McCormick grader blade on a TO35

[tater digger]

I have a McCormick Deering leveling grader blade designed for front or mid mount on a Farmall A , the Farmall is long gone so I want to mount the blade on my TO35 Massey Ferguson. I know I'll have to fabricate something for the mount points and the lift mechanism, I was wondering if the tractor is strong enough to mount to the casting just in front of the engine, there are some unused bolt holes there, or should i run a subframe from the front bolt holes to the back of the tractor? The lift will probably use a scissors jack or a couple of bottle jacks with mechanical linkages, one for lift, one for downpressure. I do'nt have remote hydraulics and the blade wo'nt need constant adjustment, so i think this will suffice.
Any thoughts?

 

[BTDT]

Doesn't this tractor have a 3ph? Seems like fabbing up something for a blade mount you would want to make use of your 3 point. Then you could add guage wheels and you would be in business. Welcome to TBN. Any pics of unit and the blade your wanting to mount?

 

[Renze]

Does the TO 35 have enough belly clearance for a blade intended to go under an IH ?? The Fergies were quite low compared to other tractors of that era.

And i dont know how big your blade is, but some axle bars wouldnt hurt either way... I built my own front loader subframe after intensive research of "articulated" tractors, which made me decide to make a full length frame of hot rolled UNP 180 C-channel (about 7"x 3" heavy gauge)

If i remember correctly from my own old Fergies, you can mount the pushbars on the rear axle through the 2 big holes where usually the roll cage mounts.

 

[charlz]

What ever happened to the concept of a mid blade? I would think it would be the best thing for leveling driveways etc. My neighbor in his 80's has a Farmall Cub with a mid blade that he uses on his driveway.

Does the blade not already have some type of height adjustment? I want to say the one the neighbor uses has hand wheels on it to make the various adjustments.

 

[Renze]

http://www.bosbolsward.nl/upload/content/tractorgrader.JPG

 

[tater digger]

Yep, the blade frame has all the adjustments and spring mounts, I want to put it on the front so I can push some light debris into piles (still cleaning up after katrina) and set it low for bush hogging in uncharted areas. Also the tractor is too low to mid mount it, as for the 3ph, I just use a box blade. I know this is'nt something that i make from scratch but I figured this forum is where the fabbed lift system will get the most appreciation. I've got some other homemade projects and a digital camera, so y'all will be hearing from me again
Thanks for your input.

 

[Soundguy]

I've seen front blades on ford N's before. They have a cable / pulley system, and a front stantion on the front axle. raising the 3pt pulle d the cable which under the tractor, went up one side of the stantion over a pulley, and down to the blade... 2 big springs provided down pressure... lift adjustment was something like 8" or so.

I've seen another design that had arms to the rear axles, and a small frme to the front axle and a SA hyd cyl was mounted there for lift/drop. On the 3pt the guy mounted another slightly larger SA hyd cyl between his 3pt draybar and toplink rocker. When he lifted the 3pt, the hyd cyl in the rear contracted.. though not completely.. thus the larger cyl. this in turn sent fluid power to the front cyl.

pretty slick 'closed circuit' hyd power setup.

Soundguy

 

[scott_vt]

I have a McCormick Deering leveling grader blade designed for front or mid mount on a Farmall A , the Farmall is long gone so I want to mount the blade on my TO35 Massey Ferguson. I know I'll have to fabricate something for the mount points and the lift mechanism, I was wondering if the tractor is strong enough to mount to the casting just in front of the engine, there are some unused bolt holes there, or should i run a subframe from the front bolt holes to the back of the tractor? The lift will probably use a scissors jack or a couple of bottle jacks with mechanical linkages, one for lift, one for downpressure. I do'nt have remote hydraulics and the blade wo'nt need constant adjustment, so i think this will suffice.
Any thoughts?

Mornin Tater digger,
Well to begin with that blade was originally mounted on the Farmall off of the cultivator mount. They worked well but personally I never liked the design because of the strain it put on the front steering box and bolster ! After I finished restoring my Super A I wanted to put the snowplow on it. I ended up fabricating a frame that goes from the rear final drives to the front cultivator mount. This also takes a lot of stress off of the torque tube while plowing.

Back to your original question your tractor is probablly beefy enough to handle it, but this is what I ended up doing. Enclosed are some pics ! Good luck with it. And BTW if you have all the hardware for that attachment its worth some $$$$$ !!!