I FINISHED something !!!

[pixie]

My ex-husband and I are still good friends and exchange good Christmas gifts This year we decided we had enough guns and he wanted a plow of some sort for his JD 790.

So I made him one !!
The blade and A-frame are a well worn Fisher manual angle. Made some reinforcements and filled in some holes and made an adapter-plate to fit his tractor and the plow.

The biggest deal is that I actually finished something !!!! There must be hundreds of unfinished projects coasting around in my life but this one is DONE !!!!!!!

 

[Melensdad]

Pixie, hate to burst your bubble but its not done yet. I see in the bottom of the photo that the skid plate is orange!

Still, it is a very nice job. Congrats on the work.

 

[thcri]

My ex-husband and I are still good friends and exchange good Christmas gifts This year we decided we had enough guns and he wanted a plow of some sort for his JD 790.

So I made him one !! !!!!!!!

Pixie,

Can I be your ex for a while I need one of them for my TC29D

 

[XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq]

Pixie - that looks awesome! I've got an old blade and intend to do something similar for my tractor.

Can you post some more pictures from the backside of the plow? I'd like to see how you made the frame.

Does the 790 have a Quick Attach system? It doesn't look like Skidsteer one is on there?

 

[pixie]

Thanks, guys !

Ya, PB, it's some kind of quick attach. Here's a pic.

The adapter plate is just 3/8 thick angle and 5" id 3/8 wall channel. The upper hooks are some cut off channel and a U shaped piece of square tubing for reinforcement inside of the channel.

The feet are supposed to be orange, Bob, so he can find them when they fall off !!

 

[XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq]

Thanks Pixie. What did you use for a wear edge? Is that rubber?

 

[pixie]

It sure isn't rubber !!! But I think those rubber cutting edges are a great idea. It's just what was on it. If it works well ( if we have snow ..... ) the springs and the cutting edge will be the first upgrades

 

[bczoom]

Sweet!!!

But I think those rubber cutting edges are a great idea.

What kind of rubber cutting edges are you considering?

I cut a stall mat (the 1" thick rubber) and put it on my rear blade. It doesn't work very well... It may work on the front since you can apply down pressure but on a rear blade, it doesn't dig down enough.

 

[pixie]

BC, I haven't looked into cutting edges for more than a year. Seems to me they were actually a UHMPE but I could be wrong.

There's so many things that affect how a plow works, not the least of which, is what kind of snow it is. It seems to me that most back blades are pretty straight up and down. Tipping the cutting edge back a bit may help it stay under the snow. Weight is another factor.

One of the cool things about a front blade on a FEL is that it is so adjustable in it's angle to the ground.

Sure hope we get some snow this year.We've finally got all the snow toys a person could want and haven't had snow for 2 years. ???

 

[bczoom]

I currently reside a bit N of Pittsburgh.

The biggest issue here is ice. The rubber just can't get into it to do any scraping.

When I lived S of Buffalo NY (in the snow belt), we got our share of snow and I think the rubber would work better there.

 

[pixie]

Serious ice is beyond the plows most of us own. Towns use BIG graders and need more than one pass.
You all may know this already but one of the things I learned plowing for a town was to leave an inch or two of snow if rain/sleet/other nastiness is expected. The rain will soak thru and you will be able to get traction on the snow.It doesn't freeze up as solid.

 

[steviep]

Damn I wish I had Seen yours before I started mine now I might have to start all over. What did you use for the bottom pins. By the way great job.

 

[pixie]

Thanks, Stevie !

For the pins , I bought a piece of 1.25 steel rod. Cut it the right length, drilled the hole across it, drilled a 3/8 hole behind where it goes, grinded the bottom edge back and welded the p out of it It took a bit of grinding and hand filing to get it just right but it mounts and dismounts almost as well as the original bucket .

Coincidentally, my ex's name is Stevie He says he prefers Stephen, but that's just too formal.

And welcome to ForumsForums, Stevie !!!

