46" Front Blade Modifications

[stevenj]

I bought a front blade on E-bay last year. It was a little rusty, the cutting edge was worn to the moldboard, and the rod to angle from the front seat was missing. I sandblasted and painted the entire blade. I bought a piece of 1/4" thick x 3" wide piece of steel to use as a cutting edge. I found a source for rubber conveyor belting. I was looking for 1/2" thick material but they only had 3/8" thick material so I used two pieces and cut them to 4" wide and sandwiched them between the moldboard and the new cutting edge. I've used this design on a non trip blade in the past and it works good and I don't have to worry about wearing the cutting edge. Since my driveway is concrete, I really don't need to have the steel cutting edge to scrape down to the concrete. I also don't need to worry about using the skid shoes.

Since I didn't have the rod to angle the blade from the seat, I decided to fabricate a new pivoting L-bracket and use a shifter knob from a B-210/3212 to manually angle the blade. I still have to get off the tractor, but it works great.

[Ronald Hribar]

How did the rubber edge work? My neighbors drive way is uneven and I'm constantly tripping blade or stopping tractor in it's tracks. I like ,I like just had another brain storm, how would that work on snowblower?

[comet66]

Nice work! Looks like it realy does the job. Thanks for the pics.

[stevenj]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ronald Hribar
How did the rubber edge work? My neighbors drive way is uneven and I'm constantly tripping blade or stopping tractor in it's tracks. I like ,I like

---

On my B-210 I have the rubber cutting edge on a 42" non-trip fixed blade. Heres a photo of that rig.

When I mounted the blade on the B-210 around 1993 I was also concerned about snagging an edge and stopping the tractor or worse yet, bending or braking the blade or tractor. For that tractor I bought a rubber tailgate mat for a pickup truck and cut out two 1/4" thick strips and sandwiched them between the cutting edge and the moldboard, just like in the above picture. I've been using it since and have never had the blade snag any edges. It does a real good job of cleaning the surface, but if you've driven across the snow with a vehicle and you've packed it down, it won't scrap completely down to the surface. Because the rubber edge deflects back when plowing you can also run across the lawn without tearing it up. One item though is that if you try to run the blade across concrete when it is perfectly dry, the blade will chatter. But then again, who plows a dry driveway. As long as there is some snow on the surface, there is enough lubricant to prevent it from happening. If anyone has a paver block driveway, the rubber cutting edge will keep from tearing up and scratching the paver blocks, but you wouldn't want to use the tire chains. I can't comment as to whether it would work on snowblower as I don't have on with which to try it on.

[johnmonkey]

Nice job. JH

[lboy1971]

You could also use it as a squegee

[Chris727]

Nice, looks like a brand new blade. In the second pic from the top, did you add drain holes to the bottom of the reinforcment on the back of the blade? I am concerned about my trip blade rusting out from the inside if water gets in and can't get out. Thanks. Chris

[Leroy]

quote:

---

Originally posted by stevenj
I bought a front blade on E-bay last year. It was a little rusty, the cutting edge was worn to the moldboard, and the rod to angle from the front seat was missing. I sandblasted and painted the entire blade. I bought a piece of 1/4" thick x 3" wide piece of steel to use as a cutting edge. I found a source for rubber conveyor belting. I was looking for 1/2" thick material but they only had 3/8" thick material so I used two pieces and cut them to 4" wide and sandwiched them between the moldboard and the new cutting edge. I've used this design on a non trip blade in the past and it works good and I don't have to worry about wearing the cutting edge. Since my driveway is concrete, I really don't need to have the steel cutting edge to scrape down to the concrete. I also don't need to worry about using the skid shoes. [img]/club2/attach/stevenj/mini-DSCN1052.JPG[/img]

---

It does look good. A wise decision to protect your driveway. I expect that by design the two slabs of belting will load up because there is no backing, and with any downward pressure the 1/4 x 3" will scrape the driveway. A strip piece of 1/2" horse stall rubber placed behind the plow and bolted directly to back of your plow through tapped holes with thick washers instead of the 1/4 x 3" steel. Allowing the rubber to form fit to the angles on the back. then you will have a squeegee without risk of metal touching concrete the bolts could be flush ground and the lip repainted it would look store bought. I have worked with conveyor belting Vulcanizing them endless for gravel pit operations. WHat you have will work for a time. Resting the blade on the rubber in the design shown will potentially cause them to fold back like a mud flap. Still this looks like a very nice job and will no doubt be ok for a season or two.

[Chris727]

I took my 46" HD blade off this weekend to drill drain holes in it and found it already had them. Man did I feel stupid. Must have forgotten them.

[oots]

good looking job