Snowplows

Does anyone have some plans, pictures, etc on how to make a good one? I am concerned mostly with the lifting options. Obviously would like the 3-point to do the lifting.

Thank you.

1) Removed loader cylinders, lift arms and bucket 2) Modified manure fork/snow bucket to fit Kubota lift arms and threw it out of balance! 3) Cut the loader supports off the frame as low as possible leaving only the lower cylinder mounts, cross members and stubs of the attchment points for the support just in case I need them.

What I have left weighs in around 200 pounds. My next step is to weld a cylinder mount to the front crossmember for a single vertically mounted dual acting cylinder. I'll use the original bottom brackets for attaching the blade. Until I find a suitable plow I can't work out the specifics of the geometry. Something along the lines of the Cat 96x crawler that has the lift cylinder mounted that way. I toyed with the idea of cannabilizing a rear scraper blade but the moldboard on them isn't really tall enough to make a good snowplow. Power angling is an intended feature as well but that will have to wait for the plow specs as well.

I figure I've dropped the weight of the original unit from about 1000 down to 200-250. Added weight for plow and hydraulics mavbe another 300 max. and hopefully a good bit less. I think a 40 to 50% reduction in weight will make a ton of difference ;-) Of course it's no longer a loader but with some careful engineering should be a pretty good plow/grader and I can quit looking over my shoulder. Kounts/dismounts easily as well. Still got that ground clearance problem but you have to dance with the girl that brought you...

With regard to loaders per se the only reasonable solution I can conceive of is to build a frame with the loader attachment point just forward of the dash area like a modern unit. I think Dearborn had such a unit. The loader design on my Kubota would work fine on an N-series with some thoughtful redesign. Might not be cheap to make though. The frame bolts to the differential housing in the rear and the front bumber in the front. You could certainly use the stabilizer bracket on an N instead of the diff and you'd need some thought on the way a bumber on an N moves around. The loader arms and cylinders attach to a U shaped arrangement built from box steel and channel that wraps around the tractor belly just forward of the dash and is braced front/back by some 1/4" straps to the bumber. The loader arms are box steel, heavy, and probably pretty pricey to build. This balances much better but doesn't come off easily or quickly. The Kubota doesn't have PS and even with 500# in the bucket can be steered with only a modest amount of grunting. I'd call it a light duty setup. Handles most of my needs. The MF-135 I'm looking for handles the rest - hope the wife isn't peeking!

Dan

P.S. I AM going to shoot som pics of the carcass and post them REAL SOON NOW. The undercarriage is a nice design if you don't mind the ground clearance issue.

The original loader had a manure fork on the loader and a 6' snow bucket that mounted to the tines of the fork. Put this thing on a 9 loaded with wet snow and start down my 15-20% grade lane. You'd need a rear chute to stop it (or a big tree)!

Someone out there has-- I know it.

Ultradog NM built a front blade for his "N" using hydraulic to operate the blade in combination with the 3 point tractor hydraulics.

I think I pulled the pictures off of his web site of which I failed to note the "address"

Mabe he will chime in and let us know his web address.

He did a great job on the pic and work!!!!

Thankyou Ultradog for sharing and hope others will enjoy them also.

Rustynail

• Ultradog plow

I have an old tube loader that I will be attaching a snow-blade to by next year...Hopefully ;-)

Your setup is what I would term a 'Dozer' type blade as opposed to a 'Snow' blade...At least here in Vermont that is what I would call it...

What I think may be the answer to the lack of 'down pressure' is the angle of the blade itself...From what I see you have the blade cutting edge (actually the underside edge) parallel to the ground when in the fully down position...This leaves the top edge of the blade perpendicular to the ground and inline with the bottom edge...Most chain-lift 'snow' blades will be at a slightly greater angle so that the top edge is in front of the bottom edge...This allows the bottom 'cutting' edge to do its job, which is to physically 'pull' the plow downward into the snow, gravel, lawn edge, etc., and to roll the snow up and over in front of the snow that is yet to be touched by the blade...Your setup, although handy as heck, might benefit from re-angling the whole blade in relation to the ground...

I have both a Meyers (on an old CJ) and a 6 foot Fischer chain-lift snow blade here...They both only work well if the bottom edge is 'cutting'...Otherwise they tend to dig, ride up, and then over a pile of snow or dirt...With a 'snow-blade' at the correct angle, no down pressure is needed, and skid-shoes are highly recommended to keep the blade from digging too deeply into the drive, etc...

Also...Most snow blades are spring loaded to trip back and ride over immovable objects due to the usual inherent speed used for snow plowing...This is a safety measure that was incorporatd in many snow blade designs decades ago when they found that there was lots of wear and tear and breakage of expensive parts of vehicles...

I guess the gist of this diatribe is that, I am betting that, with a good snow blade at the correct angle when in the fully down position, instead of the blade you are using, you will not need down pressure on the front or ever miss it...

Sorry about the length...

If this is along the lines of what you want to do, I can provide more pics, parts list, etc. Just let me know if you are interested.

Hope this helps..... ..... Ed
'52 8N475798

Here's a driver's seat perspective on one:

I'll post the other parts info tomorrow morning from home.

Hope this helps..... ..... .Ed
'52 8N475798

Now that I've thoroughly discourged you (I haven't have I ;-) just keep my cautions in mind when you cobble up your unit. Judging from the pictures UnderDog's frame is a lot lighter than mine and that Dearborn design. I'd start there. My Pap had a sidemount sickle bar mower on his 8N (NH??) that was raised and lowered via a cable and pully arrangement connected to the lift arm. You might want to consider that as an alternative to UnderDogs's setup. I can try to provide more details if you are interested and Ed seems to have a VERY complete collection of old manuals for this stuff. He may have something similar in the mower section.

Personally I dislike the Dearborn design with the pivot point below the rear axle. I think ground clearance is a real issue and this design really eats it up. It also severely limits the amount of implement lift. You're never going to need to take it into unplowed areas right? Probably the most embarassing moments in my machinery operating history involve getting tractors and 4X4's stuck or tire-side up! A good neighbor never laughs when you ask him to bring his machine over to pull your's out of the muck.

I know this was long-winded so if your still with me I guess I was making a little bit of sense. Good luck and hope this helped. My motto and one I heartily recommend to all: KISS

Dan

Best of luck with it..... ..Ed
'52 8N475798