Dragalong towable box blade / land plane

[Xfaxman]

Thanks for the pics - uncle google knows all.

Dragalong is almost 7' wide. It sure has done a good job in all its incarnations. It started off with just a chain bridle hooked to the towball (needed too much room to turn around but when you got stuck you could reverse up and do a running snatch to get it out) - then it got the teeth on the front - then it got the towing arm so it could be reversed (sort of - on flat smooth ground at least) - and now it's finally getting up/down wheels so it's going to be a pleasure to use now. Maybe a few cutouts in the front I beam will allow some more material thru to the "box" and I have thought about some method of "ramping" the rocks up into that box too so that they can all be dumped in one location.

Another incarnation maybe it turning into a towable scraper that can also be driven from a diesel motor & box & shortened diff (with dualies) out back and the motor can provided hydraulics and all the controls that need to run up front will be for clutch, throttle and the bucket hydraulics - I have been known to think up some crazy :confused2: stuff but I reckon if I win the time lotto, it could happen. Just a bit tidier shifting dirt over a distance.

What does Xfaxman mean - did you have something to do with fax machines?

Yep, repair and installing fax machines. When I walked in to fix a machine, someone would say "the fax man is here". When I retired 12 years ago I became an ex fax man!

I know what you mean "to think up some crazy :confused2: stuff" , just look at my avatar!

I am enjoying your thread, keep us posted on how it works in this incarnation. :thumbsup:

 

[Jeembawb]

Yep, repair and installing fax machines. When I walked in to fix a machine, someone would say "the fax man is here". When I retired 12 years ago I became an ex fax man!

I know what you mean "to think up some crazy :confused2: stuff" , just look at my avatar!

I am enjoying your thread, keep us posted on how it works in this incarnation. :thumbsup:

Ha my Dad has a lame joke about an Ex Tractor Fan - should post it here sometime. Me a toner monkey 22 years now - must be something in the toner to come up these with crazy ideas. I've got an out front mower just like yours (Hustler 305 with D1402 28hp 3 cyl kubota) that I should do something crazy with - tis just sitting in the shed - I guess I do have a tractor & just didn't realise cause its down the back with a hovercraft fan on top of it :cool2: ... i do need a loader... hmmnnn.

Will try to get the battery mounted up tonight for prewire testing and I have changed the plumbing on the ram so it will work the right way - I took it off a tail lifter I had lying around

 

[Jeembawb]

Some more progress during a week of hottest ever September on record - why do I keep all my junk in the shed and work outside in the weather????

More pics anyway of the battery tray and some protection for the pump etc and a bit of reworking of the towbar seeing as it will have to take a little more weight with the wheels in operation.

 

[Jeembawb]

So it looks like something now that it has is wheels on. Now that I have finished welding I have moved it from outside the "welding shed" to park it outside another shed to do the wiring and bolt up a cutting edge underneath.

And I have to work out the rain cover too.

 

[Jeembawb]

Prewire testing works

 

[Xfaxman]

Looks good, should work good. Have you applied for a patent?

 

[NS Gearhead]

Very cool! I'm thinking of building something similar to tow behind my Jeep for the driveway and trail. Just wondering; to reach the outside of corners could you have some chains going from corner of plane to corner of tow rig?

 

[Jeembawb]

No patents here xfaxman - I have applied for patience as everything seems to take longer than I think it should these days :laughing:

Nsgearhead - I have thought along those lines at times more for rigidity reasons when it hits something lumpy and wants to pivot out of it rather than reaching out into sweeping bends. One of my original chain bridles hooked up with two chains to each corner but was a pain when you did a 3 point turn. I also did have plans for adjustable four link swinging back axle (much like a car back suspension but using adjustable top links) and with that design I could steer and tilt the axle thereby having the whole lot hang out to the side for ditches (& corners) but it might need one chain link back to the corner of the vehicle to keep it there unless the material was just loose fines. The adjustable design with the tilt could help to ditch and make a crown but I can do that now by letting a tyre down on one side or putting a bigger wheel on one side

I had decided to leave the adjustable design for another project using a blade (which can be seen in some of the welding photos in the background) on a backbone (allowing for angle, tilt & pitch) utilising a truck front axle assy for the wheels which can utilise a mechanism to make it steer by a lever off the tow bar and when setup correctly it will follow the path of the towing vehicle. I saw some huge land plane on YouTube or somewhere where it did this - cool idea

 

[CNC Dan]

looks good. You might want to move the wheels further back. as they are it looks like they won't span much more than the skids would.
I made something similar to what you made, and I would like to move my wheels back some more.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums//showthread.php?t=258933

 

[Jeembawb]

looks good. You might want to move the wheels further back. as they are it looks like they won't span much more than the skids would.
I made something similar to what you made, and I would like to move my wheels back some more.

homemade road grader

I like your build Dan - I know what you mean about the wheel positioning - ideally the cutting edge needs to be 1/2 way between your rear driving wheels and the rear wheels on the "land plane" etc. Mine was determined by the length of the ram and the easiest way to position it and taking into account the available material to "swing" the axle on and how strong the material would have to be to "have them way out back". It should be ok in this instance seeing as the the front is a cutting edge too & roughly half the wheel distance