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Front , rear , or belly blade ?


Salthart

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I feel like I have mowed a blue million acres. And one summer, I guess I did. I spent 40 hours a week in a 4x4 ford pulling a 15 ft bat wing mower. I have operated side arm mowers, back hoes track loaders and dozers.. LOL But i have no idea what the different blades are for.. I have a rear blade and a section of a grader blade I used behind my power king. But seeing all the front blades and belly blades makes me wonder what each is really for and whats the advantage of each.. Thanks in advance Salthart
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basically the front blade does quantity; Push snow, large piles of dirt, rocks, brush, anything where your not trying to dig. I even push craftsman and MTD with mine LOL The belly blade gives more control for finer work and better down presure (your feet) for digging and scraping. I dug a ditch 150 feet long and 8 inches deep with mine. A back blade has less control and less down pressure and doesnt move so much quantity. Like dragging gravel around a driveway filling in potholes or dragging dirt around to level larger areas, without digging in too deep.
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Dan is right on less control of a back blade. The tractors with down pressure for the 3-point can put down pressure on the blade. Adjusting the tilt on the blade will make it cut aggressively or less aggressive for leveling or dragging stuff for fill. The only thing is with lots of down pressure if your drive tires drop :(in a hole you'll spin outB) because the blade is holding the back of the tractor up or the blade will gouge a hole. On the back blade you can turn the blade around and push fill up against something or over an edge.I would think the center blade should work better for precision? leveling being there is wheels in front & in back of the blade like a big road grader. No down pressure except for whatever the blade weighs or added weight. The front blade you should be able to push more with it because your drive wheels are pushing and have all the weight on them for traction. Geesh does a person need all 3 blades on 1 tractor8D or a tractor for each blade^:):D Any more info on the blades?
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Salthart, If you haven't seen it yet take a look at my forum on the Legacy Belly Blade. You should find it either on pages 1 or 2. It might give you an idea of what a belly blade can do. Mark
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Mark, perhaps you should either recheck your "facts" or practice a little bit more with your front blade..... These are 7 yard piles of screened loam dumped on my garden after I took the top of the hill down by a foot or two. I'm using the JBJr. to move them around here, then used the 46" HD front dozer blade to do the finish grading. BTW, if you leave the Johnny Bucket in the tripped position, it acts like a dozer blade, too.

This is what you can accomplish with a dozer blade, well at least I can... Not too bad for for an implement about which you said "I know for a fact you can not use a front blade for precise leveling or grading. Dozer blades are not designed for that."

Looks pretty flat to me.....

In this shot, you can see that there is little puddling even after a heavy rain. The puddles that are there are small and evenly distributed, a sure sign of a fairly level surface. The blurry spots in the center of the pic are rain drops on the camera lens.

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First off, I would like to thank everyone who posted. And I guess before its over and if I'm able, I will have one of each..LOL My days of using my B-10 and a rear blade with 3 70 Lb wheels weights hung on it ( hung on the blade ) are over. I do have a Hydro lift for it but have never installed it. So I guess its about time I did. I have 2 way cylinders that are about the right size but I'm not sure the unit has down pressure.. Anyone know ? Thanks again, Salthart
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The standard or factory units did not have down pressure. You would have to use a 2 way cylinder and change the valve to a 2 way. The standard valve just "dumps" in the down position. Ignore this post. Didnt know what I was talking about. It was late.Was tinkering with a plow pump yesterday and must have had that stuck in me head I guess. Kent is absolutely right in the next post and I have seen the front of a Simp off the ground with a snowplow. Sorry guys
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The hydraulic lifts for the oldies definitely had down pressure. The float position was in the center. I think the newer ones run off the hydrostat pump did also, but I'm not sure how much. Qith my B-series I can lift either the front or rear of the tractor off the ground by down pressure on the implements mounted....
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I hate to sound like a know-it-all by correcting our esteemed Clubhouse Custodian, but the old hydraulic lift has the "Float" position as a lock at either end of travel of the control handle. The center position is "Hold" and moving slightly either way from there is the "Power"(either up or down) position.... If you look closely at the curved sections bolted to the lift, you'll see that they can be adjusted to set the lock tab slightly closer to or farther from the center position.

