tighten the bolt securely. (give it a little extra to be safe)

You can then place the lever/bracket assembly against the A frame so the lever just clears the footrest/pedal. (bend the lever as needed - like in the first photo.) Since the lever is already pulled back far enough to angle the blade to the left, you can tack the bracket to the A frame. There's nothing but open space to push the lever forward to straighten the blade or angle it to the right, so you're all set. :(

Here's a couple photos of the bracket.

From the back looking toward the blade:

levermount2.jpg

left to right -- also showing the angle lock release plate:

levermount1.jpg

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TT

I really hope you understand all that stuff in my last message, Ian.

I also forgot to add that the rod from the lever to the angle "quadrant" is 1/2" round steel on the factory blades -- which you will need to make to the length you need.

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T-Mo

Terry,

I don't know, but I think you're slipping a little on your description. I actually understood that. :P But, then again, I have a plow so I'm knew where you were going. But, seriously, I think your description and the pictures should be good. :D

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TT

And here's another update following my recent trip to the shop:

The angle lever is 1 1/4" X 1/4" flat steel. (not 1 1/2" X 1/4" like I previously guessed)

I didn't measure the length because I know Ian will make it to suit his "reach". :D

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modracer

the plow looks awsome ian :D :P

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Stigian

Cheers for the pics and description Tri Terry :o

And yes i understood it all, i must be having a good night :o

Thinking about the angle change lever, its going to need two offset bends.

One to clear the brake pedal and foot rest, the other to clear the hood as it curves out just where the lever would run <_<

For the rod between the lever to the blade mount i might well have one from a Westwood that will do the job :o

As for the rod to blade mount er.. mount, i think im going to have to fix it to the over length shock bolt with a bit bracketry :o Im so glad i hadnt got round to trimming that bolt down yet :(:(:o

Whats left :D oh yes, the angle locking mechanism B)

I was thinking of using a Kawasaki Z200 front brake lever and cable :(

The cable is nice and strong, just needs fixing to the angle locking rod/pin :(

All i have to do now is work out which box of parts its in :P

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TT

You should try to keep the rod in line with the pivot bolt if you can, that way you'll get equal travel at the angle lever. Can you put a hole in the bottom and attach the rod like the OEM part or isn't there enough clearance?

12308010.jpg

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Sparky

Ian, great pics and commentary. The blade looks awsome!

So are you really in the UK?? Or are you actually in Florida :P . I think I saw a Florida licence plate in the background of the pic with Garry chopping some steel :D .

Mike......playin detective :(

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Stigian

You should try to keep the rod in line with the pivot bolt if you can, that way you'll get equal travel at the angle lever. Can you put a hole in the bottom and attach the rod like the OEM part or isn't there enough clearance?

Clearance is a bit tight Terry, there might just be space i shall have a look in the morning and a measure in the morning.

If not i might have just come up with a simple linkage that will make the lever move the same amount forward and back from the center point :(

Im not letting on though until i know if it works or not :P:o

I think I saw a Florida licence plate in the background of the pic with Garry chopping some steel

Well spotted Mike :(:D

I was given that plate many years ago when i worked in an animal rescue center and its been up in every shed/workshop ive had since :(

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Greg B.

I spotted that plate, too. There are lots of retired Brits in Florida and a lot of Brits vacation there. You have to be multi-lingual, though. If you can't speak Canadian, you just can't get around! :thumbs::thumbs::P:D

Greg B.

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kpinnc

Really nice work there Ian.

Looks very nice! :thumbs:

Kevin

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combatmp29r

Ian maybe there should be a knighthood in your future for your excellent weilding of the pen (well keyboard). I guess we could use some Knights of the Red Square to ward of the Allis Chalmers raiders :thumbs:

Anyhow back to the real world that snow blade thingy looks awesome :thumbs:

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Stigian

Chapter 9

"I didnt mean to do it honest guv, but it sure was fun" :D:o

It wasnt my fault you know, it wasnt planned, it just sort of happened :o

I blame it on being a nice warm sunny day today :thumbs:

Normally when i build something i try not to use it until its completed, paint and all.

The trouble is normally, normally means the complete opposite :)

While trying to work out how to fit the blade angle change lever into a small space, a friend turned up bringing welcome news of some firewood ready for collection :D

You can almost picture it, a bit of seat time, trailer load of wood behind, and me thinking hhmmm that compost heap looks a mess, i wonder if the plow can help :D:P:D:D

100_2299.jpg

100_2305.jpg

100_2306.jpg

It worked quite well the only problem other than all the nettle roots, was the blade kept lifting by itself <_<

An easy fix though, swap the chain thats in the lifting linkage for something a bit more solid. A strip of flat steel did the job just fine :P

A bit more seat time was needed for "ahem" development testing :D

100_2311.jpg

100_2312.jpg

It works much better now i can keep some force on the blade to keep it down :P

Oh ive been thinking about a change of rear wheels on the ol 'horse :thumbs:

Cant make up my mind if their oversized or not :D:P:D

100_2323.jpg

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