Piston
Elite Member
I recently purchased a Land Pride RBT 4096 rear blade for my tractor and I'd like to build a hydraulic gauge wheel for the back of it. I was originally going to purchase one from Land Pride but when I got a price of $800 I decided it was something I could do without unless I were to build it myself, and I'd really like to have one. The price I got was for an RBT 3596 rear blade, which is a very similar blade, just slightly less heavy duty. For some reason, Land Pride doesn't list a gauge wheel as an option for the 4096 rear blade, but they do list it as an option for the 3596.
What I'm planning on doing, is basically copying (but beefing up the steel a bit) the factory option for the gauge wheel, however, I need a little help. If anyone has the gauge wheel option on their blade, can you tell me a few things about it?
When you retract the cylinder, does the gauge wheel assembly lift all the way up to vertical, so it's out of the way, or does it stay fairly horizontal, extending the overall length of the blade at all times? I'd like to be able to raise it to vertical so when I'm not using the gauge wheel I don't have it sticking out way past the blade.
Do you think it would be better to have a longer gauge wheel assembly, perhaps something that sticks out 3' or so, or would it be better to have something closer to the blade that only sticks out slightly? Since I'm going to build it myself, I can be pretty flexible with the design, and I'd like to use what is most effective.
How long is the factory gauge wheel assembly? I see in this parts diagram RBT3596 that the cylinder is a 3.5"X8" with a 1.25" rod diameter.
The blade came with hydraulic tilt and angle, but manual offset, so I'm going to order a hydraulic cylinder from Fit Rite Hydraulics for the offset (for literally HALF of what Land Pride wants for a lesser quality cylinder) and I'm waiting to put in my order until I can figure out what size cylinder I'll need for the gauge wheel, that way I can save on shipping by buying all at the same time.
What I'm planning on doing, is basically copying (but beefing up the steel a bit) the factory option for the gauge wheel, however, I need a little help. If anyone has the gauge wheel option on their blade, can you tell me a few things about it?
When you retract the cylinder, does the gauge wheel assembly lift all the way up to vertical, so it's out of the way, or does it stay fairly horizontal, extending the overall length of the blade at all times? I'd like to be able to raise it to vertical so when I'm not using the gauge wheel I don't have it sticking out way past the blade.
Do you think it would be better to have a longer gauge wheel assembly, perhaps something that sticks out 3' or so, or would it be better to have something closer to the blade that only sticks out slightly? Since I'm going to build it myself, I can be pretty flexible with the design, and I'd like to use what is most effective.
How long is the factory gauge wheel assembly? I see in this parts diagram RBT3596 that the cylinder is a 3.5"X8" with a 1.25" rod diameter.
The blade came with hydraulic tilt and angle, but manual offset, so I'm going to order a hydraulic cylinder from Fit Rite Hydraulics for the offset (for literally HALF of what Land Pride wants for a lesser quality cylinder) and I'm waiting to put in my order until I can figure out what size cylinder I'll need for the gauge wheel, that way I can save on shipping by buying all at the same time.