Adding guide wheels to blade or rake

[Mosey]

Has anyone added guide wheels to a grader blade or landscape/yard rake? If so, can you post a picture? I've thought of using 2 trailer jacks, such as these from <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&langId=-1&catalogId=4006970&PHOTOS=on&TEST=Y&productId=425936&categoryId=0>Northern Tool</A>, so I could easily adjust the height and pivot them up out of the way when I don't need them. They don't need to be real heavy duty like the caster wheels on a finish mower or something. I'll just use them for making the last few passes over before seeding grass and for pushing snow off my paved driveway.

 

[Hoeman00]

I've been looking at doing same thing.
Northern has some 12" caster wheels that would work nice .
I thought about using 2 1/2" tube on blade and slide 2" tube inside,
so they can be reversed,then mount wheel to jack.
W/ the jacks on the end of 2" tube it could be switched to other tools.
Fixed jacks will work for this.
I just checked the jacks u are looking at and IMO the swivel set-up
won't last long (need grease).

 

[djradz]

You could even use a 2" trailer hitch receiver, one on each side to make it easy to take the wheel assembly on and off.

However, I would be a little concerned about the wheels. Most of these are just a hard plastic with no bearings. If you could come up with some way of installing ball-bearing wheels, I think you'd be all set. Otherwise, especially behind a rake, my guess is the wheel hub won't last long. Let us know what you come up with as me and my neighbor are thinking of doing something similar, vs the $80/ea plus kits from KK, Woods, etc.

 

[Hoeman00]

The 2" tube is same as receiver tube,I get 24' joints to make many
misc. projects, it comes in really handy and cheaper too.
The wheels I was talking about are pnuematic and have ball bearings.
Northern #18977 for the casters.

 

[Mosey]

I didn't realize a trailer jack would not have bearings in the wheels. I guess that makes sense now that it's been brought to my attention, since they aren't designed for continuous rolling. So much for the easy way out! Although there might be a way to add grease zerks. For my purposes they won't get much use, maybe 4 hours a year total. I need to find a place besides Northern that sells trailer jacks so I can look at some instead of just pictures.

 

[Hoeman00]

I was talking about the swivel, looks like 1 tube inside of the other.
w/weight and side load it may not turn.
Look at the casters on northern web site ,they could be bolted to bottom of
jack.
8" or 10" could be used but I was going bigger so they roll over larger junk w/o
skidding.

 

[djradz]

Looking at those wheels, I can't tell if the ball bearings are sealed or not. Do you know? TSC also sells quite a few and also carries a good selection of trailer jacks, with and without wheels.

I see Northern also sells a jack with a 10" pneumatic tire, but I can't tell what it has for bearings, (part # 147392). Or else, maybe buy one with a rigid wheel and change it to one with bearings. Lots of options, but trying to keep the cost down is key.

 

[Von]

I added a set to my rake. (see attached photos) Got the wheels from Harbor Freight for $12.00 and the rest is made from scrap steel I had on hand. I use spacers to adjust the hieght of the rake. It works very well and I don't have alot of money into it.

 

[Mosey]

I came up with an idea that might work. See attachment (not to scale). It would use a regular caster wheel with bearings, preferably greaseable. The T handle bolt would allow infinite height adjustment over a range of a few inches. This could be directly welded to a grader blade. And landscape rake would have to have another bracket of some sort.

 

[Mosey]

Nice set up Von! Did you just weld a piece of tube steel to end of the bracket for the caster to go in? Those casters look similar to the ones on my finish mower. Do you have the part number at Harbor Freight for those casters? I just went to their web site and couldn't find any of that type.

 

[Von]

Danny, I just got the wheels and tires from HF. I made all the rest. Yes it is just a pipe with a rod running thru it for the castor part. Just like most finish mowers. I just keep it greased with a zerk fitting on the pipe. The spacers are just short pieces of the same pipe.

 

[JohnMiller3]

Hi Von...

Sure looks like a professional job... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I was at an auction a few weeks back and saw a dealer buy a pair of York brand wheels for $245...!!!

They said that was considered cheap... /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Hoeman00]

I was looking at TSC 10" wheels (49.99) for same thing
that northern had for 29.99.
I need to put them on so I can reverse the wheels and put in front of blade
or rake when using it on SSL and pushing it.
W/ the tube welded on and removable wheels w/ jacks they can be moved
from 6' blade to 7' blade to rake to box blade.
One set-up to use on 4 pcs.
That was why I was going for the 12" wheels (625# rating) these have grease zerks
on swivel and hub.
Plenty of grease in wheels will keep dirt out.

