Grading BX 54" Blade Hydro Angle Conversion

[CHDinCT]

Just thought I'd post some pic's of my new to me BX 54" front blade that I converted from manual to hydraulic angling. I picked up the blade used from Messicks - Neil said it was used 2 times and it looked that way to me. I did have to buy the quick hitch new, which comes standard with hydraulic raise/lower. As most of you know, the 54" blade is only offered with manual angling while the 60" has hydraulic angling. I would love a 60" blade but it retails new for about $2,000. The 54" cost me just under $1,000 and another $250 for the cylinder, fittings, hoses, and payment for a welder to add the cylinder mounts. If I knew how to weld, I could have saved over $100, bringing the cost down further. Anyway, finally got everything set up this weekend for a test. Other than needing a longer pin at the quick hitch side, she's good to go.

Just a note on Messicks. Very nice to deal with Neil and meet him in person. I would have loved to have spent more time at his dealership as it's much bigger than about any around here and they have most models in stock (dreaming of a B series some day) but it was raining pretty steady that day unfortunately and I had a 5 hour drive back to CT. Also, the hoses that came with the quick hitch leaked out of the crimped side of the fittings on first hook up and Messicks got me new ones in 2 days under warranty. Great service.

Also, a shout out to Blackmajicwomen who post pic's of the same conversion on an old thread from 2004 or so. Those pic's gave me a starting point for how to do this. There was mention in that thread that Kubota was going to offer the 54" blade with 4-way hydraulics but I guess they never did.

An now for some pic's.

 

[ccsial]

Really nice looking job. You'll enjoy that hydraulic angle. I have it on my 54" blade on my 748 and absolutley love it.

 

[devildog1]

Chris,
Real nice job putting together the plow blade setup, Kubota looks just Great with plow. I've heard quite a few good comments on this form about Messicks, Neil in paticular. It's great to have a dealer that you can work with and that will back up product sold. Now all you need is the snow, but ------ from everything I've read, lots of snow this year in the Great Northeast. Have fun playing--err working with that good looking Kubota.
DevilDog

 

[bp fick]

Great job!! Congrats to you and to Neil at Messick's for a job well done.

I did splurge for the QC and 60" at the time of purchase, with dealer providing an awesome price and Kubota providing 0 percent on the bundle.
Yessir, your ingenuity saved you some dollars. You don't likely miss those few inches anyhow. You might even have greater sense of maneuverability. Orange paint coming? or just easier to touch up the black from time to time?

 

[CHDinCT]

Really nice looking job. You'll enjoy that hydraulic angle. I have it on my 54" blade on my 748 and absolutley love it.

Thanks ccsial - don't know why Kubota doesn't offer the 54" with 4-way hydraulics like JD does.

Chris,
Real nice job putting together the plow blade setup, Kubota looks just Great with plow. I've heard quite a few good comments on this form about Messicks, Neil in paticular. It's great to have a dealer that you can work with and that will back up product sold. Now all you need is the snow, but ------ from everything I've read, lots of snow this year in the Great Northeast. Have fun playing--err working with that good looking Kubota.
DevilDog

Yeah, I'm half hoping for snow and half not, wanting to prolong the fall weather. There was some wet snow on Sunday in the norther parts of the state.

Great job!! Congrats to you and to Neil at Messick's for a job well done.

I did splurge for the QC and 60" at the time of purchase, with dealer providing an awesome price and Kubota providing 0 percent on the bundle.
Yessir, your ingenuity saved you some dollars. You don't likely miss those few inches anyhow. You might even have greater sense of maneuverability. Orange paint coming? or just easier to touch up the black from time to time?

BP - I had a snowplow for my wheel horse so I didn't really need to buy the Kubota one with the tractor, but then last year, the WH broke an axle seal and I used the BX with the FEL to move snow. Loved having 4WD and power steering, just found the FEL to be slower than a plow. So now I've got the best of both. I did sell the WH plow and chains (wouldn't fit my 24" tires) which helped offset some of the cost.

I'll be leaving it black for now and may paint the Chief cylinder to match. But that will have to wait for Spring.

 

[radioman]

Thats awesome! Looks great and ready to go!

 

[redharley]

looks great, do you have to remove a pin from your new cylinder to separate plow from quick hitch?

