Grading JD 850 Blade

[BATTY54]

I am planning on building a dozer/snow blade set up for my 850. JD sells one but none of the dealers around here have one in stock to look at. I was wondering if anyone had a picture of the lift setup on this type of blade. I wanted to be able to lock the blade to use it as dozer with down pressure and allow it to trip and float for a snow plow also.
I assume the lift cylinder runs under the frame but cannot get a clear view from the picture in the brochure I picked up a while ago.
As far as the hydraulics, are the fittings metric or SAE on the transmission housing and valve block? I gather I need an open center power beyond valve with at least 6-8 GPM flow rate.
Anyone know of a source for the joystick valves I see advertised on some of the loaders? I would like to use this type of valve when I build.
Thanks

 

[pfoxy]

I had a JD blade on my 750. I'd suspect they would be similar. It had power down, the cylinder mounted to the front of the tractor on a plate that was hinged at the bottom and pinned at the top. You had to pull the pin and retract the cylinder to pull the plate down to open the hood. Float was achieved by pushing the lever forward past a detent. You had to hold it there by hand. Not terribly convenient. The mount ran under the tractor all the way to the rear. It left about 2" of ground clearance, again, not convenient for my application. I took it off and bought a 67 loader, and have been much happier. I will say it did work good as a dozer considering the weight/power of the 750. Sucked as a snowplow tho.

 

[BATTY54]

Thanks for the input. I made a snow plow already and noticed the low ground clearance. I was hoping the factory unit was designed better than my homemade setup. I cannot find a way to get the bars under the MFWD and maintain the axel travel.
Any thoughts on the fittings or valves? I used a cable lift from the 3ph for the front blade, and really want to add hydraulic angle.

 

[pfoxy]

The hydraulic setup on the JD blade was good. The angle was handled by two one-way cylinders through a divider block. It used the same control valve as a loader does. In fact, I used it when I put the loader on.

I 'recycled' the blade portion into a rear blade by building a sub frame so it mounts to the 3PH. Quite handy for cleaning out in front of the garage doors and other tight places after plowing snow in my nice warm truck /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I have the original owners manual, I'd be happy to copy it for you so you can get a good look at the setup. Let me know if you're interested.