Gauge wheels on my rear blade

[Johndeere3720]

well, yesterday i got a set of front and rear tires off of an old craftsman riding mower. So i got to thinking and i figured that the front tires would be great as gauge wheels on my rear blade. So i got to thinking about it and then i went home to bring my rear blade to the shop. :thumbsup: I originally thought i had more clearance so i was going to have a set up like the tail wheel on a brush hog where the pivot is directly above the tire. But as you can see in the pictures, i didn't have as much clearance as i had originally thought i had. So i had to get a new idea. So i went back and got the front axle off the craftsman riding mower. I set the axle behind the blade but from the looks of it, i could only support the middle of the blade which wouldn't work. So after some more thinking, i got an idea. :thumbsup:

 

[Johndeere3720]

Here was my idea. have two bars extending on each side of the tire that swivel on a pipe that is around a rod. So i cut all the steel and drilled the holes for it. My main goal was to have swivel wheels but still be able to turn the blade around to drag an area if needed. But i need a system so i can lock my wheels in the forward position so they wont drag and skid when used in reverse or when i turn the blade around for dragging.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Well, today i got started on welding everything together. got the wheel frame together. You can see the rod though the bottom, that is for the wheel to rotate on. When got the bracket made that attaches to the blade, i grinded down the welds on the back side so i had a smooth surface to attach it to the blade.

 

[Johndeere3720]

For attaching the mounting bracket to the blade, rather than welding it on, i bolted it on so if i ever want gauge wheels on my box blade, i can just unbolt these from the blade and put them on the box blade. :thumbsup: you can see in the picture that without anything there to lock the wheels in a strait position, they will swing freely and if i turned my blade around to drag an area, they would just drag and make ruts in the area. So i figured out my locking mechanism. Just two bars that hold the tires in the forward position. the two bars flip back to disengage this feature. So to test my mechanism, i just tried to kick the tire either left or right. i found that my mechanism would slip and the lock would self disengage. Time to figure out how to lock the bars in place.

 

[Johndeere3720]

here is my locking mechanism for the bars that hold the tire forward. It simply goes through the holes i drilled on ether side and is locked with a cotter pin. I also got to looking at my blade and didn't like having the holding bars hanging so i welded on ears to hold them when they are not in use. :thumbsup:now it is time to test it out. I rotated the blade in reverse to drag and i had plenty of clearance for the gauge wheels to swing around. :thumbsup:

 

[chickenman]

I have since added a front caster on a landing strut it grades much smoother now

also i added a scarifier to it

 

[Johndeere3720]

well, i tried out my new gauge wheels and they work great! graded the area nice and smooth and made me real happy. I used it in both forward and reverse blading and it worked great! cant wait to bring it home! :thumbsup: I also found that the gauge wheels make a great parking stand. :thumbsup: next, time to disassemble for painting! :thumbsup: You may be wondering, how do you adjust the gauge wheels? well, it is all in the top link. Extending the toplink will put more pressure on the tires so there for there will be less dig in the blade. Retracting the toplink will put more pressure on the blade there for it will dig more. The gauge wheels are made to pivot so they wont wear the tires out so fast. :thumbsup:

 

[Johndeere3720]

Got it all taken apart and painted. :thumbsup: I painted it black because i plan to use it on my boxblade in the future and having green gauge wheels on an orange boxblade wouldnt look to good. Now i just gotta wait for ther paint to dry.

 

[Johndeere3720]

I have since added a front caster on a landing strut it grades much smoother now

also i added a scarifier to it

Wow, that sure looks like it would make a great grade on your road. I would have added a scarfier to my blade but i have the boxblade for that. How long is that? I had to make mine shorter since i trailer my blade around a lot from house to house.

 

[chickenman]

Wow, that sure looks like it would make a great grade on your road. I would have added a scarfier to my blade but i have the boxblade for that. How long is that? I had to make mine shorter since i trailer my blade around a lot from house to house.

I use it to grade my half mile horse track, so it never leaves the farm

it's about 20 feet long

without the caster in front it would set up a resonance (ripple) that i couldn't get out, when the front wheels of the tractor hit a dip or bump the blade would rise or lower causing a ripple because of the lift arms