Grading Bent Grader Blade

[Kubota-monkey]

I just purchased a woods 6ft grader blade and from the start it was great. I had pushed these large dirt piles aside and smoothed it out real nice. Then the problem came when I tried to angle the blade. I tried to pull the pin that holds the blade at a certain angle and I couldnt get it to budge. I smacked it with a hammer a few times and it seems as if the whole implement is out of alignment or bent... I think i will return it for a new one

 

[Roy]

Returning sounds like the right decision. When I first angled mine, I had to knock the pin with a piece of wood, but it came free. They may of not drilled the holes to the correct tolerance.

 

[JerryG]

Kubota-monkey
Woods is a good high quality manufacture. A large portion of the better manufactures put on a very heavy coat of paint. It could be that the hole has a thick coat of paint in it. My sub-frame for my backhoe was the same way until I took it on and off a few times. Now it’s fine. As far as tolerances go, I prefer to have them on the minimal side. A blade will wear in too fast anyway, if it’s in heavy use. But, on the other hand, everyone makes a mistake from time to time.
JerryG

 

[Roy]

After I responded, I remembered that I had to perform a little more initial freeing process on the first blade I used (dealer loaner). The first blade was a higher quality blade (Kodiak), and required more effort.

To initially free the pin, I first applied some WD40 at the pivot point. Then I kicked the blade several times on both sides, both directions of rotation (unseize the metal to metal contact). Using a 4x4, whacked the pin. (A hard strike from a hammer could flare the pin. Use wood.) Coated the pin with a light coating of lithium grease. Never had a problem after that.

After seeing JerryG's response, it seems logical that a better blade would bind tighter. That is, the holes are probably drilled exactly to tolerance, preventing unwanted movement during use. As he stated, add a good coat of paint and the little tolerance you had is gone.

 

[W5FL]

I would really be surprised if the dealer would exchange it for a new one. I suspect he will take a torch and straighten your blade or mount until it works freely again.

Blades are easily damaged due to the tremendous torque that can be placed on their rotating mechanism by use on hard materials and all are rated by the expected HP of the tractor. I am surprised that the L35 is rated for a 6 ft blade, although that is probably the smallest for most chores you would use a blade for. You sure need to be careful and work slow when getting a big load out near the end of the blade. A heavy duty box blade is much tougher where it can be used.

I was concerned about the same problems when looking at blades. I bought a 100 HP 8 ft blade that weighs about 650#. It has a huge swivel and uses a 1/2 inch piece of steel to drop in the slots to lock it into the angled positions and the rotated positions. There are no close fitting holes.