Rear Blade Need some help with a new old Ford back blade

Josh61513 · Oct 25, 2010

I picked up a back blade yesterday for a very good price (free!) via a friend I work with. It was his dad's blade long ago.

It's a 6' blade that looks like it can spin 360 degrees and also has a (camber?) angle adjustment for forming ditches, has a "FORD" nameplate on it. It's well built but has been welded over the years and is need of some work again. If someone can ID this model blade i'd love to see some pictures of one in good shape! The member that connects that main frame to the back blade itself is broken/partly missing. I don't suppose this member could be ordered anymore?

Thanks for any and all help!
-Josh

Josh61513 · Oct 25, 2010

Hrmmm looks similar but not quite an 8' Ford "316" blade

djradz · Oct 26, 2010

Looks like a great opportunity. Yes it needs some work, but you'll have a fine blade when complete. Not sure there is a whole lot of benefit to having that "camber" adjustment and it may make sense as part of the repair to eliminate it and make the connection fixed and stronger. The blade looks straight and otherwise in pretty good shape. Keep us posted with pictures as you progress with the project, and good luck!

beenthere · Oct 26, 2010

If you have a good welder at a local shop, they will be able to fab the parts and put it back into good working order.
Rust is an enemy, and these blades most often just get dumped on the ground with no form of shelter or base to help protect the steel.

Gordon Gould · Oct 27, 2010

The camber adjustment helps if you are dropping the blade down into a ditch to dig the bottom or clean it out. You can get the blade more vertical down in the bottom. Probably not a useful feature for most folk. There are other uses for it too I bet. Those old timers were very clever in the way they used simple tools.

jbooth · Oct 27, 2010

For my use/2cents worth, I would keep the camber feature if feasible. Set some camber and a big angle on the blade and those things will cut a ditch and roll dirt over like a plow. Can actually make small terraces with them.

djradz · Oct 27, 2010

jbooth said:
For my use/2cents worth, I would keep the camber feature if feasible. Set some camber and a big angle on the blade and those things will cut a ditch and roll dirt over like a plow. Can actually make small terraces with them.

Obviously not our call on what he does, but I don't see how the camber will help with cutting or use almost "like a plow". Note that I have done exactly those two things (cut/plow), as you describe (worked incredibly great) with a standard blade, so I don't dispute the ability to work a blade in such a manner. What I don't see is how the camber will help. If you look at the pictures, you'll see that the blade is already tilted as far back as it can go, so it cannot lay back any more to make it "like a plow" as might be desireable in the case of when it's turned to 45 degrees or more for cutting/trenching. It can only tilt forward more from where it is set, which doesn't appear to help with much of anything other than as Gordon notes, but even that would require the blade to be offset from the tractor and this blade does not have an "offset" feature.

Opti-Mist · Oct 27, 2010

The hitch frame is not like any "Ford" 3-pt implement that I can recall, going back to the "Dearborn" days. If it were Ford it would carry a "7XX" model number to indicate "material moving". "3XX" relates to planters.

As for "camber", the ability to tilt the blade made it useful for ditching applications. At one time there was a "ditching point" avaiable as an attachment for use in creating new ditches or improving existing ditches.

jbooth · Oct 28, 2010

djradz said:
Obviously not our call on what he does, but I don't see how the camber will help with cutting or use almost "like a plow". Note that I have done exactly those two things (cut/plow), as you describe (worked incredibly great) with a standard blade, so I don't dispute the ability to work a blade in such a manner. What I don't see is how the camber will help. If you look at the pictures, you'll see that the blade is already tilted as far back as it can go, so it cannot lay back any more to make it "like a plow" as might be desireable in the case of when it's turned to 45 degrees or more for cutting/trenching. It can only tilt forward more from where it is set, which doesn't appear to help with much of anything other than as Gordon notes, but even that would require the blade to be offset from the tractor and this blade does not have an "offset" feature.

You're right it sure isn't my call. I will butt out. I'm 68 yrs old and would like for people to learn from my experiences both good and bad. There is no point in me trying to get people to learn from my mistakes. Some will have to make them all themselves.

KWentling · Oct 29, 2010

Got to agree with jbooth. I'd keep it. Why go through the trouble to eliminate it? Almost all (maybe all) motorized graders have that feature. You can control the aggressiveness of the cut and also "blade pack" by pitching it forward. (Ran graders for the road and bridge about 35 years ago) Not sure it's a feature that I would use much once it is set where it works good, but I would certainly leave it functional.

Kim