NEW QUESTIONS about lawn ranger snow plow!

[dlpaw 3]

Hello,

I have an original lawn ranger plow from a mid to late 60s lawn ranger that I am trying to fit onto my '62 model. The blade and bracket fit fine, but the linkage for raising and lowering the plow is not fitting correctly. I will try to get pictures tomorrow, but for now, here is the story....

The plow lifting linkage is two pieces, there is a long bar with a dogleg in one end that attaches to the plow on the straight end, and a short linkage bar that fits between the arm coming off the hand lift lever and the dog leg end of the plow's long bar.

In this post there is a clear picture of the linkage that I am working with....

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=31053

The long bar appears to be fine, so far...

but the short linkage bar seems too long, and the little arm on my hand lift lever is clearly shorter than the arm on a 702 parts tractor I have. There must be a slightly different part for the older lawn ranger models?? Does anyone have a '62 or '63 lawn ranger plow that you can share a picture or diagram of the linkage? I will have to make a new linkage bar that is shorter, but would like to know the dimensions and shape of the one that is supposed to be on there.

Or, if anyone has early linkage, and wants to trade for my later style linkage, perhaps we can work something out.

Thank you in advance for any help!

Daniel

[littleredrider 409]

I know when I first got my plow, tried hooking it up to my 63. But the only thing that didn't work was the hole in the arm was too small for the pin to go thru.

[dlpaw 3]

The pin goes through fine on mine, but when the plow is lowered the linkage hits the inside of the riser that holds up the gas tank. The extra pin on the short linkage piece that it supposed to contact the lever on the hand lifting bar does not touch it, instead the short linkage piece contacts the pivot shaft of the the hand lift. Also when the plow is lowered, the short linkage piece contacts the steering shaft and gear.

Daniel

[dlpaw 3]

OK, I have some new questions about this snow plow. I have resorted to making my own linkage pieces, but need to know how the lawn ranger plows are set up from the factory in regards to how low the plow the is able to drop???

Are they set up to only go down so far, or does the blade still have some down travel after they are lowered to the ground?

Since the lawn ranger blades don't have trip springs, what happens when the plow catches an edge?...or is the blade linkage designed to be lowered just far enough to skim the ground?

Any help will be appreciated! I am trying to get this all ready by this weekend!

Daniel

[littleredrider 409]

They will go below level couple inches, can't remember how far.

And when you hit something that is bigger/heavier than you and the tractor, 9 times out of 10 you and the tractor come to a complete stop...sometimes a painful one.

I got to looking at my plow, there is a link that goes on the lift arm, then to the tractor lift arm. If you need, I can hook it up on mine and take a pic....

[dlpaw 3]

I may take you up on that picture offer, I should know tomorrow.

I made a new linkage piece today, and will modify the existing lift bar. Hopefully this will allow the plow to still go up and down like it is supposed to. I will keep you posted on the progress....

Daniel

[littleredrider 409]

I'll get one anyways. No motor on it should make it pretty easy to see what's going on!! :dunno:

[littleredrider 409]

Went to go hook up the plow, then remembered that I swapped frames, but sheet metal and lift linkage is probly the same as yours, mine being a 63. Ran out of daylight before I could try something else.

[dlpaw 3]

Well, in case it helps anyone, here is what I came up with to make this mid to late 60s lawn ranger plow work on my '62. I set it up so that the plow drops about 2 inches below level, and raises high enough with good clearance even when turned. I am not sure if this bears any resemblance to what may have been original, but it works for me.

My lawn ranger hand lift arm only had a pin, so I added a hole to the arm to make my short lift link attach similar to the stock, later style linkage, as shown in the top of the picture (note that it has been cut and has an extra hole in it since I initially tried to modify it.)

My new short link for the hand lift lever is shown in the middle, note that I needed to notch the lower corner to clear the inside face of the riser that holds up the gas tank.

The long link is the stock late 60's piece, but I had to add an extra hole an inch or so inboard of the original hole at the straight end of it.

The good news is that it works now! Next time that we get a nice day, I will try and remember to post a picture of the parts installed on the tractor.

Daniel