Tractor bulldozer

[M7vans]

I am planning to put a dozer blade on the front of my Kioti dk35 and wondering what mount points are the best to lift it from.Is the best spot to say add a 1/2 inch thick bar down from where a front loader would connect ,see image,and then add the arms to pivot from here and under the front axle?
I will mostly use it fro pushing over small bush.
thanks Michael

 

[jeff9366]

I am sceptical this will work satisfactorily. FELs are designed to lift, not push. My Kubota Operator's Manual specifically warns against "bulldozing" with the bucket. A blade on the front will decrease weight on the rear, driving tires, so you will loose traction fast.

I do not think your chassis will stand the load with a center mount, using indicated holes as pivots.


What advantage do you see to this over a Three Point Hitch, heavy, adjustable, rear/angle blade?

The Three Point Hitch is designed to take heavy loads. Tractors are engineered to PULL, not PUSH.



Does Ratchet Rake have an agent in Australia? VIDEO: ratchet rake brush clearing - YouTube

 

[roadhunter]

I'd go for the blade on the rear. Much easier to see, much better mount, and if you get real fancy a top n tilt kit will make it even more useful.

That being said some of the larger farm tractors I've seen have a blank kit. There is a really heavy duty mount up on the front of the tractor.

 

[sd455dan]

I hope it is a (small) dozer blade,
can't imagine mounting the blade off of our 550G on my 5400 lb tractor- even with forward, center and rear axle mounts.

How heavy is the blade you plan to use?

Center only mounted (FELs) concentrate a whole lot of stress ... I believe an additional rear axle set of supports tied to the mounts you posted would make the proposed blade addition a bit stronger and safer for the tractor


Guess it could be possible- and make sense if coming off of a small dozer

jmo using only the center mount only might be a bit risky- again, if some extra supports could be run between the rear axle and the attachment point pictured I think that would be helpful or if already there, then well on your way, i just wouldn't mount a 3000lb+ blade is all . Hope it works out well

 

[ishiboo]

I would look at how the loader is mounted. The center bracket for the loader probably has reinforcing that also connects to the rear axle, where the majority of the tractive force is generated. I would duplicate this so the majority of the dozing force is put on the back axle, with the center or front mount being primarily to locate the blade side-to-side and lift it up/down.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Any time you put "tractor" and "bulldozer" in the same sentence, be sure to add the words "front end parts"...

SR

 

[ovrszd]

Over the years I've used several Dozer blades on tractors. They are MUCH more productive than a rear blade.

Using the points you indicated on the tractor, which appear to be where an FEL would bolt on, will put less stress on those points than the FEL would. Warnings against "dozing" with an FEL are to protect the FEL framework, not the mounting holes.

A dozer blade properly designed will remove weight from the front axle and transfer it to the rear axle when pushing. That's why they are so effective. How much transfer happens will be determined by your design of framework.

Front axle traction weight can be added when lifting the dozer blade while pushing if your design permits it.

If your finished product has good suction and you struggle to limit the depth of cut, skids can be added to control that. Most of this suction will be determined by the curvature of the dozer moldboard and cutting edge.

An elderly family member of mine built a dozer blade with framework for his IH 284 (I think) 2wd tractor. Incredible what it was capable of.

I'm very curious to see what you come up with. Post pics as you get started. First we need to see the dozer blade you plan to use if you have it already??

 

[ovrszd]

I would look at how the loader is mounted. The center bracket for the loader probably has reinforcing that also connects to the rear axle, where the majority of the tractive force is generated. I would duplicate this so the majority of the dozing force is put on the back axle, with the center or front mount being primarily to locate the blade side-to-side and lift it up/down.

30 years ago it was common to see dozer blade kits on various tractors using a long beam under the center of the tractor, fastening to the rear drawbar. This was an attempt to transfer the stress to the point those tractors were designed to pull loads from. Down side was you had very limited ground clearance underneath with that large beam there. Plus side was the blade fore/aft tilt stayed stable because the blade was pivoting on that long beam. Most dozer blade assemblies purchased today will use the FEL mounting location if it's available. If you think about it, a tractor designed to use an FEL has already reinforced the center section of the chassis for that task. Utilizing a dozer blade puts a slightly different stress on the chassis. But nothing that will be catastrophic.