BTW, I used to lift the front of the 3310 off the ground with the electric lift when I had the dozer blade on it, at least until I added front wheel weights......
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It does take practice, but I agree that a very good leveling job can be accomplished with a front blade. One advantage of the front blade is that the blade can fill in holes before the wheels get to them. With a center or rear blade the wheels hit a hole first(ie the blade goes down). I have done a lot of leveling with my front blade and have been successful. I have a very sore arm and shoulder afterwards, because you are constantly raising and lowering. The front blade also works good for leveling by backdragging. The biggest problem I have had with the front blade and dirt work is digging. I have bent all of the lift and mounting linkage and rebuilt it. The lift rod is not made for downpressure, it bends. After the first one broke, my modified one has worked great. The all do have their advantages/benifits though.
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i've seen what kirk can do with a mere 7 horse and a dozer blade. not only did he do the garden above but did another 42 yrds at my house before his garden. i have 1 low spot 2' X 7' but it was due to a prior hole before he got involved in the project. it can be done. it can be done with a manual lift. and it can be done with grader blade dozer blade or scraper box. if kirks pictures don't tell the story stop by and look at the lawn some time. rob
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You're correct, Kirk -- I misspoke... must have been a caffeine shortage at that time in the morning.... I have three of these hydraulic lifts, so I certainly know where float is...
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Larry, I have a 3012 with hyraulic lift and a front blade and it works great. once you start using a hydo your hooked you'll never want to go back to a hand lift.
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I agree Jim. My 17GTH-L has hydro and I'm spoiled to it, thats why I'd like hydro on the 3012 and the B-10. I've been thinking about "homebrew" units but I don't want something that looks butchered up. As for downpressure,I can lift the front wheels on my 17GTH with the dozer blade and the factory lift rod, but the rear lift is a cable so no downforce there at all. Larry
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I agree with the front blade route. I'm in the process of making a bolt on front mount for my Brinley 60" back blade that came with my 620. I am utilizing the snowblower mounting frame that bolts to the tractor. Will post pics when it is finished. Backblading is too hard on the neck for short back and forth grading. Jim......
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As Kirk said, front blades can be used accurately, with practice. Here's me doing a very good job of smoothing out the lawn. The neighbor commented that I really appeared to know what I was doing. First trip over it with the mower was a doozy though: [img]http://www.netoubliette.com/crawler/crawler10.jpg[/img] {this has been a sarcastic post....}
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Here are some pictures of the lift rod I made. One feature I wanted was a "float". I just pull the pin on the back side of the spring and it floats. The other was a downpressure feature with some flexibility. That is ehat the spring is for. THe third feature was solid. I move the pin ahead of the spring and it is a solid hitch. Just some ideas. I have used this blade for a lot of grading. Most people are amazed that such a small tractor can do such a large amount of work. It just takes some time and practice. [img]http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/attach/darylcress/DCP0240550.JPG[/img] [img]http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/attach/darylcress/DCP0240450.JPG[/img] [img]http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/attach/darylcress/DCP0240350.JPG[/img]
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This is a good basic design, straightforward and it looks easy to build. How well do the right angle attachment points hold up as opposed to the bent end of the OEM rod? Are they bolts welded onto the rod at a slight angle? Would a clevis be easily adapted for more strength? I think the strength in this design is that the rod is straight instead of bent in an offset like the OEM.
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So far no problems with breakage. I have used it for a couple of months now. The front is a 1/2" bolt welded to the bushing, it will not break. The back is a piece of 1/2" rod with a hole for a pin. It is probably the weakest link, but has held good so far. The clevis idea is good but I had trouble with clearance and the unformed rod hitting the hood. I am always looking for ways to make things better, that is why it is not painted!!
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