One upcoming chapter in the Snowzilla project thread will be about a six-way blade. There's a forum member who wants to buy the completed machine and he wants a six-way blade. Our other project machine, Thundercat, left the factory with a Tucker six-way blade and we have the blade and all the other parts to use for reference in making the blade for Snowzilla. Scott, my snowcat buddy/co-conspirator and I will tackle that project, though we anticipate making some changes to the original design.
Over the years on the forum, people have expressed a desire to add a blade to their Tucker. My standard reply is “The system is complex and doing the design and fabrication would be time-consuming, difficult and expensive, as would the installation. It’s cheaper to find a machine with a blade than to try and add one".
I suppose you could contact Tucker and inquire as to the cost to have them do it, but I think that number would be eye-watering.
If you’ve ever been involved in cutting steel, you know that the time to set up the machine to do the cutting typically takes more time than the cutting itself. Taking that a step further, cutting a second (or subsequent) part takes less time than the first. So it might be worthwhile for us to make a few additional blades for others...
Some of the components we don't have the capability of fabricating, and would need to purchase those from another firm. Two of those are the moldboard (the curved steel of the plow blade) and the replaceable cutting edge at the bottom. We can source those from a company in SLC that’s actually quite close to Scott’s shop.
Anyway, we were kicking the idea around. The very first step is to see if there’s enough interest to pursue it further. Of course, a potential buyer wants to know “What's involved and what's the cost”?
We don’t want to be in the business of building and installing blades, so our conceptual idea would be for us to fabricate the parts and ship them to the buyer who would install the blade on their machine (or have someone local install it for them). We would supply four major components:
1.) The blade itself.
2.) The A-frame (which the blade attaches to).
3.) The axle-mounted frame (which bolts to the front axle, and the A-frame connects the axle-mounted frame to the blade).
4.) The thrust transfer frame (which has four arms welded to the Tucker frame that transfers the load from the axle mounted frame to the snowcat. (Note: these are my terms for the parts.) And we’d supply a few smaller components; the weld-on bracket to mount the valve to the Tucker and another weld-on bracket for connecting hydraulic lines at the front of the snowcat.
The buyer would be responsible for purchasing all the other required parts. That list would include at a minimum:
- Four hydraulic cylinders for the blade’s functions (we’d provide the specs).
- All the hydraulic lines to connect the valve to the front of the snowcat (6).
- The hydraulic lines from the snowcat to the individual hydraulic cylinders (6).
- The three spool hydraulic valve (more on this later).
- The valve supply hydraulic line from the pump.
- The valve return line to the hydraulic reservoir.
- All hydraulic fittings for the various lines.
- Quick disconnect male and female fittings at the front of the machine (so you can easily remove the blade).
- A hydraulic fluid cooler.
I’m almost positive Tucker purchased the valve assembly in it’s entirety. While I listed it above as a "three spool valve”, the genius of the system is the handle and the linkages that make it work. Typically a three spool valve would have three independent levers that control the functions of each spool. For example, one lever would control the up-down function, another would control the angle left, angle right and the third would control the tilt left, tilt right.
The six-way valve used in the factory system has one T-shaped handle. You pull the handle back to raise the blade, push forward to lower the blade, pull the handle left to angle the blade left, push the handle right to angle the blade right and twist the handle in either direction to tilt the blade.
I THINK Tucker purchased the valves and linkages from John Deere. (I remember as a boy seeing a John Deere bulldozer with a similar handle.) I purchased a used John Deere valve from a heavy equipment salvage yard for Snowzilla. It was very difficult to find, and not cheap. A buyer of our blade components would need to find a similar valve, or come up with their own valve system. We would supply as part of our package a bracket to mount the John Deere valve in the cab. This bracket would be welded to the Tucker frame.
Realize the installation of the blade system would require removing (at a minimum) the front seats, floor covering(s) and the floor underneath the front seats. That would give access to the frame for welding the valve bracket to the frame, and access to run the various hydraulic lines. It would also require modifying the floor for the bracket and cutting holes in the floor for the various (8) hydraulic lines to connect to the valve. That would also require pulling up the floor covering(s) and cutting it/them accordingly.