Thinking again, about how much force is being put on the chassis of your tractor when using the FEL and the rear wheels are lifting off the ground???

 

[nybirdman]

I had a L3130 Kubota with a six foot snow plow and the factory sub-frame(remove FEL);and no way was that a bull dozer.Work fine for snow but no so well for dirt.I realize this is a smaller tractor that the O.P.,but still think it would take a 10,000lb/100HP tractor to be effective.

 

[Taylortractornut]

My old 8 hp Farmall Cub has one did a lot of clean up with it. Grouse makes a nice front blade. Most tractor mfgs sold a blade kit. I'm not a fan of a rear blade myself hate looking backward. A friend had an early eighties 2wd 40 hp JD with a JD blade does good work.

 

[Aussiebushman]

Strongly advise you to go for a front blade, preferably mounted on an arm running right under the machine if you can find way to secure it. I have both a front "dozer" blade AND a rear scraper blade - each performs quite different function but it is the front blade that really does most of the work, especially grading bush tracks that have washed out in the rain or snow. You will have driven over the ruts before the rear blade becomes effective

 

[moriboy]

If I was using the front blade on a tractor to move bark mulch or other very loose material, I think it would probably work ok. On the other hand, I've broken corner bits on my dozer when hitting a hidden rock. Granted, the tractor won't have the weight or traction like a dozer, but still a fairly mild impact might really wreak havoc on your machine.

 

[4570Man]

How much work do you have planned? I used a borrowed D3 dozer to cut my driveway in extremely hard clay. While I had it I used it to clear a trail through dense woods full of pines killed by the beetle. I was disappointed with what the dozer could accomplish and it weighs a whole lot more than a CK35, had metal tracks and a 6 way blade. Then again my tractor was completely useless against the extremely hard dirt. My tractor and grapple was more effective for trail building, but I felt much safer with the FOPS on the dozer.

 

[M7vans]

Hi All Thanks everybody for taking the time to reply.One of my inspirations for this project was this video youtu.be/USZf6pwY8_w you will have to add https:// to get around posting links for newbies like me
I however would only be pushing over some small brush ,the blade would be about 4 to 5 ft wide. I already have a 300 kilo 7 ft blade on the back which is great but I still end up having to push backwards with it. From some of your suggests I will brace it back to the drawbar or a similar strong point.Also try to design it to fail befor my kioti does. he is a photo of anothe example

 

[coralhead]

Here is how I mounted a modified front blade to my Branson 4520R. I push mainly from the rear drawbar mount and hang the frame from two holes on the front loader frame. The up/down cylinder mount is from the front cross frame. I have this on in the winter and am still able to mount the FEL when needed. Mounting is 2 bolts to the FEL frame and a pin in the rear drawbar. I had to add the boss and pin to the existing bracket.

 

[Renze]

Makr sure you have the lateral loads covered by a proper frame that extends to the rear axle. It is not uncommon to break a mfwd tractor right behind the bellhousing when theres no support frame.

 

[Renze]

?John Deere 5310 ????????????? (Front Blade) - YouTube

This looks quite effective.

 

[nybirdman]

?John Deere 5310 ????????????? (Front Blade) - YouTube

This looks quite effective.

Effective with a very large tractor;not so much with a 30-40 HP.For snow yes;dirt ,not so much.I had one and it wouldn't move dirt hardly at all.Of course it was a snow blade with trip springs but even locking it down wouldn't have helped much.

 

[ovrszd]

I've got a 60" snow blade for the front of my JD2210 also. Yep. It don't do much in dirt. But it's not designed to. Properly built with proper geometry, a dozer blade will move an amazing amount of dirt. If adequately built rear ballast adds another dimension to it's effectiveness.

There are times with the 235HP, 43K lb grader that I run where I have to take very small cuts in hard packed dirt. In those situations a 3pt rear blade would be totally worthless. It's all about perspective.

I don't quite understand why operators wouldn't think twice about spinning all 4 tires and lifting on the FEL at the same time to fill the bucket. But yet question whether those same mounting points can handle a Dozer blade??? :confused3:

 

[dwitt]

If the FEL can't knock down small bushes every operator I've ever watched would be buying new FELs all the time. Even to push it into a pile of heavy dirt would be far more load then a small bush. Seam like reinventing the wheel.