 

[Minotbob]

That looks like the same quick disconnect used for the Snowblower.

 

[CHDinCT]

looks great, do you have to remove a pin from your new cylinder to separate plow from quick hitch?

Yes, have to remove either the front or back pin since the quick hitch separates from the blade. I just bungied it to the QH for now.

That looks like the same quick disconnect used for the Snowblower.

Same Quick Hitch. It comes with the carriers for the PTO shaft and bearings but no plans for a blower at this point. Maybe once the next ice age comes

 

[Czbilly]

Thank you very much for showing this project. I too have the Black 54" but never considered adding the othey cylinder. This just may have to get put on the list for todos this fall.

 

[Minotbob]

Do you know if you can order just the part of the hitch that mounts on the plow?

 

[CHDinCT]

Do you know if you can order just the part of the hitch that mounts on the plow?

Minotbob, no, don't really know, but it looks like there's a large roll pin that attaches the blade to the hitch plate, so the blade and hitch plate are separate pieces. Since I bought it used, I did not get a manual for the blade itself, which would/should show part numbers, I think. Maybe someone with a manual can get you a part number. Then you can look it up at Messick's or tractosmart.com

 

[CHDinCT]

Minotbob,

Your question got me thinking and I realized I could request a parts list from tractorsmart for the 54" blade, not that I need it right now, but good to have. Anyhow, they e-mailed it to me so I'm posting it here. It does show part numbers for the hitch box and female quick hitch that can be ordered if you need them.

 

[blackmajicwoman]

Also, a shout out to Blackmajicwomen who post pic's of the same conversion on an old thread from 2004 or so. Those pic's gave me a starting point for how to do this. There was mention in that thread that Kubota was going to offer the 54" blade with 4-way hydraulics but I guess they never did.

An now for some pic's.

Thanks for the shout out! Great job! The only thing I am finding to a a bit of a pain it that the front hitch tends to be a bit heavy with the added weight of the cylinder and hoses. Not a big deal right now, as my 34 year old legs and back can handle it so far! Also, I typically have to "bungee" the cyclinder in place when the plow isn"t attached so it doesn freely swing, as I leave the plow dismounted while storing it in the garage over the winter, while it waits patientlyfor that killer snow storm!

 

[CHDinCT]

Thanks for the shout out! Great job! The only thing I am finding to a a bit of a pain it that the front hitch tends to be a bit heavy with the added weight of the cylinder and hoses. Not a big deal right now, as my 34 year old legs and back can handle it so far! Also, I typically have to "bungee" the cyclinder in place when the plow isn"t attached so it doesn freely swing, as I leave the plow dismounted while storing it in the garage over the winter, while it waits patientlyfor that killer snow storm!

BMW - I don't know if I would have even tried this without having seen your results. The pic's really helped. I hear you on the weight. I'm pushing 51 and it wasn't exactly fun getting the quick hitch onto the front frame of the BX. I did use it Wednesday for some wet slushy snow and it worked better than I expected. I'm sure the 60" is really nice, but this should be fine for moving snow here in southern New England.

 

[amg280]

Chris,

great job! Im getting the 54" soon and would like to do the same. Do you have a parts list and/or specific vendor you can recommend for the cylinder/hoses/qh etc.?

Thanks for sharing!

Andy

 

[bp fick]

Yup, all these tractor "parts" get heavy. The older we get, we are gonna have to enlist some younger muscles to do our fall/spring change overs. Or we have to come up with good ways of working smarter, not harder.

Rolling floor jacks can be used to position things, for example. A lot of the guys here on TBN use dollies to position things too.

At this juncture, my BX has to be a snow plow in winter, and garden tractor in summer, so the QH has to go on and off. It hangs too low for dirt work.

 

[CHDinCT]

Chris,

great job! Im getting the 54" soon and would like to do the same. Do you have a parts list and/or specific vendor you can recommend for the cylinder/hoses/qh etc.?

Thanks for sharing!

Andy

Andy, no problem, I saved my e-mail confirmation from surplus center. Here's what I bought for hoses, fittings and the cylinder. The first number is the quantity followed by the SC item number, so you can plug that in their search to bring up the parts.

