Advice needed please Converting a Curtis snow plow pin frame to a quick attach

[mike69440]

If you have a heavy tractor, just make sure that you reinforce the heck out of the bottom edge where the plow frame attaches, otherwise the plate will bend and crack welds. If I did it again, I'd also make the set up for a choice of plow floating and pined fixed. Pined fixed works really good on flat areas but beats up the loader on hilly bumps. I float the entire loader, but that does not work well in deep heavy snow.

 

[joesco]

George,
Thanks for the kind words, week two can kick this sticking virus! No progress at all. Promise to post lots of pictures and progress notes when I start up again.

Finally back on my feet. Made some progress today. Found a set of brackets for cheap money on CL and welded those to the solid 5/16ths adaptor plate for the Curtis plow. (See pic) I'm reinforcing the brackets to the plate with 5/8 grade 4 chassis bolts and nuts.

The plan is to use a set of 3" wide by 1" by 8" long, plate steel, bored with 1" holes and pinned on bottom of the bracket and plow frame. Then suspend the plow's frame with set of heavy duty chains, 1" diameter pins and clevis shackles on the top.

With the help of a friend, we cut off the bucket brackets and I hope to weld them on to the quick attach adapter plates later this week . (See pics)

Question please.... When welding the adapter plate to the back of the bucket, should the plate be level with the top or bottom of the bucket?

Any comments on plan are welcome and appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Fallon]

Finally back on my feet. Made some progress today. Found a set of brackets for cheap money on CL and welded those to the solid 5/16ths adaptor plate for the Curtis plow. (See pic) I'm reinforcing the brackets to the plate with 5/8 grade 4 chassis bolts and nuts.

The plan is to use a set of 3" wide by 1" by 8" long, plate steel, bored with 1" holes and pinned on bottom of the bracket and plow frame. Then suspend the plow's frame with set of heavy duty chains, 1" diameter pins and clevis shackles on the top.

With the help of a friend, we cut off the bucket brackets and I hope to weld them on to the quick attach adapter plates later this weekView attachment 500308View attachment 500309View attachment 500310View attachment 500311. (See pics)

Question please.... When welding the adapter plate to the back of the bucket, should the plate be level with the top or bottom of the bucket?

Any comments on plan are welcome and appreciated. Thanks!

The bottom of your bucket should be a few inches below the bottom of your tires when level & the loader is bottomed out.

 

[joesco]

Why didn't you say so yesterday. I could have loaded my dump trailer full and brought you a load in exchange for some cinnamon buns.

I've finally finished my QA conversion on my loader and Curtis plow. I'm hoping for some comments on the QA setup for my plowl.

I haven't welded in 15 years, but gave it my best. Before painting, I'll probably lay a few passes on both the loader QA and the plow adapter plate brackets.

I have a second set of 1" holes on the upper portion of the donor brackets that are welded to the QA plate and was pondering if I should utilize those for reinforcement.

Thanks!

 

[joesco]

Based on the excellent suggestions on this thread, if I do reinforce the plow frame utilizing the upper 1" holes on the QA plate's bracket with similar 1" stock as I did in the bottom, I will lose the float option, but gain strength.

Pro's and Con's?

Thanks very much!

 

[LD1]

I wouldn't do anything to loose plow float.

But wonder why the double bottom pin? Seems it would be a sloppy connection and tend to have a mind of its own when pushing. I would have welded the 1" bar with pinhole right to the ssqa bracket and hook with just one pin on each side like how it would hitch to a truck.

Not gonna criticize the welding. I assume you know your ability or lack there of and know what it takes to make it stay together. And trust you will get it to that point before calling it done.

The only weak link I see in the plow setup is possibly the channel iron chain support. Not sure how big or heavy your plow is, but if carrying the plow suspended, going over bumps is gonna put tremendous load on that piece and can foresee it possibly bending forward overtime.

 

[nybirdman]

I don't think you need the double pin set up on the bottom;may cause a bind.I would reinforce the bottom edge of the SS plate also.The channel iron for your chain "may" be a little light also.You don't want to give up the ability to float the plow.

 

[Fallon]

I 3rd the questioning of the double pin setup. I think it will cause you problems. If it were me I'd weld one end of that bar stock solid to the SSQA mount or plow frame.

The chain mount looks a bit bent already in the first photo, but I think that's just camera trickery not seen in later photos. I did have the same worry about a weak spot. The C channel should be reasonably strong in that direction though, MUCH better than bar stock. It's just bolted on, so easily replacable. I'd run it as is unless it flexes a lot. Replace & reengineer it if/when it has issues. That C channel is MUCH stouter than the chain, but the chain has leverage & is in a strong configuration compared to the C channel.

 

[joesco]

I've finally finished my QA conversion on my loader and Curtis plow. I'm hoping for some comments on the QA setup for my plowl.

I haven't welded in 15 years, but gave it my best. Before painting, I'll probably lay a few passes on both the loader QA and the plow adapter plate brackets.

I have a second set of 1" holes on the upper portion of the donor brackets that are welded to the QA plate and was pondering if I should utilize those for reinforcement.

Thanks! View attachment 504445View attachment 504446View attachment 504447View attachment 504448View attachment 504449View attachment 504450View attachment 504451

Thanks for the great suggestions. A 14", very wet Nor'easter was a good test for the plow and it handled the my 1300 foot paved driveway and my 800' gravel driveway without a problem.

Re-engineering based on the suggestions will be worked on and I post my second pass on this project.