19A40022 blade upgrade complete

ILLUMN8R · Nov 24, 2012

I have completed the modifications to my snow/dirt blade I purchased for use on my 2011 Cub Cadet GT2100 garden tractor. The blade in its stock form was ok but I noticed a few things that needed upgrades & modifications for my intended use. I had a prior post about the loose blade angle catch mechanism which helped but I have posted photos of my other mods here. First I had to replace the thin wear or scraper bar, the factory bar was only 12 or 10 gauge metal, I usually plow 5 driveways, our circle and part of the street, all 30+ year old uneven and cracked concrete, I would wear through or bend that stock wear bar up in one snow storm! Plus, I will use it for grading dirt so I found a piece of 3/8" x 2" bar stock and cut it to length, then I used the factory bar as a template and drilled the holes using a carbide bit and cutting oil, it took a while using my 1/2" hand drill but I eventually got it done (see photo). After I had it drilled I ground off the rough edges & painted it black, then I purchased 7 stainless steel cap screws and locking nuts and attached it to the blade, the holes even lined up! The next issue was the moldboard height, from the factory it is only 14" heigh (see photo) well I know from past experience pushing only a few inches of snow can quickly pile up higher than that when clearing large areas, my old John Deere 210 blade had an 18" mold board and I had snow over the top of that before so 14" wouldn't cut it. I started with a 4" heigh piece of metal from an old storage rack shelf, cut it to length (46"), made notches where the trip spring bolts are on the top of the blade & drilled out 5 holes to attach it to the top of the blade. I intended to use this piece to mount a rubber snow deflector to so I mocked it up and used the factory wear bar to sandwich the rubber (an 8" high piece of old truck bed mat) to the 4" bracket, and again used the wear bar as a template for the backing bracket and rubber, drilled the holes. I ground off the edges of my backer bar & painted it black like the wear bar and after waiting several days for the paint to cure, I put the bar on top of the blade and attached the rubber. Well, it certainly was higher but the 8" tall rubber was really floppy so I loosened the bolts, bent the rubber over backwards and tucked it in behind the backer bar and tightened it back up. This would work well, it added 6" to the blade height and the rubber when folded over on itself was rigid enough to enable me to push and stack snow in piles. Now with a 20" heigh blade, loaded tires, 2 link tire chains and my 210lb @$$ on there I am ready for the snow to fly! Please take a look at the photos of the completed project & leave comments or questions.
Thanks,
John

jjsheehe · Dec 14, 2012

Hey nice job on the blade! The truck bed mat was a great idea. I might do something similar with my blade

ILLUMN8R · Dec 15, 2012

jjsheehe said:
Hey nice job on the blade! The truck bed mat was a great idea. I might do something similar with my blade

Thanks! I am anxious to use it, now all we need is some snow here in Nebraska so I can test it out. I have included a couple photos of the blade mounted to the tractor and one of all our snow removal equipment. Now just have to put on the chains & I'm ready to "work" (that's what I tell the wife anyway). What equipment do you have?

jjsheehe · Dec 15, 2012

I have a cub 108 with the blade, Jacobsen gt14 with the snow blower and a ford 9n with a blade and chains. I'm still waiting for snow here and i'm in the snow belt by buffalo NY! Still not a flake on the ground here. Usually by now we have 2 feet!

ILLUMN8R · Dec 15, 2012

jjsheehe said:
I have a cub 108 with the blade, Jacobsen gt14 with the snow blower and a ford 9n with a blade and chains. I'm still waiting for snow here and i'm in the snow belt by buffalo NY! Still not a flake on the ground here. Usually by now we have 2 feet!

