Rear Blade Anyone Put Trip Springs on a Rear Angle Blade?

[Iplayfarmer]

I plowed snow last night. We had about an inch and a half of wet, heavy snow. I was just finishing with my neighboor's driveway when my rear angle blade hung up on the junction between the gravel driveway and the cement sidewalk. The attached picture shows the damage.

Has anyone ever added trip springs to a rear blade to prevent this kind of thing?

 

[djradz]

Sorry to see that. Probably a bit of a weak point, the way it bent right at the pivot.

Anyway, I've not heard or seen such, but no reason one couldn't have them. Might impact the use of the blade for other purposes though.

I have both a paved section and gravel section of drive, and like all those joints in the concrete, I try to have the blade at an angle, backblade, or otherwise be very careful at the transition points.

Hope your fix is not to costly or time-consuming. Maybe a complete new, heavier-wall main beam tube-steel piece would be the quickest and easiest.

 

[CowwFace]

Dang.. file this under "No good deed goes unpunished." but worth it!

I don't know about trip springs.. but what about some skid plates or "Shoes" that bolt on to the edge of the blade?

 

[Iplayfarmer]

...Hope your fix is not to costly or time-consuming. Maybe a complete new, heavier-wall main beam tube-steel piece would be the quickest and easiest.

That's what I'm thinking. I'll just replace that whole main beam with something one size up in thickness.

 

[beenthere]

If you size the beam up, then what will break or bend when hitting the same/like obstacle? Something has to give. :confused3:

 

[Iplayfarmer]

If you size the beam up, then what will break or bend when hitting the same/like obstacle? Something has to give. :confused3:

With my tractor being only 18 hp and weighing under 3,000 pounds, I hope that what gives is the traction. I know that a subsoiler if it's far enough down in the ground will stop the tractor in low gear without bending or breaking anything.

Are there options for putting in some kind of fusable link in a 3 point hook-up?

 

[Code54]

Another thought maybe bolting on a rubber edge. Say a piece of conveyor belt perhaps. That way the rubber edge (maybe make it 3 or so inches high) would catch and the steel blade would be above the obstruction so no bending.

 

[JoeL4330]

my rear blade has hydraulics and there is a "cushion" valve in the circuit...
in your case, here are some suggestions:

a piece of black plastic pipe on the edge that would allow it to ride over some obstacles ...this has been discussed in many thread as a way of not overly disturbing gravel on a gravel drive

use the top link to adjust the blade (vertical) angle so that it is less aggressive and thus might more easily float over a snag. ...and/or consider using a chain or a swinging link (like the HF adapter) so the blade can kick up more easily.

if your blade angles and you are concerned about an edge catching (the most common problem) you might substitute a Chinese bolt for the pin that determines the angle so that it works like a shear pin. ...keep a couple of spares.

and, as noted, consider a flexible edge if you decide against the black plastic pipe

hope some of these suggestions are of value

 

[PILOON]

Skid shoes!
Like used on most snow plows and even blowers.
Unfortunately skids will leave a bit of snow behind as they will lift the blade a tad.

Another solution might be to angle the blade to one side thereby presenting less face to grab, angled, I'd suspect would coax the blade to 'hop over' most obstructions.

Dropping a back blade to pull stuff is sort of like dropping a boat anchor, bound to catch something.

In fact you were lucky as something had to give.
Grabbing onto a curb like that could have yanked the 3-point mechanism right off of the rear end and possibly fractured some castings.

If you really want a protection mechanism, I would think that a large coil spring (that would compress) in lieu of the upper 3-point arm could do the trick.
Probably a car coil spring over a pair of loose fitted tubes that had the proper 'eyes' at either end would do the trick.
Main problem would be that adjustement would no longer exist or be complicated to accomplish.

Good luck!

 

[Argosy]

From the rust that doesn't look like it happened all at one time. Look at the break and see if it is clean or rusted. Flatten it out, put plate on both sides and the top, use it until it dies or get rid of it.

All the braces are fairly light strap and it's bolted together, holes are weak points. If you don't keep the bolts tight the holes will elongate. There's even a hole in the tube that broke with nothing in it, a weak point for no reason. It's not real heavy duty, if you use it a lot I would make a lot of improvements or get a heavier one.