Building our land leveler

[BMan2005]

Not knowing what all you have for tools and equipment, but would it not be easier to drill the 3pt hitch holes in the mounts before this all gets welded together?? :confused3:

Going to use my friends magnetic drill press to make life simpler. Or I hope anyhow. He said weld it all together and just drop it off. He's drilling the angle that the blades mount on also.

 

[BukitCase]

Your friend might have a little fun doing your drawpin holes; most mag drills tend to need about 6" long to mount to, then the hole ends up more than an inch in front of THAT - I've gotten around that problem on some stuff by clamping a piece of 3/4x3 FB next to where the hole goes; like nearly any fab work, a bit of clever/sneaky never hurts... Steve

 

[BMan2005]

Your friend might have a little fun doing your drawpin holes; most mag drills tend to need about 6" long to mount to, then the hole ends up more than an inch in front of THAT - I've gotten around that problem on some stuff by clamping a piece of 3/4x3 FB next to where the hole goes; like nearly any fab work, a bit of clever/sneaky never hurts... Steve

After MtnViewRanch asked me about it I thought to call my buddy this evening just to be sure before welding it down. Going to get the drill tomorrow now. I kinda feel like he's glad this came up because now I'm drilling them at home, lol.

 

[BukitCase]

That's probably gonna work out better for you; if you haven't used a mag drill before, the cutters do NOT like to be "babied", it'll destroy 'em a LOT faster than pushing 'em a bit - Lube and a noticeable "bogging" of the motor is where they work best, no "hunt and peck" if you don't wanna buy new cutters sooner than necessary...

I've used my mag drill even more than I ever thought I would; so much so that my "drilling station" has evolved into one with 3 vises and a dedicated "table" that's 3/4" thick (mag drills REALLY like thick metal to grab onto so they won't break loose during drilling)

Here's a pic of my setup - the two small drill press vises are mounted on a grizzly x-y table, and the right side has the drill table with ANOTHER vise that opens to about 8"; the added table (gray part) REPLACES the fixed vise jaw. this lets me drill a 1-1/2" hole in a 2" square piece of steel if I need to, and the X-Y table lets me drill a series of holes (like jack stands) that're all exactly the same distance apart. Both axis lead screws are 10 TPI, so if I want holes on 1" centers I just "drill, 10 cranks, drill" - the other pics are of some "leg adjusters" I made for a 24' square roof over one of my containers - they let me compensate for uneven ground and keep the roof slope I want... Steve

 

[CADplans]

That landplane looks W A Y heavier than mine,,, and I have a larger tractor,,

This 7 foot LP is all that my 584 IH wants,,,

Are you sure that you have enough tractor??

 

[BMan2005]

That's probably gonna work out better for you; if you haven't used a mag drill before, the cutters do NOT like to be "babied", it'll destroy 'em a LOT faster than pushing 'em a bit - Lube and a noticeable "bogging" of the motor is where they work best, no "hunt and peck" if you don't wanna buy new cutters sooner than necessary...

I've used my mag drill even more than I ever thought I would; so much so that my "drilling station" has evolved into one with 3 vises and a dedicated "table" that's 3/4" thick (mag drills REALLY like thick metal to grab onto so they won't break loose during drilling)

Here's a pic of my setup - the two small drill press vises are mounted on a grizzly x-y table, and the right side has the drill table with ANOTHER vise that opens to about 8"; the added table (gray part) REPLACES the fixed vise jaw. this lets me drill a 1-1/2" hole in a 2" square piece of steel if I need to, and the X-Y table lets me drill a series of holes (like jack stands) that're all exactly the same distance apart. Both axis lead screws are 10 TPI, so if I want holes on 1" centers I just "drill, 10 cranks, drill" - the other pics are of some "leg adjusters" I made for a 24' square roof over one of my containers - they let me compensate for uneven ground and keep the roof slope I want... Steve

Appreciate the advice, I have the drill now and hope to have some spare time to drill my holes tomorrow.

Oh, very nice set up! I can see a Mag drill in my future for sure and a set up like this would be very nice. I may have to save your design

That landplane looks W A Y heavier than mine,,, and I have a larger tractor,,

This 7 foot LP is all that my 584 IH wants,,,

Are you sure that you have enough tractor??

I sure hope so after all this work!

 

[BukitCase]

" I may have to save your design"

Let me know if you decide to; I've several more pics, as well as part #'s and painfully long descriptions if you want 'em :laughing: ... Steve

 

[BMan2005]

Welding the 3pt hook up brackets in. Running a root pass with some 5/32 6011

 

[BMan2005]

Another of my top link post. I'll run some 7018 over these.

 

[davedj1]

Welds look good, I could never quite get the hang of stick welding although that is what I learned on
Looking forward to seeing the finished project as I may "need" one of these in the near future.