I hear ya, this weather the past few years has been crazy. Last summer we had 100 year flooding and this year record drought, only 2 small snows last year & the warmest Feb. on record. I don't know what the heck is going on!? I like that old iron you got, any photos? Before I got the GT2100 this year I had a 1978 John Deere 210 with a front blade, hated to sell the old girl but I was spending as much time fixing as operating. I would have kept it but I still need to build my shop, I would like to get an old Cub some day. Does your 108 have gear or hydro drive? That Peerless 2300 4 speed in my 210 was bullet proof, I towed my trailer with a ton of rock with no problem, I would not even think of trying that with my new machine!
I got a question for ya, do you change the air pressure in your tires when you put chains on?

jjsheehe · Dec 15, 2012

My cub is the 3 speed gear box, however I was lucky enough to get one with a underdrive on it! Man that thing can crawl! ill tell ya the new cubs aren't as tough as the old ones for sure, but man are they a smooth nice riding machine! I don't have to let any air from the tires when I put on chains, they have slack in them but I pull the slack out using clever placement of rubber tie down straps. Do you have to air down the tires? This is my first time uploading pics to this forum so here goes...

jjsheehe · Dec 15, 2012

Weird said application crashed and added the photos anyway.. those are my two 9n's. Blue one runs and red one is the project.

jjsheehe · Dec 15, 2012

that cub mowed that two acre field with 2 or 3 ft deep grass. Unbelieveable.. then the jacobsen is just one I cruise down to the creek on behind my house.

ILLUMN8R · Dec 16, 2012

jjsheehe said:
My cub is the 3 speed gear box, however I was lucky enough to get one with a underdrive on it! Man that thing can crawl! ill tell ya the new cubs aren't as tough as the old ones for sure, but man are they a smooth nice riding machine! I don't have to let any air from the tires when I put on chains, they have slack in them but I pull the slack out using clever placement of rubber tie down straps. Do you have to air down the tires? This is my first time uploading pics to this forum so here goes...

Picks came through fine. Yeah, that granny low on my old 210 would keep turning till the tires lost traction then just keep grinding. The new GT2100 sure is smooth and turns WAY sharper than the old units and the newer competing models, I have a lot of landscaping so that was a major deciding factor in my selection. I don't air down when putting the chains on I just wondered if lower pressure would provide better traction in snow allowing the rubber to wrap around the chains and increase the contact patch. I see you have chains on the Jacobsen, I'm sure that provides good grab when running down to the creek, I use them when working in mud or wet grass and it makes a huge difference. Those Jacobsens are really rare, I hardly ever see them on any of the tractor forums I am on, my dad used to swear by his Jacobsen mowers.
Here is a photo of the chains on and my "creative" way of attaching 2 old 100lb farm tractor suitcase weights, snow is in the forecast for Wed. I hope so!

John

jjsheehe · Dec 17, 2012

I like the weights! How much is that about a hundred pounds? In my opinion airing down the tires won't do much for tractoin with the chains on due to the carcass of the tire is so stiff it won't alow contact between the chain rungs... I think your better off keeping the pressure high to keep the chains tight and preventing them from slipping on the tire. that's my theory anyway. Weatherman here is calling for snow squals and flurries this weekend apparently so I've got my fingers crossed!

ILLUMN8R · Dec 17, 2012

jjsheehe said:
I like the weights! How much is that about a hundred pounds? In my opinion airing down the tires won't do much for tractoin with the chains on due to the carcass of the tire is so stiff it won't alow contact between the chain rungs... I think your better off keeping the pressure high to keep the chains tight and preventing them from slipping on the tire. that's my theory anyway. Weatherman here is calling for snow squals and flurries this weekend apparently so I've got my fingers crossed!

The weights are about 100lbs each, there are 2, I also have the tires filled with RV antifreeze (60lbs/tire) so hopefully with that and my 210lb @$$ on there I will be good to go. One of the negative things about the new Cub garden tractors is the absence of a differential lock option, well see how it goes but my old 210 didn't have it & did fine. The weatherman is now saying Wednesday evening-night we will get 6" + with high winds for 2 or 3 days so sounds like I'll be able to give my setup a good workout!

jjsheehe · Dec 19, 2012

Nice. I have two 50 pound weights per tire. I wish I had a diff lock on mine two, or at least independent wheel brakes like on my 9n. My weather man calling for 6 to 12 this weekend so I'm pretty excited. Keep me posted and post some action shots of the plow!

