Today's Project

[Hick 2,229]

I have lost count how many changes I have made to my homemade rear blade over the 20 years since I first made it.
Today's project: Revamp the beam angle adjustment on my blade AGAIN! The last change was from a vertical pin & rail adjuster to horizontal (top picture). Worked good, but the adjustment was rather coarse; it moved the adjuster bar one inch which really changed the up / down angle of the beam. I needed some finer adjustment, especially as the left / right angle of the blade increased.

I had scavanged some Honda electric seat adjuster mechanisms that use a screw in a block to move the seat. To... stay electric, I'd have to wire it in. Not a problem for me, but really didn't want to go that way because the gears in the mechanism are plastic, not sure how they would stand up. So I got rid of the gearbox and went manual.
After several mis-starts, I finally got I done. Now it has infinate adjustment. The handle to turn the screw is at the back.

And I spent 20 minutes looking for the heavy washer I used on the threaded rod. Looked all over, JUST had the damn thing, WHERE did it go?!!?!??!
Finally found it (after I quit looking) when I went to checking the front screw block mount. It had slid up the rod and was against the block, hiding in plain sight!

Edited December 4, 2016 by Hick
correction

[B-16_IC 1,029]

Hidden in plain sight That's where such things usually hide . I have been there , did that, many times . 

Nice solid looking blade ,  much more substantial than the Brinley ones which are probably fine on a modern Craftsman but will be a pretzel soon behind anything capable .  How did you make the change from scarifier to blade possible?  Would like to see that, always inspiring to see other's ideas .  Thanks for sharing . 

[Hick 2,229]

Well, the ripper has gone through as many evolutions as the blade! It started out as a pull-behind.
Here is the latest (and probably last) version. Before I had the spring pin release, I had one long pin going completely through. You can see that in the inset, top picture above. The spring pins are robbed off extra JD deck mounts.
The shaft going up through the beam is the pivot on the blade.  The spring pins on each end it makes for easy angling of the blade.
On the ripper, the center shaft is the main mount; the pins really don't do much on it. The ripper alone weighs 75#. The toolbar is 2" solid square steel, the points are 3/4" solid steel bar stock. The angle braces are 1" heavy wall tubing. The ripper is 52" wide, as are the front & rear blades.

 

Edited December 4, 2016 by Hick
additions

[Hick 2,229]

The dozer on the middle tractor is mounted at the back of the tractor and utilizes the deck raise mechanism in the middle to lift it. By having the hinge that far back the pitch of the blade does not change that much as it goes up & down. It also allows the dozer to be closer to the tractor than the Deere front mount.  The dozer can also be angled left & right.

 

Edited December 4, 2016 by Hick

[fishnwiz 3,290]

Sweet fab work. 

[Hick 2,229]

7 hours ago, fishnwiz said:

Sweet fab work. 

Thanks, I LOVE doing this stuff, and improving it after it is built!  All the dirt attachments for my tractors are made from scratch, and mostly from scavenged materials.
I can drop the front blade off and put on a bucket I made.  Problem with that is it does not lift very high (6") so dumping isn't all that great. And I made it the same width (52") which is too wide; there is too much drag and I spin out before it loads. I may narrow it down and make it deeper (front to back) as well. I even thought about making a rail lift for it, with an auto dump when it gets to the top. I'd have to use an electric winch to do that.

Or I may make a loader for the Deutz.  

[B-16_IC 1,029]

Thanks for the pictures and explanation  I bet that works great .  Ain't it amazing how much work a GT can do when properly equipped ? 

[Hick 2,229]

12 hours ago, B-16_IC said:

Thanks for the pictures and explanation  I bet that works great .  Ain't it amazing how much work a GT can do when properly equipped ? 

Yeah, you can take the boy off the farm, but you can't take the farm outta the boy! When we bought our 2 acres, I picked up the JD 216 for $900. It was 18 years old at the time. Wife Unit pointed out that for $300 more I could have a new Craftsman. 
I pointed out:

1) The Craftsman would probably be in the junk yard long before the JD would quit (And 18 years later the JD is going strong!)
2) If I'm looking over a hood, it's gotta be JD green! (okay, D-A green is okay, too!)
She now brags me up when our friends look over the lineup of homemade stuff.