Fired Road contractor. Build it myself?

[ovrszd]

Chaching!!!!

 

[Billrog]

I stuck a swivel wheel off an old piece of John Deer equipment on a back blade so I could grade decent.

 

[Egon]

I stuck a swivel wheel off an old piece of John Deer equipment on a back blade so I could grade decent.

That swivel wheel would really make things easier!

 

[WoodChuckDad]

So, you could fab up something like this.

View attachment 498240

Did you fabricate that?

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I stuck a swivel wheel off an old piece of John Deer equipment on a back blade so I could grade decent.

Do you have a picture of it?

 

[airbiscuit]

Did you fabricate that?

Nope, that's just a stock photo of an OEM option. They are usually quite expensive. It wouldn't be difficult to fab up if you have the tail wheel and yoke. Your blade looks like it has a good center attachment point. You could use a 3PT top link as a height adjuster (back to the tail wheel). It would make grading your road a lot easier.

 

[airbiscuit]

So I took the picture of your rear blade and crudely marked it up with Microsoft Paint.

I would take a 1/2" or 3/8" plate the same dimensions as your back end of your blade frame and drill and tap holes for 7/16" bolts (yellow in the pic)
To that I would weld a vertical piece of heavy wall square tube (2" or 2 1/2") (Blue in the pic)
I would "ears" on the top and back pf that to make the equivalent of a clevis or pivot point (gray round holes)
Another piece of square tubing back to the tail wheel (blue violet in the pic)
A 3pt top link on the top for adjustment (gold in the pic)

I admit that my mark up is crude, but if you start with attachment point to your blade and kind of fit it up and fab it up from there it should be fairly straightforward. They get $300, $400 plus to buy these as accessories if they are available at all. You might also want to make the horizontal and vertical square tubes welded on to your attachment plate to be the equivalent of receiver hitches. That way the tail wheel would be quick attach and you could put a trailer ball on it when not using the wheel.

 

[sixdogs]

Would two wheels, one on each side, work better?

 

[airbiscuit]

Would two wheels, one on each side, work better?

Most of the aftermarket ones are a single mount down the center. You adjust the tilt with your lift arms.

Two wheels might be better, but things get funky when you angle the blade. I have seen homemade versions of that, but the wheels tend to be pretty close to the blade. The general purpose of a tail wheel is to smooth out the ups and downs. Thus a longer "wheelbase" is preferred.

 

[sixdogs]

Would a landscape rake be better off with one or two wheels? I'm thinking of adding some to mine for the driveway.