2" receiver welded into Deere 50d Mini-Excavator blade

[Sodo]

More projects. A few months ago I put a receiver hitch on the blade of my KX41 mini excavator.

The other day a contractor doing fuels reduction at my treefarm saw it and wanted one for his 11,000 lb machine. Moving his chipper around is always time-consuming, because he must always have a 4wd pickup nearby, and there needs to be room to maneuver the combo. Then the pickup is nearby, and liable to get hit by logs, or something. Moving the chipper to wherever the brush pile with the excavator that feeds it, is far more efficient. So we talked about it a little bit then built it out there in the woods. I had a 12" Harbor Freight receiver tube "in-stock (earmarked for a different project). Cut it in half, and the rest was all just "steel".

Welded with wire feed (miller MultiMatic200) .030 wire, running on an 8,000w generator (Duromax XP10000E).

Receiver stows behind the blade.

Tested it horsing a 6,000lb chipper around and decided it needed some blocks to firm it up (on each side of the receiver). Excavator can really torque on a hitch because the tracks can rotate in opposite directions, and backing the 6,000lb chipper over logs etc was a lot of force on the removable receiver. Also drilled another hole farther back to minimize the length of the pintle hitch.

All good now, it's solid as a rock.

 

[roadhunter]

Re: 2" receiver welded into Jon Deere 50d Mini-Excavator blade

Nice work!

 

[ultrarunner]

I like it... well done!

 

[skyhook]

Nice idea.

 

[ishiboo]

This was one of my favorite mods... used to have one on my rear blade before I bought the new tractor and a new blade. Going to weld one on to at least the box blade.

Nice looking welds, I was going to ask why you went with .023 but it looks like it didn't present a problem

 

[Sodo]

ooooops :duh: wire size is .030" (edited top post)

 

[Big Barn]

Very nice, Sodo. Makes me want to go out and buy a mini.

Terry

 

[Sodo]

There's not a whole lotta reasons NOT to have a mini.

 

[srs]

Sodo, excellent job. Question, any reason why you didn't weld the receiver to the top of the blade? Then you could have added the cover plate to keep dirt out like you did on your own excavator. Just curious but very nice workmanship either way you look at it. Stanley

 

[Sodo]

Sodo, excellent job. Question, any reason why you didn't weld the receiver to the top of the blade?

Contractor was concerned a log could get hung up ontop of the blade (which lifts) then impact the carriage when it spins around (360*). And so we decided to make it "go away" which I'm always up for; making a simple job more complicated. He did like the idea that it looked "clean" as the mini was really new to him, & low hours. Also the bucket can touch the top of the blade, can touch the receiver too.

A guy could simply weld it ontop with a couple angle gussets left and right and never have trouble. Or even flush with the top. He was thrilled with the function, he's told me several time how much time is saved not having to use his truck to move the chipper. Plus the min-ex outweighs his pickup by far, moves the chipper much better. Moving it quickly to the best place it needs to be (as they move around the forest) is efficient. I'll check in after a couple years and ask if he ever actually puts in in the "hidden" position.