Mostly scrap built (but still awesome) land plane

[ovrszd]

Alot of the mud truck guys around here use it to refer to parts that are store bought as opposed to home made.; "that truck's got a boughten lift".

None of my rigs run those.

 

[murphy1244]

Here we would say" Store Bought" instead. Or "That's Factory".

 

[NS Gearhead]

Started on this again.

Tapered and boxed in the 2nd channel iron


Drilled the angle for the blade... 5 9/16" bolts aught to do




I set the blade to be 3/8" below the runners. I know it's ultra conservative, and the tip of the blade may wear off quickly further lessening the depth, but considering I plan to tow this with an atv... and it's just a matter of drilling five more holes to re-adjust.


Capped one end of each pipe

 

[CNC Dan]

If the blade isn't some kind of tough steel, get some hardfacing rods and pad the front edge of the blade to reisist wear. Watch out for distortion.

 

[NS Gearhead]

I've just got a mig and some grinders... that's beyond me. LOL

The blade is off a zamboni... not sure if it's hardened or not... it's meant to be re-sharpened many times... it did cut & drill pretty easy, so I would assume not.

 

[CNC Dan]

I've just got a mig and some grinders... that's beyond me. LOL

Ok. Hardfacing is when you add a layer of weld beads that are much harder than the base metal. Usualy done with stick welding, but now there are hardfacing wires for mig too. Next time you see an excavator look at the bucket for a bunch of beads. Sometimes in a criss cross pattern other times just next to each other.

 

[ovrszd]

Yep, I'm with Dan. And, MIG wire is harder than mild steel so even with your small MIG welder you can add life to the cutter. With that said, you'll probably not drag it enough to wear the cutter beyond use. Gotta also consider you'll wear the runners at the same time, just not the same speed.

 

[jenkinsph]

Hard surfacing is an option as others have mentioned but if you find you are using the land plane frequently then it is best to get real grader blades. Nothing wrong with trying it out first to see how you like it though.

 

[NS Gearhead]

Nothing wrong with trying it out first to see how you like it though.

Yeah that's the plan. Try it... if it works great... if not change it. I can always cut the angle iron out and start that part over... that length was all of $15 so no big loss if I do have to replace it. I could always drill a 2nd set of holes and slot them to meet...making the blade adjustable as well.

 

[jenkinsph]

Yeah that's the plan. Try it... if it works great... if not change it. I can always cut the angle iron out and start that part over... that length was all of $15 so no big loss if I do have to replace it. I could always drill a 2nd set of holes and slot them to meet...making the blade adjustable as well.

I have a deal now where I am getting scrap steel for .15/lb with a decent assortment of sizes and shapes. I pick through the 2 acre pile whenever I can for useful stuff. That makes building a new implement a lot cheaper than it has been in the past. This also makes the grader blades the most expensive part of a land plane build. If you can swing the blades they will cut better and last you a long time.

 

[MikesTractor]

Our local County Public Works Department uses double edge blades on their graders. They almost never turn them over when the first side wears out. They just replace them. The ones they remove still have 1 good edge. They will give the old blades away if you ask for them. I have several in my "scrap" pile.

You might check with your local public works. They may do the same.

Mike

 

[NS Gearhead]

Would just a plain old snow plow wear bar work?

 

[paulharvey]

Our local County Public Works Department uses double edge blades on their graders. They almost never turn them over when the first side wears out. They just replace them. The ones they remove still have 1 good edge. They will give the old blades away if you ask for them. I have several in my "scrap" pile.

You might check with your local public works. They may do the same.

Mike

It sounds wasteful, but here's why. When you clip shoulders, you rub the asphalt road with part of the cutting edge, wearing a crown in the edge, it also heats the cutting edge, which doesn't warp because it's got ~20 plow head bolts holding it. When you unbolt it, it goes to more of its natural warped state, and is very difficult to flip and rebolt the whole 14 foot edge. If you get one, and cut or break it into a 48" piece for your use, much easier then bolting up the entire 14 ft piece.

When I work for the county they absolutely would not give away anything like that. To the point that if they caught someone taking it out of the dumpster they were supposed to report it. They replaced 4 of my tires on a truck and two of them were at least 40 percent tread I asked if I could buy them and they said that even if they cut them in half they couldn't give them to me and if they caught me getting them out of the dumpster I would be fired

 

[CNC Dan]

Would just a plain old snow plow wear bar work?

Yes, yes it will. That's what I used on my pull behind grader that I built.

 

[Sodo]

Nice work. Good job grinding the welds off, reduces the chatter.

WRT the wear edge, I would drag it around and depending how fast it wears (in your usage) evaluate which is more efficient:

1) Gather up the hardfacing eqpt or edges and go that route
2) Flip it over and simply add a bead with the MIG

If #2 becomes troublesome you have plenty options as the guys above offered

 

[M E Race]

I currently work for our district road commission. We use a JD670 road grader with 12 ft blade. It uses 2 6 ft blades which we have to change out normally after two days use on limestone roads. The blades can't be turned over because the bolt holes are off set to the top edge. The top edge has the same bevel as the bottom so I take them and trim the worn edge straight to make tools for my small Yanmar. New blades are not light when you are bent over under the machine. But we do it so often we can change a full set in about ten min. After you wear off about 3 inches the used ones get a lot lighter.

 

[ovrszd]

It sounds wasteful, but here's why. When you clip shoulders, you rub the asphalt road with part of the cutting edge, wearing a crown in the edge, it also heats the cutting edge, which doesn't warp because it's got ~20 plow head bolts holding it. When you unbolt it, it goes to more of its natural warped state, and is very difficult to flip and rebolt the whole 14 foot edge. If you get one, and cut or break it into a 48" piece for your use, much easier then bolting up the entire 14 ft piece.

Hmmmm,,, I've never heard of that. I've ran a grader for 25 years and have flipped cutting edges hundreds of times. Never had that problem. :confused3:

 

[ovrszd]

I currently work for our district road commission. We use a JD670 road grader with 12 ft blade. It uses 2 6 ft blades which we have to change out normally after two days use on limestone roads. The blades can't be turned over because the bolt holes are off set to the top edge. The top edge has the same bevel as the bottom so I take them and trim the worn edge straight to make tools for my small Yanmar. New blades are not light when you are bent over under the machine. But we do it so often we can change a full set in about ten min. After you wear off about 3 inches the used ones get a lot lighter.

Yep, I rotate or flip my blades very often in the Summer when roads are hard. If you put the blade into the bank position and set it with the front edge up along the right side of the machine you can rotate them standing up with the bolts about waist high. Makes it much easier. My moldboard is 14ft with two 7ft blades. I use 8"x15/16". They are very heavy. Our current machine (JD770G) ran 550 hrs before I had to replace the cutters.

Sorry for the hijack. Us Grader guys tend to wander......

 

[paulharvey]

Hmmmm,,, I've never heard of that. I've ran a grader for 25 years and have flipped cutting edges hundreds of times. Never had that problem. :confused3:

I know taking them off they where warped. They typically had heavy bluing from heat. Could have been cheap cutting edges?

 

[ovrszd]

I know taking them off they where warped. They typically had heavy bluing from heat. Could have been cheap cutting edges?

Oh I'm not doubting you,,, just never had that problem. Learn something every day.