At the front of the Tucker underneath the grille, Tucker welds a piece of flat bar with six welded couplings. The hydraulic lines from the valve thread into the back of these couplings, and quick disconnect fittings thread into the front. We would supply the bar with the couplings welded. However, in our experience the flat bar isn’t strong enough, and so we would supply a piece of channel with the couplings welded to that. Installation requires cutting holes in the grille for the hydraulic lines, and welding in the piece of channel.
I’m going into considerable detail of the system, and the tasks required for the installation so a prospective buyer understands the scope of the project, and the work involved, in order for them to make an informed decision. When Tucker built snowcats to a customer's order, that also involved using components with different performance specifications based on the individual machines options. If a customer ordered a six-way blade and/or rear hydraulics Tucker used a different hydraulic pump configuration.
As part of the Snowzilla project, we are upgrading the hydraulic pump volumetric output for the addition of the blade. We are also doing a steering system upgrade that requires modifying the pump to send more volume to the steering system (makes the steering quicker) and increasing the pump output pressure (reduces the steering effort). The steering system upgrade also entails installing a dual cross-port relief valve between the Orbitrol and the hydraulic steering cylinder. These modifications were suggested by Jeff Godard at Tucker for our Thundercat project, and we’re incorporating them on Snowzilla as well. In the Thundercat project we made a new hydraulic tank and installed a second hydraulic filter, so all return fluid gets filtered (that's not the case in the stock Tucker system). With Snowzilla, we cut apart the existing tank and welded a new front panel on it containing an additional threaded bung for a second filter. The steering upgrades are an individual decision, as is the hydraulic filtration modification, but we would recommend upgrading pump output volume if you’re going to add a blade. (Those modifications will also be detailed in the Snowzilla thread.)
When we were discussing the idea of making a few blades, we also discussed cost. We did not spend the time to get an exact number, because it’s a waste of time if there is no interest. But, back-of-the-napkin math showed an estimated cost for the components I’ve listed above at $5,000. That would be F.O.B. Scott’s shop. Purchasers would be welcome to pick up the components, or we would strap them to pallets for shipping at customer expense.
Feel free to ask questions. At this point we’re trying to gauge interest. If it’s sufficient, we’ll then set a time period for ordering, as well as the process.
Over the years on the forum, people have expressed a desire to add a blade to their Tucker. My standard reply is “The system is complex and doing the design and fabrication would be time-consuming, difficult and expensive, as would the installation. It’s cheaper to find a machine with a blade than to try and add one".
I suppose you could contact Tucker and inquire as to the cost to have them do it, but I think that number would be eye-watering.
If you’ve ever been involved in cutting steel, you know that the time to set up the machine to do the cutting typically takes more time than the cutting itself. Taking that a step further, cutting a second (or subsequent) part takes less time than the first. So it might be worthwhile for us to make a few additional blades for others...
Some of the components we don't have the capability of fabricating, and would need to purchase those from another firm. Two of those are the moldboard (the curved steel of the plow blade) and the replaceable cutting edge at the bottom. We can source those from a company in SLC that’s actually quite close to Scott’s shop.
Anyway, we were kicking the idea around. The very first step is to see if there’s enough interest to pursue it further. Of course, a potential buyer wants to know “What's involved and what's the cost”?
We don’t want to be in the business of building and installing blades, so our conceptual idea would be for us to fabricate the parts and ship them to the buyer who would install the blade on their machine (or have someone local install it for them). We would supply four major components:
1.) The blade itself.
2.) The A-frame (which the blade attaches to).
3.) The axle-mounted frame (which bolts to the front axle, and the A-frame connects the axle-mounted frame to the blade).
4.) The thrust transfer frame (which has four arms welded to the Tucker frame that transfers the load from the axle mounted frame to the snowcat. (Note: these are my terms for the parts.) And we’d supply a few smaller components; the weld-on bracket to mount the valve to the Tucker and another weld-on bracket for connecting hydraulic lines at the front of the snowcat.
The buyer would be responsible for purchasing all the other required parts. That list would include at a minimum:
- Four hydraulic cylinders for the blade’s functions (we’d provide the specs).
