back blade use instructions

[montanaman]

I have a customer that called me to tell me the pivot pin on his rear blade bent. Well when he brought it to me, I found that the entire thing has cracks in it and a lot of twisted parts. I told him I would repair it at no cost but explained that all of the damage was caused from abuse and lack of knowing how to use it. I know that he was only using it in reverse and I think he just let the three point all the way down. There are no skid shoes on the blade. He pushed back on it so hard that the tubing that the blade carrier pivots in is bent and cracked on both sides.

So the question is this. Are there any general use instructions out on the WWW that I could print out and give him so he can learn how to use this blade?

This is an International economy blade and I have a bunch of them out there with no complaints except for this one.

I know this is his first tractor.

Ken

 

[Corm]

I bent up my first back blade in much the same way as you described. All it takes is for a corner of the blade to get caught on something that won't move (like a frozen stone this time of year), and you have all the weight of the tractor pushing on that corner cantilevered way out there. Something has to give....

After repairing mine twice, I bought a heavy duty one, and haven't had any problems since. Now, when it gets caught on something, my tractor simply stops and the tires spin. Your customer may not be doing anything wrong, he may have a blade that isn't matched correctly to his tractor? Just a thought.

Oh, to answer your original question regarding some sort of instruction manual, I've never seen one for a back blade. There have been lots of forum threads thru the years on ways to use a box blade, but again, I've never seen or heard of anything for a back blade.

Corm

 

[montanaman]

Keep in mind that a better blade might just put the damage on something more expensive! I rarely use my blade when backing up and when I do I usually don't rotate the blade. That way, it can ride over something rather than catch an edge and bust something up. For pushing back snow, it works just fine for me this way and gives a little extra protection to the equipment.

The three point hitch can carefully push something but it was designed to pull and has much more strength when pulling, than when pushing!!

From the damage on this blade, it is very clear that he had never pulled the blade, only pushed with it and more than likely just lowered the three point until the blade was all the way on the ground. The pivot locking pin is 1" diameter and it is bent like a pretzel. The 1" holes in the heavy plate are also all smeared from the pressure. Yes, it is a lighter blade, but this is clearly a case where the owner didn't know how to operate it either.

I really think if he had a heavy blade, he would just break the tractor and that's why I'm hoping to find some printed instructions to hand him.

Ken

I bent up my first back blade in much the same way as you described. All it takes is for a corner of the blade to get caught on something that won't move (like a frozen stone this time of year), and you have all the weight of the tractor pushing on that corner cantilevered way out there. Something has to give....

After repairing mine twice, I bought a heavy duty one, and haven't had any problems since. Now, when it gets caught on something, my tractor simply stops and the tires spin. Your customer may not be doing anything wrong, he may have a blade that isn't matched correctly to his tractor? Just a thought.

Oh, to answer your original question regarding some sort of instruction manual, I've never seen one for a back blade. There have been lots of forum threads thru the years on ways to use a box blade, but again, I've never seen or heard of anything for a back blade.

Corm

 

[Opti-Mist]

Go to this link. There are a ton of precautions that help to make your point.
http://www.worksaver.com/manuals/dc4-5-ws.pdf

 

[bigdad]

Hey Montanaman,

Sell that Dude some gauge wheels for that blade and tell him to pull it instead of push it. It appears to me that you are generous for fixing it ONCE. If he brought it back like that again....too bad. Everything has it's limit. Even our patients. Good luck.

Big Dad