2 9-6901-6-4 SAE 6M x 1/4 NPTF 90 SWI $6.18
2 916-1460 1/4" X 60" 1/4 NPTM X 1/I HYD HOSE $19.70
1 9-4872-06 1.5X6X1 CHIEF DA HYD CYL $107.95

I bought the quick connects from discount hydraulic hose. I bought the 1/4 female QC's - these are the type that work with the existing BX male QC's on the tractor. I also bought two dust covers (don't forget those little saviors!)

ISO 7241-1B Hydraulic Quick Disconnects

I bought the cylinder pins locally at the hardware store. The rest was welding which I paid a guy to do, but if you can weld, you can save that cost. If you take this on, post up some pics with your results.

 

[amg280]

Thanks for that list Chris! The total comes to around $154 plus the welding work (which my friend will do for free).

A couple of other quick questions came to mind as I was persuing the parts. Did you have to bleed the cylinder at all? Or was it hook up and go? I assume you would have to add a little bit of oil to the tractors tank afterwords? I take it you did your hw, and found that this was the best cylinder ram situated for this?

Did you just use a standard black paint to paint the welded areas? I just realized this blade comes in black from the factory, not orange like the 60". Thats why your decals look so good and not painted over, haha.

Is that the best attachment point for the ram? I know kubota places the entire angling assembly on the 60" onboard (no ram to quick hitch). Would that even be possible with this one? Does mouting a ram mount on the Quick Hitch impair its ability at all with other attachments, say if I wanted to add a snow blower down the road? It doesnt look like it will, but just thought I would ask.

All in all looks like a very clean factory looking job! Good work. Are you going to keep that ram red?

Thanks!

Andy

 

[CHDinCT]

Thanks for that list Chris! The total comes to around $154 plus the welding work (which my friend will do for free).

A couple of other quick questions came to mind as I was persuing the parts. Did you have to bleed the cylinder at all? Or was it hook up and go? Basically, hook up and cycle the cylinders a few times to remove the air and you're good to go. The cylinder will move in steps the first few times, then smooths out nice.

I assume you would have to add a little bit of oil to the tractors tank afterwords? Just a little. Cycled it a few times, then checked my tank and added maybe a pint.

I take it you did your hw, and found that this was the best cylinder ram situated for this? I spent a lot of time contemplating this question and measuring and looking and measuring and .... I found this to be the best I could come up with and I also stole from blackmajicwomen who posted pic's on the same project he did back in 2004 I think. I came to the conclusion that 6" of movement on the ram would move the angle from full left to full right. I then looked for cylinders with that stroke and found one with a retracted length that would allow for mounting about as you see it. It turned out perfect and moves the blade from stop to stop just right. As far as the way the 60" blade works, I could not find a good pic of how that was set up, but I did not see a way to mount the cylinder only on the blade side hardware. If I wanted to use the hitch for a snowblower, I could just take the cylinder off. The mounting bracket won't interfere with any other use of the quick hitch.

Did you just use a standard black paint to paint the welded areas? I just realized this blade comes in black from the factory, not orange like the 60". Thats why your decals look so good and not painted over, haha. Actually, the guy that did the welding painted it for me - don't know what he used, but it matches pretty good. I do wonder if he used primer. Guess I'll find out by Spring.

Is that the best attachment point for the ram? I know kubota places the entire angling assembly on the 60" onboard (no ram to quick hitch). Would that even be possible with this one? Does mouting a ram mount on the Quick Hitch impair its ability at all with other attachments, say if I wanted to add a snow blower down the road? It doesnt look like it will, but just thought I would ask. I hope I answered this above, if not, ask me again. Maybe BP could post a pic of how his 60" blade angles?

All in all looks like a very clean factory looking job! Good work. Are you going to keep that ram red? Thanks for the complement. I'm thinking I will keep it red. I thought about painting it, but I like the CHIEF decal showing on it and it would be a pain to tape over it as the decal is not a block but only for the letters. This question is not settled yet in my mind. One things for sure, they'll be no painting anything until Spring.

Thanks!

Andy

Andy - see responses in bold above. Also, I saw this pic posted on another thread. It's the blade for a B series tractor and it shows how the angle cylinder is mounted. I actually went out and looked at the 54" and can tell you this approach won't work - hard to explain, but the hitch set up is different enough to prevent it.