- All the hydraulic lines to connect the valve to the front of the snowcat (6).
- The hydraulic lines from the snowcat to the individual hydraulic cylinders (6).
- The three spool hydraulic valve (more on this later).
- The valve supply hydraulic line from the pump.
- The valve return line to the hydraulic reservoir.
- All hydraulic fittings for the various lines.
- Quick disconnect male and female fittings at the front of the machine (so you can easily remove the blade).
- A hydraulic fluid cooler.
I’m almost positive Tucker purchased the valve assembly in it’s entirety. While I listed it above as a "three spool valve”, the genius of the system is the handle and the linkages that make it work. Typically a three spool valve would have three independent levers that control the functions of each spool. For example, one lever would control the up-down function, another would control the angle left, angle right and the third would control the tilt left, tilt right.
The six-way valve used in the factory system has one T-shaped handle. You pull the handle back to raise the blade, push forward to lower the blade, pull the handle left to angle the blade left, push the handle right to angle the blade right and twist the handle in either direction to tilt the blade.
I THINK Tucker purchased the valves and linkages from John Deere. (I remember as a boy seeing a John Deere bulldozer with a similar handle.) I purchased a used John Deere valve from a heavy equipment salvage yard for Snowzilla. It was very difficult to find, and not cheap. A buyer of our blade components would need to find a similar valve, or come up with their own valve system. We would supply as part of our package a bracket to mount the John Deere valve in the cab. This bracket would be welded to the Tucker frame.
Realize the installation of the blade system would require removing (at a minimum) the front seats, floor covering(s) and the floor underneath the front seats. That would give access to the frame for welding the valve bracket to the frame, and access to run the various hydraulic lines. It would also require modifying the floor for the bracket and cutting holes in the floor for the various (8) hydraulic lines to connect to the valve. That would also require pulling up the floor covering(s) and cutting it/them accordingly.
At the front of the Tucker underneath the grille, Tucker welds a piece of flat bar with six welded couplings. The hydraulic lines from the valve thread into the back of these couplings, and quick disconnect fittings thread into the front. We would supply the bar with the couplings welded. However, in our experience the flat bar isn’t strong enough, and so we would supply a piece of channel with the couplings welded to that. Installation requires cutting holes in the grille for the hydraulic lines, and welding in the piece of channel.
I’m going into considerable detail of the system, and the tasks required for the installation so a prospective buyer understands the scope of the project, and the work involved, in order for them to make an informed decision. When Tucker built snowcats to a customer's order, that also involved using components with different performance specifications based on the individual machines options. If a customer ordered a six-way blade and/or rear hydraulics Tucker used a different hydraulic pump configuration.
As part of the Snowzilla project, we are upgrading the hydraulic pump volumetric output for the addition of the blade. We are also doing a steering system upgrade that requires modifying the pump to send more volume to the steering system (makes the steering quicker) and increasing the pump output pressure (reduces the steering effort). The steering system upgrade also entails installing a dual cross-port relief valve between the Orbitrol and the hydraulic steering cylinder. These modifications were suggested by Jeff Godard at Tucker for our Thundercat project, and we’re incorporating them on Snowzilla as well. In the Thundercat project we made a new hydraulic tank and installed a second hydraulic filter, so all return fluid gets filtered (that's not the case in the stock Tucker system). With Snowzilla, we cut apart the existing tank and welded a new front panel on it containing an additional threaded bung for a second filter. The steering upgrades are an individual decision, as is the hydraulic filtration modification, but we would recommend upgrading pump output volume if you’re going to add a blade. (Those modifications will also be detailed in the Snowzilla thread.)
When we were discussing the idea of making a few blades, we also discussed cost. We did not spend the time to get an exact number, because it’s a waste of time if there is no interest. But, back-of-the-napkin math showed an estimated cost for the components I’ve listed above at $5,000. That would be F.O.B. Scott’s shop. Purchasers would be welcome to pick up the components, or we would strap them to pallets for shipping at customer expense.
Feel free to ask questions. At this point we’re trying to gauge interest. If it’s sufficient, we’ll then set a time period for ordering, as well as the process.