ILLUMN8R · Dec 20, 2012

jjsheehe said:
Nice. I have two 50 pound weights per tire. I wish I had a diff lock on mine two, or at least independent wheel brakes like on my 9n. My weather man calling for 6 to 12 this weekend so I'm pretty excited. Keep me posted and post some action shots of the plow!

We got 9" of heavy wet snow last night, I spent about 5 hours on the Cub today moving snow off of 3 driveways, our circle and part of the street. With all the weight I have on it I was able to stack snow in 6' high piles by riding up the bank! Sure is easier going backward and forward with the hydro tranny! I had my sweet wife take a video but I had to settle with her taking it inside the house so the shots are not as close as I would have liked. That blade height extension and rolled rubber mat REALLY rolled that snow, without the extension I would have had a lot of snow over the top of the blade, would have been a bad deal. I'm sending the snow your way now!
I will add a couple photos and attempt to add the video, hope it works but let me know if it doesn't.
John

jjsheehe · Dec 21, 2012

Looks like you having a blast out there! Lucky! Well the snow is starting this afternoon I hope and going through Saturday afternoon. So hopefully I can get pics up to of my beast. Ill tell ya though I sometimes wish I had a hydro... shifting can get old quick when moving snow!

cadtech05 · Dec 26, 2024

ILLUMN8R said:
I have completed the modifications to my snow/dirt blade I purchased for use on my 2011 Cub Cadet GT2100 garden tractor. The blade in its stock form was ok but I noticed a few things that needed upgrades & modifications for my intended use. I had a prior post about the loose blade angle catch mechanism which helped but I have posted photos of my other mods here. First I had to replace the thin wear or scraper bar, the factory bar was only 12 or 10 gauge metal, I usually plow 5 driveways, our circle and part of the street, all 30+ year old uneven and cracked concrete, I would wear through or bend that stock wear bar up in one snow storm! Plus, I will use it for grading dirt so I found a piece of 3/8" x 2" bar stock and cut it to length, then I used the factory bar as a template and drilled the holes using a carbide bit and cutting oil, it took a while using my 1/2" hand drill but I eventually got it done (see photo). After I had it drilled I ground off the rough edges & painted it black, then I purchased 7 stainless steel cap screws and locking nuts and attached it to the blade, the holes even lined up! The next issue was the moldboard height, from the factory it is only 14" heigh (see photo) well I know from past experience pushing only a few inches of snow can quickly pile up higher than that when clearing large areas, my old John Deere 210 blade had an 18" mold board and I had snow over the top of that before so 14" wouldn't cut it. I started with a 4" heigh piece of metal from an old storage rack shelf, cut it to length (46"), made notches where the trip spring bolts are on the top of the blade & drilled out 5 holes to attach it to the top of the blade. I intended to use this piece to mount a rubber snow deflector to so I mocked it up and used the factory wear bar to sandwich the rubber (an 8" high piece of old truck bed mat) to the 4" bracket, and again used the wear bar as a template for the backing bracket and rubber, drilled the holes. I ground off the edges of my backer bar & painted it black like the wear bar and after waiting several days for the paint to cure, I put the bar on top of the blade and attached the rubber. Well, it certainly was higher but the 8" tall rubber was really floppy so I loosened the bolts, bent the rubber over backwards and tucked it in behind the backer bar and tightened it back up. This would work well, it added 6" to the blade height and the rubber when folded over on itself was rigid enough to enable me to push and stack snow in piles. Now with a 20" heigh blade, loaded tires, 2 link tire chains and my 210lb @$$ on there I am ready for the snow to fly! Please take a look at the photos of the completed project & leave comments or questions.
Thanks,
John

Do you by any chance have a picture of the rod from the plow to the lift mechanism? the lift rod is hitting the front mower pulleys.