Winter Fabrication

[Brettw]

I have one neighbor with a steep driveway, and find the need to salt sometimes to be able to make it up to the parking area.  They have salt on site, but it's a few hundred feet up to the garage to get their salt and then work my way back down to the tractor.  So I decided to go into fabrication mode, Simplicity style.  Kills two birds, with one project.  Adds weight to the rear, and provides a salt reservoir.  Hooks into the rear lift shaft (used a piece of an old rear mount assembly and reconfigured it), two pins in the regular hitch point.  Have to clean up the initial partial welds for aligning the fabrication and finish welding, and then paint, but it turned out pretty good, and, literally, a few "Simple" seconds to install.

[Brettw]

P.S.  This was only the guinea pig tractor, as it was in a good parking place to work on this, vs. the blower tractor.  26-12-12's do not work well in snow!

[SmilinSam]

Glad to see its only a bucket mount for hand tossing salt. Every tractor I have seen that had used a actual  salt spreader was a totally rusty piece o junk after a few seasons of spreading.

[Brettw]

4 hours ago, SmilinSam said:

Every tractor I have seen that had used a actual  salt spreader was a totally rusty piece o junk after a few seasons of spreading.

I would think this to be true, Sam.  And, how do you actually spread the salt with a spreader on the tractor, up the hill, that the tractor can't get up? 😵

I might actually make few more and put them up for sale.  This was the prototype, and made with materials I had on hand.  But I could see improving it and maybe making it able to carry additional weight too.  My main focus has been on making the fabrications I do simple to attach, keeping with the "Simplicity" mind set.  Sort of like my trailer hitch setup.  Instant, one pin to attach it, safe, as the ball is below the rear axle (the ball could be set up to be adjusted higher, but the user has to be careful so as not to end up with the tractor on top of them). 

One of the things that has always impressed me is the simplicity of changing out our attachments.  Our mower decks:  3 pins and the belt (think of how simple the belt install is, compared to other tractor's decks). Snowblower: 2 pins, the lift rod and again the simple belt. I still remember the commercial as a kid, where the Simplicity guy was going head to head with some other brands changing the deck to a snowblower (if I recall) or some other implement (or visa-versa), without tools and was done in the timeframe of a commercial! (he might have practiced a bit, but still!)

Edited January 6 by Brettw

[Hick]

On 1/5/2025 at 5:47 PM, Brettw said:

 

One of the things that has always impressed me is the simplicity of changing out our attachments. 

I have built several attachments for my tractors from scratch. Rear blade/ripper (initially pull-behind, now a kinda 3-point on it's 4th tractor), rear rolling cultivator (from a field cultivator!), front dozer (is now on the 4th tractor since initial build, with improvements / alterations along the way), and some others. The one thing I purposely design is EASE of mounting / dismounting, and ease of adjustment / maintenance.
The initial tractor with the dozer & blade, with convoluted levers & pedals with cables & pulleys to raise & lower them!
This would be about 1997. The dozer angle was by pulling pins and adding a spacer on one side.

The current version (Mk. VIII) of the dozer, with hydraulic lift. The remote angle release and pivot was done when I adapted the dozer to the first Deere.

Edited Tuesday at 11:36 PM by Hick

[gwiseman]

On 1/5/2025 at 5:47 PM, Brettw said:

One of the things that has always impressed me is the simplicity of changing out our attachments.  Our mower decks:  3 pins and the belt (think of how simple the belt install is, compared to other tractor's decks). Snowblower: 2 pins, the lift rod and again the simple belt. I still remember the commercial as a kid, where the Simplicity guy was going head to head with some other brands changing the deck to a snowblower (if I recall) or some other implement (or visa-versa), without tools and was done in the timeframe of a commercial! (he might have practiced a bit, but still!)

Main reason I changed from JD to Simplicity in 1999-2000. Nothing is ever as easy to switch out as the tv ads seem to indicate but Simplicity did keep it simple. Deck on my JD X540 is a nightmare for this old guy to remove. 2 spring loaded "J" pins attaching deck to lift arms under the  mower are probably good engineering in theory but H E double L to actually pull. I've used a long bent rod, hay hook, and stove poker and yet to find something that gives enough leverage to actually unhook. 

Kudos to you Brett!

[Hick]

13 hours ago, gwiseman said:

 Deck on my JD X540 is a nightmare for this old guy to remove. 2 spring loaded "J" pins attaching deck to lift arms under the  mower are probably good engineering in theory but H E double L to actually pull. I've used a long bent rod, hay hook, and stove poker and yet to find something that gives enough leverage to actually unhook. 

The X540 deck is not as easy as the 70s-80s 200 series, which I could do in three minutes or less. I was not impressed with the X540 at first. Then I found that if you turn the height adjustment all the way down, the deck weight is on the wheels and not on the J-hooks.  Now a three-minute job again: Loosen & remove belt, pull pins from the front piece, then the J-hooks last.
 

Edited Thursday at 05:38 AM by Hick

[gwiseman]

 

8 hours ago, Hick said:

The X540 deck is not as easy as the 70s-80s 200 series, which I could do in three minutes or less. I was not impressed with the X540 at first. Then I found that if you turn the height adjustment all the way down, the deck weight is on the wheels and not on the J-hooks.  Now a three-minute job again: Loosen & remove belt, pull pins from the front piece, then the J-hooks last.
 

Exactly opposite I've been told. I will try that next time. Thanks Gary

[Brettw]

Finished and ready for the snow that we don't get anymore.  And, lastly, does anyone know what this plastic half sphere might be for?  Fairly sturdy plastic, you can see the size by relationship to the hood.  No mounting holes, not flat on the bottom like a bowl, just a half sphere with a flange around it.  I got about 20 of these from an auction and am completely stumped.