Grader mod for BB

Last spring when we were discussing road grading here at TBN someone asked the question "why can't you just modify a BB to be a better grader". That got me thinking.......
At the time I was using a BB to rehabilitate my road and I could see that once the road was fixed the BB may not be the best tool to maintain it. I knew that any such mod would be a compromise and not a true grader but since I had a bunch of 3" angle iron, I figured it would be a harmless project for me and my new welder. What I wanted was something I could bolt to the box blade that would do a better job lifting the gravel, mixing it with the fines, moving it towards the center and then spreading it out. I used pictures of duragrader and the TBN grader project threads as my guide. Thanks to all that posted projects advice and opinions. I used as much of it as I could. The first thing I figured out was that the distance between the box blade and the rear tires was a limiting factor. The grader would not be as long as it should be. I cut two pieces of angle as long as I could fit for the skis. They would be bolted to holes I drilled in the BB. I used washers as spacers and bolted the skis on the BB. Then I cut, fitted and welded the cross pieces on. Here is the what I had at that point.





I'll post more when I get pics.

The angle of the pix is funny. It looks as though the skis do not form a box and the grader blades are welded at about an 85 degree angle. It looks like the grader is shaped like this with one ski sticking out each end.


Post a pix with it mounted on the box blade.

I'll get my act together and post better pics. The blades are welded at about an 85 degree angle. Sides are even and parallel. No measurements though. I just sat down cutting and welding to create what I thought would do the job.

Tig, I think you are onto something.

Question: If this bolts to the BB, then what happens in conjuction with the blade of the BB? is the BB blade in-front or behind this grader rig?

If in front, is it going to capture material and not pass it on to the Grader-rig?
If behind, is it going to capture material that has already been processed by the Grader-rig?

I like your concept, and not being critical, just trying to think of the process as it passes over the surface and does it's work. A brief description of how it is supposed to work would be enlightening.

I really like the idea of being able to get more out of a given implement, versus buying another one.

I like the discussion. The point of this thread is to show what I did to my friends at TBN so they can review. That way if someone else trys this they will make a better one.
The grader blades are in front of the BB
At first I wanted to use the BB blades as the grader blades. Just take them off the BB and bolt them on the grader. That would leave the back of the BB 1/2 inch above grade to level out the material graded. That was how the angle of the grader blades was determined I put them as straight as possible while still allowing room for the BB cutting edges. The idea of re-using those blades went away. Too much trouble to move them. Instead the BB cutting edge sits on the skis and levels the material.
I made my own grader cutting edge out of mild steel and ran and arc weld bead down the edge to harden it. While welding I warped the blade. Watch out for that.
I used a cutting disk on my grinder to put teeth on the first cutting edge \_/\_/\_/ The second one is straight. They are both set 3/4" below the skis. Although the warp comes into play in the actual depth at any given point.
The way it is supposed to work is the blades grade 3/4 inch of material which tumbles from right to left down the angled blades some passing over the top. Graded material gets to the back of the box where the BB cutting edge distributes it evenly.
I have a finished product but no pictures yet. In the first trial the top and tilt was key to getting the finish I wanted.
It has changed a bit and I'll get a better set of pics to explain more of the evolution.

I'm interested in the project but can't understand yet how it works in practice, guess I'll have to see photos. I do have two old grader blades available that I could use to make something similar... which I need...something to put a crown on the road. Am lookin gforward to photos of the unit in action!

I have one more bundle of shingles and then a sidewalk to form and pour before I can get away to the country to see my tractor. Should be there on the weekend.
Here is a pic from when I was welding the first parts together last spring. You can see the right ski in the bottom right of the pic. Yes it does come very close to the rear tire. I have tested it through the range of motion of the tnt and it will not touch the tire. I bolted the parts to the BB and then welded so that I would not have an issues with fit due to something not being square.

Interesting...looks like you also have a single gauge wheel center mounted. I DON'T have a hydraulic tilt.... am wondering if this is a critical component to how the whole thing works... looking forward to more photos, particularly from top down to see how blades attach to the box.

Nice setup.. top, tilt, box, gauge wheel, shiny tractor... doesn't get better

Tig,

I think I might understand, but can you verify this is correct:

After the materials passes over your 2 fabricated angle-steel grader blades, then the BB's rear blade is raised slightly, only letting a certain amount of graded material to pass under?
So the BB is acting like a metering device?

for instance: If you stir up a bunch of material, it will hold it and let it out slowly, if you don't stir up much it will simply pass under the BB and out the back?

Is this correct?

Thanks texasjohn. The single gauge wheel was the result of me rushing out to the garage and building what I saw in a picture or should I say half a picture. It works well with the tnt. You can tilt and rock the box on the fly. If the wheel was twice as wide it would be better. Originally the gauge wheel was in the plan for the grader, but I found a better idea in the forums. I extended the ski back past the BB cutting edge a little over a foot. That allows me to use the tnt to tilt the grader back, which raises the front cutting edges and also the BB edge. That way you can taper off material at the end of the road or if you are interrupted by traffic. Makes for a smooth transition. Hard to explain but I'll be sure to get a video of the motion this weekend. I've only used the grader once for an hour and the tnt was important to help me figure out what I was doing.

SkunkWerX you've got the idea. The BB cutting edge is only raised the thickness of the angle iron. Since I am trying to restore the crown on my road I raise the left side of the box slightly to let excess material pass there. Tnt comes in handy for adjusting that.
It's a small tractor so the BB is only 4' wide. With the grader attached the BB is about 500lbs. I waited for the day after a good rain so the road would not be bullet hard. It dug right in.