FEL Snow PLow size?

[LD1]

LD1 - thanks for the tips. Wasn't sure on what you meant by drilling the pin for a grease fitting?? I was aiming to do the sector and plow like you said.

I was talking about drilling a hole (boring) all the way through with a couple side holes for grease to get out. That way there would be just one grease fitting on the end of the pin.

I wasnt sure how you were going to do the fittings.

I like your ideas on preventing rust. I will apply that here. Most of the mold board seems pretty solid, so I am thinking I may patch in that one corner and call it good. I'll know better once it is blasted.

If you dont weld the back braces solid, at least drill a hole up through from the bottom, in the bottom angle, to let moisture out.

I was thinking this might need grade 8 bolts to stand up to the abuse. Do you think SS will be strong enough? It is pretty soft by comparison... This is only going to see use on my driveway, so it isn't like I am commercial plowing either...FWIW

I cannot make any guarantees, but I think SS would be just fine. The bolts are a pretty good size already. My ST-90 is only grade 5 hardware, and I push it with a 3500 DRW truck at a pretty good speed and havent broke anything yet. And if anything, a softer bolt would prevent you from bending/braking other things. But in reality, with a crossover valve set up right, and trip springs, it keeps parts intact pretty well.

BTW, I thought it was ironic that I ended up with a Meyers ST90, just like you said a month ago in this very thread...

They are pretty popular plows. And it is even more ironic that there are a TON of them for sale for cheap around me. I think out 80 degree march and 2" of snow all winter had something to do with it???

 

[dstig1]

I was talking about drilling a hole (boring) all the way through with a couple side holes for grease to get out. That way there would be just one grease fitting on the end of the pin.

If you dont weld the back braces solid, at least drill a hole up through from the bottom, in the bottom angle, to let moisture out.

Interesting idea, but wouldn't the cotter pin be in the way? I don't think you'd be able to access the inboard end of the pin without a bunch of cutting to clear some space.

I was thinking that a drain hole would be another option... You keep reading my mind.

 

[dstig1]

Paul, I am going to add the rear skid shoes too. Not sure if I will do the shock absorber or not. I also think I will go with a thicker plate 5/16 or 3/8 and that way I shouldn't have to reinforce it much, if any. You also have a much larger plow (and bigger HP tractor) than I do.

 

[dstig1]

I've been mostly acquiring parts for this. After checking out the cylinders more thoroughly, I decided they weren't worth saving so I got new ones. Also got a new cutting edge and all the hardware. Picked up a heavy 3/8" SSQA plate via ebay, and some hoses/fittings and a crossover/cushion valve. That pretty much completes my buying spree, except maybe new trip springs, but those are cheap and easy to find later on.

Today I blocked out the day to pick up a sandblaster from the rental shop and go to town on it, but they discontinued carrying it. Not to be thwarted, I drove over to Northern and bought a small pressure blaster and media (Black Diamond 30-60 grit - looks like it is a locally made item that is probably similar to Black Beauty, but I'm not sure). So here's a couple pics of my setup. I used my knock down tent that I use for some wood finishing to make a barrier to contain the mess a bit. It helped but killed my back working that low. I need a better solution for that. I finished up the A frame and sector, but never got to the moldboard. That will require a day all of it's own. I had no real problems with clogging, but do wish I got the bigger model as I was refilling a lot. This is the one I got:
Allsource Abrasive Blaster with FREE U.S. Patented Deadman Handle 5-Gallons | Portable Abrasive Blasters | Northern Tool + Equipment

And here's the final result and the safety gear I used. I wore a full face with P100 filters on it, under the cheapo white hood (came with it) that I mostly used just to protect the lens of the full face mask.

Yes it is hot nasty work, but heck that's no different than what I do with the tractor on my land... The moldboard will be a PITA as the blaster is quite small - more like an airbrush than a spray gun - so it will be slow going. I may attack the big areas with a flap disk instead of blasting as it should be faster. We'll see.

Next up, I can start working on the mount, and get to blasting the moldboard when I have a good opportunity.

