Land Plane - Yet another build

[Oliver1655]

Overall Size is 8 ft 6 inches wide & just under 6 ft long. The cutting edges are 8 ft across. I wasn't sure how much lower the cutting edge should be below the skids so I decided to make the depth adjustable. Then the debate was should the blades be straight across or angled to direct material sideways. In the future I will be building a grader for cutting ditches & crowning so in the end I decided to have the blades straight across. Next decision was whether to have 2 cutting edges at the same height or to have the front one higher or lower than the second. Since the blades will be adjustable pivoting at the rear, they ended up level with the bottom of the skids in the up position. As the blades are lowered in 1/4 in increments, the front blade becomes lower than the secondary cutting edge. I decided to add a hinged drag at the back which can also be used as a back blade.

Let the pictures begin!

 

[Oliver1655]

I'm rust on mixing the photos with the text so please bear with me.
- 1st photo: Basic lay out. The side skids are 12" channel iron. The cutting edge supports are 3/4" thick 4 x 8" angle iron. I want the weight to help it cut & not bounce around.

- 2nd photo: "transfer punch" They come in different diameters. My sets are in 1/64" increments. Very useful for marking the center of holes.

- 3rd photo: Marking the skids in a mirror image. The triangles on the right side will be cut off to taper the front of the skids.

- 4th photo: Completed skids. They have pockets welded on to cradle the center section ends. The holes are for setting the cutter depth. The open loops on the front ends are to allow for pulling it with a chain.

- 5th photo: My press which I built many years ago with a 20 ton air over hydraulic jack. Used to form the flats welded to the front of the skids & the sockets for the fork option you will see later.

- 6th photo: I clamped the 3/8" x 6" plate to another piece of heavy metal to be a heat sink to prevent the metal from warping as I welded the angle iron to it.

- 7th photo: Post welding, no visible warp-age. For the secondary cutting edge, I used 3/8" x 6" flat.

 

[NS Gearhead]

Looks good so far! Can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[Oliver1655]

Lets pause for a moment & think about the time spent just drilling the holes.
- Going through 3/4" thick angle iron: 30 holes which need 3 passes each to make the 5/8" holes needed for mounting the cutting edges.
- Then there were the other holes most of them through 3/8" thick steel, 36 of them. I am making the height of the cutting edges adjustable & the mount for the top link of the 3 point hitch mount pivots so it can follow the ground contour better.

Where is a magnetic drill when I need one?! There is definitely one in my future! I figure over 3 hours for marking & drilling holes.

It is basically together now.

- Back view: The back is a hinged drag made from a 1/2" thick x 8" angle iron cut down to a 3 x 8" angle using my circular saw. I then bolted a cutting edge to it. Weight is around 225#. It will swing up 1/2-3/4" fairly easily then you have to work to get it to lift higher. I have to use a 15" Crescent wrench with some ump to swing it horizontal. (Photos 1 & 2 show the cut off edge & the hinged back blade installed/painted.)

- 3rd photo: Close-up of the hinge. 1-1/4" rod cradled in 1-1/2" channel iron. I will be keeping an eye out for heavier duty "U" bolts but these will work fine for now.

- The next 2 photos show the 3" channel iron which lock the back ends of the skids in place & serves as a stop for the hinged back blade while pushing backwards.

 

[Oliver1655]

To make it versatile there will be 3 ways it can be connected up:
- 3pt hitch
- A chain hooked to the bront of the skids
- Slide the forks under the 3 pt hitch locations through sockets welded to the under side.

Photos:
- 1st photo: Angle iron turned upside down with fork socket welded on.

- 2nd photo: Angle iron in place with sockets for forks shown on the underside.

- 3rd photo: 3 point hitch center post for connecting the top link. The chains will allow the plane to follow the contour of the road/ground. Have you ever seen a 3pt hitch mounted brush hog where they have had to repair it because the hitch was solid? Chains work great!

- 4th photo: Near complete. Still need to weld on the front set of fork sockets & add some bolts to the cutting edges.

Later I will get some shots of it mounted.

 

[beerthengasoline]

Looks awesome, what do you think it weighs?

 

[ovrszd]

Great work!!!! I totally understand your frustration with hole drilling. Takes a LOT of time.

I'm confused about the front blade vertical adjustment?? What holds the pins in place?

I really like the rear push blade. I always thought if I built a plane, I'd have a setup like that. Might even create a latch on it so I could drag it full of material like a BB. With a hydraulic top link you cut material, store it, move it and spread it in whatever thickness you wanted.

Very cool Plane!!!

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Curious to see if the chain thing works. From my experience, it does not seem like it will.

 

[Oliver1655]

I estimate total weight to be around 1,150 lbs.

 

[john40981]

Curious to see if the chain thing works. From my experience, it does not seem like it will.

I agree, my experience also. Started using mine with a chain as the top link so it would lift at the back if needed. Did not work like that at all. Mine is 8' long and still lifts at the back if no solid top link is used.