Anyone built front blade from scratch? + welding ?

[Mith]

Keith, that all makes sense. So what other differences are there between the 400 and 300 seriers grades? Why would you choose one over the other?

The pictures were taken BP, before paint, it will all be painted except the stainless steel sheet.

Today I made a lift linkage for the rear hitch and started thinking about the angle and lift for the front hitch. I made an adaptor so the blade will be able to go on the rear linkage but when I tried to fit it in I remembered the reciever on the rear linkage is tilted for the plough so I need to decide what to do about that. In the end I plan to use hydraulics but am still deciding how to fit them to a tractor so small. Also I will be needing to upgrade the engine soon.

 

[BGL990]

I've got some stainless steel info on my web page. For a while I was into building gas turbine engines from turbochargers and made up a web site with some stuff. Under the "Links 'n Stuff" pane in the upper left there is a link to some stainless info I gleaned from a few sources.

ps. My site hasn't been updated for ages, so some of the external links are probably bad by now. Sorry. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

my web page

 

[MSU_Keith]

Lots of different grades for lots of different applications -corrosion resistance in certain environments, high temp oxidation resistance, surface finish, ease of manufacturing, magnetic properties, etc.

BGL990: nice brief breakdown on your site, except you missed all the ferritic 400 series (409, 429, 430, 439, etc) which is probably more popular than the martensitic grades.

 

[andyfletcher]

I built a plow using a drum from a ground packer. These are ganged drag behind, 1/8in plate drums they use on farms and the like. One segment is a drum 32in wide by 22 inches or so high.

I removed the rivets to pop out the end plates, and measured and cut 3 curved segments of 18in wide. I welded them togeather to give me 78inches by 18inches. The plates did revert back a little to their original shape, but the curve remaining was perfect.

I backed that by using a 78in long piece of 4in X 2In box tubing cut in half length ways for my cross members behind the plow. It'll plow dirt, cement blocks,stones snow,whatever. It has a 2in X 3/8 inch protective edge that i would have prefered carbon steel, but i had to use mild. I may apply hardening rod to it one day.

The plow is mounted on the front of the tractor, and has a "T" arm that sits between 2 posts. The T arm has a 10inch verticle arm welded to it that is used to connect my control rod(reinforcing rod) under the tractor and back to my 3PH. So I don't need additional hydraulics for it and it stays mounted all summer.

I can operate my dirt scoop with the 3PH by adjusting a threaded rod so that when the scoop is on the ground, the plow is 5inches from the ground. When I raise the scoop the plow also raises to max up position.

To use the plow, I make an adjustment for the opposite effect. The adjustment prevents the scoop from lowering to the ground when the plow is at ground level, but when I raise the plow, the scoop goes to max lift position.

I can't use both at once, but all I do is turn a nut on a threaded rod to activate whatever implement I want to use. It suits me for the odd job around the house, but if i were doing serious work all the time I'd put in some cylinders.

Andy