 

[Mosey]

I'm still on the trailer jack kick, but a little different approach. I'm considering using this and then bolting this <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=4006970&storeId=6970&productId=658&langId=-1>caster wheel to it. I called Northern and this wheel has ball bearings and is greasable, but the pivot isn't, so I'd have to a add a grease zerk or find a caster wheel that is already greasable at the wheel and pivot. With these I could easily adjust the height and pivot them up out of the way when I don't need them. The jack is $20 plus shipping for a total of $30 and the wheel is $22 plus shipping for a total of $30. I'm going to check around for better prices.

 

[djradz]

Danny, looks like a great idea but it seems to be getting close to the cost from the rake manufactures, although I like your ease of adjustment better than all but York's. One thing though is that it looks like the pivot bearings are just sandwitched in between the top plate of the caster and the top of the yoke - no seal. What do you think?

 

[Mosey]

djradz - I thought of that "no seal" problem too. If someone was going to be using the guide wheels a lot, such as someone who puts in lawns or something, then that would be a problem. But, for me it's just once in a while for the last few passes while leveling and area I'm re-doing or patching, and while pushing snow in the winter (it doesn't snow much here). So, I think I would be OK as long as there was a zerk to push grease in there, which would push the dirt out. Your'e right about the cost approaching the cost of a kit, so I need to find some better prices. A local store called Big Blue (local to southern Indiana) is going out of business, so I'm going to see if I can get something at a clearance price. I don't know if they'll have what I need though. I plan to go down there on Thursday (that's "kids eat free day" at the Tumbleweed resaurant).

 

[brantley]

I have been thinking about a similar thing for my rake.

My plan is to get 2 telescoping sizes of square tubing. I do not know the sizes well enough, but something around 2 inches. I would cap one end of each tube and cut holes for an acme screw to pass through. My thought is to use 1 inch threaded acme rod. I would attach an acme nut to the inner square tubing and also attach some kind of nut or pipe to the acme screw where it would exit the top of the outer tubing to keep the screw from falling out. Basically a simple jack.

I was thinking along these lines, because I could not be certain that the jacks I had seen in the Northern Hydraulics catalog would robust enough to handle the rough use I think they would see behind my rake. By building my own I can get something that is at 1/8 or 3/16 wall thickness and should be plenty tough.

For the casters, I have seen some for sale at Atwoods (similar to TSC) that are similar to what I have behind my brushhog. I am not quite sure where I would attach at though. If there is enough space I would to the inside tube. Or I could construct the jack so the the outer tube is the one that moves and attach the caster to the outside.

 

[Mosey]

I checked at TSC yesterday and they have a trailer jack with a flat plate on the bottom for $22. It appeared to be pretty sturdy and I'm confident it would do the job for my purposes. I checked on their caster wheels and they have a 8"x2.5" pneumatic one with ball bearings and grease zerks on both the wheel and pivot for $40 (TSC #3530054). That seems too high priced, so I'm going to keep looking, and I would also like to have a wider one. They have a 10"x3.5" pneumatic one with ball bearings and a grease zerk on the pivot, but no zerk on the wheel (odd?), for $40 (TSC #3520902). TSC does sell a kit for the King Kutter yard rakes, but they said they had to call in and find out the price during the day (I was there in the evening), so they're supposed to call them today and then get back with me. I need to check Harbor Freight next. I can't tell from the web site which ones have ball bearings and zerks, so I need to call them.

 

[Mosey]

I called Harbor Freight and they have a 10"x3.5" pnuematic caster wheel for $17 (item 38944-3VGA). With shipping and handling it would be $22.44. But, they don't know if it has ball bearings on the pivot or if it has grease zerks at all. All they know is that it does have ball bearings on the wheel. They said if I ordered them and don't like them for any reason I can return them within 30 days and they would pay the shipping back. So, if I found out that they don't have ball bearings on the pivot and don't have grease zerks, then I can return them. I don't know if I would get refunded for the original shipping charges or not.

 

[Mosey]

Just for reference:

King Kutter has a gauge wheel kit for $185 plus shipping (approx $15). It has 9"x3.5" pneumatic tires and both the wheel and pivot are greasable via zerks. The pivot is a shaft with spacers to adjust the height. The wheel does not have ball bearings, just a bushing.

First Choice has a gauge wheel kit for $179, Via Carver Equipment, plus shipping (shipping cost unknown). It has 9.5"x3.5" solid tires. The pivot is a shaft with spacers to adjust the height. I sent an email to find out more info.