 

[BMan2005]

Welds look good, I could never quite get the hang of stick welding although that is what I learned on
Looking forward to seeing the finished project as I may "need" one of these in the near future.

My grinder still gets a work out at times. Lol

 

[FredH]

Couple of pictures of one I built a few years ago . Blades are just 1/2" flat steel by 6" wide . The blades have slots were they are bolted to the angle steel for mounting . I can raise one side up above the steel runner by at least 1/2" while at the same time drop the opposite side down by 1" or more , ( Never really measured it or have I set it that way , just when I have loosened all the bolts , I have noticed how much adjustment potential there is ) .


Use it to grade the 3/4" - 1.5" shale on our 800' of driveway .half the driveway is flat , then the remaining half goes up to a maximum of 14% . It works since it keeps the wash boarding down to a minimum , at least until everyone from my better half to son to neighbors fly up and down it for weeks and the wash boarding starts again . :confused2:


Actually thinking of removing the blade from the back angle , cutting the angle off and re-welding it on so the blade will have a forward tilt rather than the current back tilt . Thinking that maybe the first blade will level , then the back blade will level and compress shale back down . Well at least that is the plan anyway :thumbsup:

Pull it behind a TC30 and as you can see it is wider than the tractor . 7' wide by 8' + long . Blade height will influence how well a tractor of a given size will pull it . If I had 12" blades , Ugh , not sure my TC 30 would handle it .

Looks like You are getting there :thumbsup:

Fred H.

 

[BMan2005]

Had to unload it and flip it to get a few structural welds I couldn't get to comfortably underneath.

 

[airbiscuit]

.....Actually thinking of removing the blade from the back angle , cutting the angle off and re-welding it on so the blade will have a forward tilt rather than the current back tilt . Thinking that maybe the first blade will level , then the back blade will level and compress shale back down . Well at least that is the plan anyway :thumbsup:

You could weld or bolt in a 3" or 4" pipe across the back to smooth/compress.

 

[CADplans]

Had to unload it and flip it to get a few structural welds I couldn't get to comfortably underneath.

View attachment 567362

Hmmmmmmm,,,,,, that pic looks familiar,,,

LOL,, :laughing:

:thumbsup:

 

[BMan2005]

View attachment 567359 View attachment 567360

Couple of pictures of one I built a few years ago . Blades are just 1/2" flat steel by 6" wide . The blades have slots were they are bolted to the angle steel for mounting . I can raise one side up above the steel runner by at least 1/2" while at the same time drop the opposite side down by 1" or more , ( Never really measured it or have I set it that way , just when I have loosened all the bolts , I have noticed how much adjustment potential there is ) .


Use it to grade the 3/4" - 1.5" shale on our 800' of driveway .half the driveway is flat , then the remaining half goes up to a maximum of 14% . It works since it keeps the wash boarding down to a minimum , at least until everyone from my better half to son to neighbors fly up and down it for weeks and the wash boarding starts again . :confused2:


Actually thinking of removing the blade from the back angle , cutting the angle off and re-welding it on so the blade will have a forward tilt rather than the current back tilt . Thinking that maybe the first blade will level , then the back blade will level and compress shale back down . Well at least that is the plan anyway :thumbsup:

Pull it behind a TC30 and as you can see it is wider than the tractor . 7' wide by 8' + long . Blade height will influence how well a tractor of a given size will pull it . If I had 12" blades , Ugh , not sure my TC 30 would handle it .

Looks like You are getting there :thumbsup:

Fred H.

How deep do you generally run your blades to resurface the shell that compacted?

My blades will be fixed, may regret it later but I decided to go with simplicity and quicker design.

I was thinking to set the front blade 1" cut but now I'm thinking more like .5 - .75" cut. I have 6.5" skids to it will not dig in much.

Hmmmmmmm,,,,,, that pic looks familiar,,,

LOL,, :laughing:

:thumbsup:

Yeah it's tricky figuring out how to flip it easy being so wide right!? Lol

 

[BMan2005]

Made the cut out slots in the skids to bolt the blades in. I called it quits for the day. All welding is finished though!

 

[FredH]

Usually I only need 1/2" on one side then it tapers to 0" on other side . Back blade is then set just the opposite . The lead edge of each blade is set deep , then tapers up to other side . For me , the idea is to move rock one way , then back the other way . Now does it actually work that way ? Don't know for sure , based upon the rock build up at each blade , seems to , but in the end , the driveway is level without wash boarding .:thumbsup:


Fred H.

 

[BukitCase]

Are you gonna slice a "pie wedge" out of the runners and bend them up, then re-weld? ... Steve

Kinda like this...

 

[BMan2005]

Are you gonna slice a "pie wedge" out of the runners and bend them up, then re-weld? ... Steve

Kinda like this... View attachment 567473

Yes sir, that's the last thing I have left before prepping for paint. So I guess I'm not done welding yet.