 

[dstig1]

This one is for LD1...or anyone else with Meyers experience.

There are a couple mods the PO made on the plow. I am curious if you have seen these before. First off, he tacked on a square pad as a turn stop (pic 1). Then he tacked on two extensions to the trip stops. You can tell the piece he added on as it looked like a rat chewed it... There was one on the other side too, but a weld was busted and it snapped off totally trying to bend it back, so I need to fix that in any case. Might as well do it right.

You ever seen these before, and should I keep them or not? In any case I need to improve the hack welding he did. Way too cold and bird poopy...

Thx

 

[LD1]

The first pic is easy. He wanted less angle. That could have been for several reasons. Maybe he had the wrong mount for the truck and it would angle till it hit the bumper?? Maybe the plow was too small to cover his wheel tracks at full angle??

There are several reasons for that.

The second two photos look interesting though. But they shouldnt be needed unless something else is tweaked or broke on the plow somewhere. I cant remember exactally what is "supposed" to stop the plow in the upright position, I'll have to look at mine this evening when I get home. But if nothing is tweaked, those shouldnt be needed.

 

[dstig1]

LD1- thanks

I wondered if the pad were to reinforce the stops, but if they are just to cut the angle, I'll cut them off as that won't matter in my case.

The trip stops are another story. The angle cross piece that they are supposed to stop against is bent and even cracked, so it is on the list of things to fix. I suspect that the bend caused it to not stop reliably or get stuck so he added these longer stops. So once I fix the real issue, they should not be needed. I think I am going to replace the moldboard too. It is kinda rough, and I'd like to start fresh here rather than chase problems again down the road.

But you confirmed that these are not "normal" mods, so that tells me they need to go...

 

[LD1]

LD1- thanks

I wondered if the pad were to reinforce the stops, but if they are just to cut the angle, I'll cut them off as that won't matter in my case.

The trip stops are another story. The angle cross piece that they are supposed to stop against is bent and even cracked, so it is on the list of things to fix. I suspect that the bend caused it to not stop reliably or get stuck so he added these longer stops. So once I fix the real issue, they should not be needed. I think I am going to replace the moldboard too. It is kinda rough, and I'd like to start fresh here rather than chase problems again down the road.

But you confirmed that these are not "normal" mods, so that tells me they need to go...

Yea, the bent trip stop isnt a normal mod. That is someone trying a band-aid instead of fixing the real problem.

The tabs on the stops, that is more common to limit the amound of angle. Various reasons why that could have been done, but those pads dont look like it is robbing you of that much angle. And they are almost not noticable, I dont think I would take the time to mess with them. But thats just me.

 

[dstig1]

Thanks again. I'm going to fix the trip stop issue first for sure, and maybe remove those angle stops.

 

[dstig1]

It appears this is pretty much becoming my snow plow build thread....

I took the moldboard off the frame today. That was fun:confused2: I picked up an oxy/propane torch Fri as I knew I couldn't do this with cutoff wheels, and I have been planning to get a torch for some time. I didn't want to deal with yet another cylinder, and propane is easy and a bit safer than acetylene, so that is why I went that way. I could only fit a 125 cf O2 cyl in my available space, so I got that even though I knew it was on the small side. They will give me full credit on the lease when I have room to upgrade to the 282 cf tank.

I always struggled with torch cutting when I was taking my welding class at the CC, and I sure haven't gotten any better since. I ended up having to peel out sections of the modlboard as I couldn't hit the welds only to release it (like I said, I stink at torch cutting...). In the end I completely drained the O2 tank doing this, which didn't totally surprise me as I had read you use a ton of O2 on oxy/propane. But I got it done. Rusty, but still seems structurally solid enough.

Now need to clean up with grinder and then sandblast it, plus put in a new cross member where the old one was mangled and broken. Then I will bring it to a shop to get a moldboard rolled and start the reassembly/welding.

A couple pics of today... (couldn't have picked a hotter, nastier day to do this too...)