Snowblade Adaptation

[WVBill]

Here are some pictures of the snow blade that I adapted from my Craftsman 20HP garden tractor to my Kubota.

This first picture is the snow blade itself. The modifications I made to the blade are the attachment points for the chain (seen in later pictures) and the wide crossbar which has a "lip" to accept the front lip of the FEL bucket. I left the long handle on the blade. This handle was used to change the angle of the blade from the seat of the Craftsman. The long "tail" coming down from the blade went under the Craftsman to the lift mechanism for the mower deck and was used to raise and lower the blade.

Here is a close up of the crossbar to accept the FEL bucket. My neighbor welded it up from 1" square stock sandwiched between two 3/16" steel plates. It is welded to the small cross bar that was the original attachment point for the blade to the Craftsman tractor. I made the new crossbar wider to reduce blade "wobble".

Here is a picture of the blade mounted to the tractor FEL. The two bright chains attach to the grab hooks I put in the upper edge of the FEL. These two chains support the weight of the blade. Extra chain on the left side just wraps around and supports the angle adjustment handle. The chain around the middle of the bucket goes underneath and, with the load binder, secures the whole thing to the bucket. The length of chain hanging down in front of the bucket is just the excess.

Here's the detail of how the middle chain wraps around the back of the bucket and attaches to an existing slot in the "tail" of the blade assembly.

Here's a picture of the blade "at work". I lower the FEL bucket and roll it forward so that it is off the ground and the snow blade is just touching the surface - basically, the snow blade is in "float", carrying its own weight but it can't float "up" more than an inch or two because of the chain and binder around the back of the FEL bucket.

Here's another picture of the snowblade at work. The blade is 48" wide and angled left or right it just barely covers the tracks of my rear wheels. I think I'll get some 1/8" steel and make 8-10" extensions.
Also, since I can't reach that angle adjusting handle from the seat, I think I'll just take it off.

I hope this post loads OK for you all and that it comes out clear. Any questions, just let me know.

WVBill

 

[RobS]

Pretty slick conversion. Great pics and it's obvious you are getting some good use out of it will all that snow. How's the maneuverability with the blade that far forward?

Rob

 

[Thomas]

WVBill,
Pictures came out great,and you have good looking setup also.

Do you find with the side muffler that you get flumes back at you.

Now I see why you diesel up and take off plowing,for it looks like fun. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I like your drive way makers also. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[RobS]

Thomas, good eyes. I didn't see those markers first time I looked. I guess I was too fixated on the tractor.

WVBill, your place must look great at night with those lights and all the snow. When we eventually move will we be expected to decorate the barn as well as the house?

Rob

 

[WVBill]

Thanks for the compliments, guys.

The driveway markers are dual purpose. I made the candy canes out of 3/4" PVC pipe and red tape. They sit over 1/2" EMT conduit hammered into the ground. After New Years, I pull up the candy canes but leave the EMT as markers until spring.

Yes, Thomas, you will need to decorate the barn too. I did.

I took some pictures of our lights the other night and they came out terrible. Snow was falling so it reflected the flash back into the camera and all you can see is white dots and very faint Christmas lights on the house and barn. I wish I had a camera with manual controls!

WVBill

 

[bpence]

Very clever adaptation!!! And, your place looks great dressed up for Christmas. Now you've got me thinking (my wife thinks that's always dangerous). I have a 54" front blade from my JD 316 that I'd love to adapt to the front of the B7100. I don't have a FEL, but you've got me thinking there must be a way!

Funny thing about outside Christmas lights. We have an exchange student from Germany and she is absolutely fascinated by all of the lights and decorations folks here in the U.S. put up for the holidays. They just don't do that in Germany. And like you, I like to hang lights on the barn.

Bob Pence

 

[WVBill]

Rob/Thomas/Bob

To answer your questions.

I didn't have any trouble maneuvering with the blade out there. I just had to remember it was there when backing up and turning in tight quarters - it swings a pretty wide path.

The side muffler doesn't bother me with exhaust fumes, but I don't cut grass with the tractor so I'm usually doing alot of maneuvering. It does exhaust directly onto the FEL hydraulic hoses which I don't like. But it's been doing it for 22 years so I guess it's OK.

Bob: I was stationed in Germany for 3 years in the 70's and I remember that the Germans do not have Christmas trees. They won't cut them out of their standing forests and they don't have enough land to farm them. The Army Exchange had to ship trees in by boat for American families and troops stationed there. They were so dry they lost half their needles before you could decorate them!

By the way - did my method of putting the pictures in the post work out OK for you guys or do you think it better to make pictures attachments? I'm thinking about loading time for people with slower modems.

WVBill

 

[redhawk]

WVBill,
your post was just fine. it didn't take long to download. i'm using a 56k connection which i imagine is the average
these days with all the different flavors of DSL out there.
thanks for the ideas and the pics.

kevin..PA

 

[RobS]

WVBill, I liked the picture format but I'm spoiled with T-1 access here. I think it would be very slow on my modem. I'm looking forward to testing my FEL downpressure on my home PC here in the near future /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Cable modem access right around the corner!

Rob

 

[Harv]

WVBill -

Love the picts, and personally I like the photo layout with descriptions intermixed.

I'm one of those DSL guys, so I can't speak to the downloading time, but I was wondering how long those pictures are going to stay on AOL? If I refer back to this post in a few months will they still be there?

Muhammad is always improving things, so I wouldn't be too surprised if he doesn't come up with an "official" way to do something similar.

All in all, I feel like I have actually visitited your place.

Thanks for having me over! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif