Front end blade for a tractor?

[CalG]

Neighbor had one on his Ford 600, cable lift via pulley to the 3 pt hitch in the back to lift. It worked pretty good down his steep hill, but not so hot going up. And he got stuck a lot! Lifting the blade took a lot of weight off the rear wheels and he could not back out of any kind of grade. Probably would have been somewhat better if he had hydraulics to the front, but I think the underlying issue is the same - raising that much weight out in front of a rear wheel drive tractor = traction loss.

Rear weights are a dime a dozen. Sounds like your neighbor didn't consider the option of adding weight out back.

It's not hard, and certainly not a fault of an added front blade.

 

[CalG]

I had a blade on my TO 30 Ferguson.. then another on my JD 420 Utility, and now a blade for my JD 4300. Pretty easy to fabricate and weld something up using existing blades.. it will push dirt, rocks, gravel, etc. too.

Where does the push load go into the tractor on you setup?

 

[dieselknudt]

I have a used blade with mounting brackets, hoses and hyd valve that I would sell for $750.
Let me know if you are interested and I can get you some pictures and dimensions.

 

[beenthere]

Where does the push load go into the tractor on you setup?

Fabricated bracket between plow A-frame mount and tractor hooks into the mid-mower front mount plates and tilts up to mate with the front weight bracket, held only with two 1/2" bolts.

 

[CalG]

Fabricated bracket between plow A-frame mount and tractor hooks into the mid-mower front mount plates and tilts up to mate with the front weight bracket, held only with two 1/2" bolts.

I worry about loading the axle mount and the engine to transmission interface. I've seen a few failures at those locations.

Prudence is warranted!

 

[aczlan]

I know you can buy them for the little kubotas. My old boss had one. I thought it was for plowing snow. He had a bx25. It wouldn't be hard to make, if I remember right, it fit in the front bumper the same as the fel does, and attaches back in the middle of the tractor the same way also. The the geometry of the arms were different. He could angle it while plowing.

We have one for our BX2660, it mounts to the front "bumper" but doesn't attach any further back than that.
It has two long pins that go crossways into the bracket that the front of the mower attaches to (underneath the very front of the tractor) and two wedge clamps that go on top of the "bumper" and that pinch everything tight.

Aaron Z

 

[MidwestMike]

Just another option that may work for some...

I got a cheap hitch mounted plow, designed to put in the front of a vehicle with a front receiver.
My fork lift quick attach plate has a receiver, so I end up with a plow that at least has trip springs.

 

[tpcannon]

On a number of other threads on TBN, it cautions against using a tractor as a dozer. You can bend the FEL arms doing this (my neighbor did, his Kubota is a big one, 5000 series I think), and if you run in reverse with a blade connected to the 3 point hitch, you may bend the lift arms.

Pushing snow around is likely OK, big rocks, piles of dirt or gravel, probably not.

No personal experience, just what I've read here on TBN, which is usually very good advice.

Best Regards,

Mike/Florida

Yeah, definitely only for snow plowing.

 

[bsekf]

Westendorf DB is a FEL mounted dozer blade, around $1200 for 84 inch. I would think you would have to be careful on a big tractor. Could bend/break things. They also make a snow pusher blade that is more money. The snow blades that angle, stick out in front too far.

 

[SmallChange]

Here's my previous tractor, with a Kubota dozer blade. I bought it that way used. Very used. The dozer blade had a subframe bolted to the main tractor frame, and included an upright on the right for the control levers. It had a lift cylinder hanging from its own bracket bolted near the "bumper", and sideways tilt cylinders. There were also trip springs. The dealer said this tractor had previously been used at a nursing home to plow snow off the driveways. I'd guess they bought it new with the dozer blade, but don't know. One problem with using it: the tractor front end was light and tended to slide sideways away from whichever side I was trying to displace the snow.

 

[Vigo327]

I have a B6100 and could certainly imagine that to be the case.

This is my first tractor and while I wasn't dead set on 4wd i've come to the conclusion that it's basically necessary on a tractor this small. My FEL subframe is MUCH more substantial than the one pictured there and even with the loader+subframe probably adding 50%+ to the bare weight of the tractor (up to 1500-1700lb, id ballpark), it can rarely manage enough traction in 4wd with the rear diff lock engaged to actually use all of the fifteen mighty horses the engine supposedly makes. I never realized how much i took the weight of heavier machines for granted until i started using this and also a <3000lb skid steer i bought shortly after. Both machines are limited by their own lack of weight more than a lack of power. I would imagine a front blade on something this size would only be great for snow or relatively loose material. I guess if i already had it i could see breaking loose a bunch of stuff with the rippers on my box blade and then spreading it with much more finesse with the front blade. I wouldn't go out of my way for it, though.

Seems to me it would be better to rig an appropriate blade onto an FEL somehow and just be careful with it. One thing I could see myself doing if you're actually trying to break into the ground at all is making some supports from the tractor frame forward to the rear of the loader arms so that forces would go straight into the frame instead of through the loader arms and tower. The small skid steer i mentioned has this feature from the factory.. when the lift arms are all the way down they rest directly against the 'frame', directly behind the bucket. Good thing too because every time i get into a skid steer i use 'ramming speed' at least once (including today in a borrowed Bobcat S150).

 

[CalG]

Photos like this inspired me to carry the sub frame back to the rear axle when I fabbed up the front mount blower frame and drive for the B7200. It just did not seem right to hang the blower, or any blade that might follow, onto the the framework that looks designed to hold a couple hundred pound of static weight.View attachment 708190

Here's my previous tractor, with a Kubota dozer blade. I bought it that way used. Very used. The dozer blade had a subframe bolted to the main tractor frame, and included an upright on the right for the control levers. It had a lift cylinder hanging from its own bracket bolted near the "bumper", and sideways tilt cylinders. There were also trip springs. The dealer said this tractor had previously been used at a nursing home to plow snow off the driveways. I'd guess they bought it new with the dozer blade, but don't know. One problem with using it: the tractor front end was light and tended to slide sideways away from whichever side I was trying to displace the snow.