 

[Melensdad]

Steviep and Pixie, my projects have been far simpler than the snowplow blade, but I like to use "top link pins" that are used to secure implements to tractors. They are easy to replace, strong as heck, and cheap. They can be had in various lengths as needed. The local Tractor Supply store sells them and any tractor dealer will also carry them in at least a half dozen sizes. A couple years ago I designed a fork lift attachment to work with a tractor 3pt hitch. I used the frame of a "Sub-Soiler" to mount the fork assembly onto the tractor. Everything is simply held together by top link pins. It makes it quick and easy to convert from a Sub-Soiler to a Middle Buster to a trailer hitch to a low lift fork lift for moving pallets. The nice thing is that when you want to take it off the tractor, or switch the configuration around you don't need to pull out your tools or even take off your gloves!

Here are some photos:

 

[pixie]

That's cool, Bob. What do you pick up with the forklift ?

I got those clamp on bucket forks but haven't used them much.

We were hoping to use the adapter plate part of the plow as a base for a forklift/brush grapple.

There is no tractor supply places around here other than dealers. Those pins look more expensive than bolts ?

 

[Melensdad]

What do you pick up with the forklift ?

I got those clamp on bucket forks but haven't used them much.

We were hoping to use the adapter plate part of the plow as a base for a forklift/brush grapple.

Those pins look more expensive than bolts ?

I use the forks to carry around landscaping supplies like pallets of bagged mulch, large decorative rock/boulders, small pallets of paving stone, lumber, concrete planters, etc. It works a lot better with a hydraulic top-link (something I added after these old photos were taken). The 3pt lift capacity of a tractor is typically greater than the lift capacity of a front end loader. Clamp on forks, because they stick out in front of the bucket, have even less capacity than forks mounted on a Quick Attach FEL assembly. The geometry of tractor design limits capacity so that the farther forward the load is carried the lower the capacity the tractor has to carry a load. Consequently you need to carry the load as close to the tractor as possible to maintain a usable capacity.

As for the cost of the pins, they can cost a couple dollars each. That is a lot more than the cost of a bolt. However, I think I may have a grand total of maybe 8 of those pins??? You don't need many of them. When a pin is not being used on my fork assembly it is probably being used with a box blade, snowblower or some other implement. So you don't need dedicated pins for each piece, you just need what you need. I like them for a couple reasons. First, you can change out parts without tools so altering the configuration can take seconds instead of minutes. Second, you can easily manipulate them with your gloves on so you minimize risk of injury.

When used in forklift configuration, that whole assembly uses only 3 toplink pins, and two of those are actually connected to the toplink, only 1 pin is needed to hold the fork assembly in place.

When used as a sub-soiler, middle buster or trailer hitch, it requires 4 toplink pins, 2 pins are used to hold the "blade" in place, and 2 are connected to the toplink.

 

[steviep]

Pixie , I bought my pins at a local hardware store, Most of your small hardware store if they don't carry them . they can order them. I might cost extra but it might still be less then a dealer to buy. By the way I use to go only by Stephen, as I got older more people now call me Steve. It does seem that more and more of my friends are calling me StevieP . And life is to short to get upset over the little things so I don't let bother me.

 

[steviep]

I finished my plow last night before the storm of the year started. I still need to paint it and add a couple of tweekes here and there . It use to be a hydrollic 7.5 fisher I hope to get the third valve hooked up soon so I can convert it back. Thank you pixie for the pichures you posted they really helped out a lot. I will post pichures as soon as I paint it and when I figure out how to post them on here. Oh I wish I built one 5 years ago when I bought the tractor.

 

[pixie]

Glad I could help, Stevie.

My Stevie says it works excellent !! He really likes being able to stack the snow in his tiny yard.

Now, get on out there and have fun !!!

 

[steviep]

All went pretty good except the up right tube steel that the chains attach to broke off. I guess things like that happen on a proto type. maybe I should have had pixie build it.

 

[pixie]

Sorry it didn't work better. Put up a picture and we'll fix it for you
.

The frame on mine is all 3/8 steel. I probably over-build stuff ... probably 'cause I'm good at breaking stuff