scrapyard box blade...first fabrication project

[Arc weld]

Design looks pretty good but you may want to get a bigger welder to beef up the welds. They look too small and very cold. You wouldn't want all your hard work to come apart if you caught a root or something. I was curious why you mounted the 3 pt. arms so high and on the inside? It would be stronger to have the mounting pins go through the double thickness of the horizontal and vertical attachment points. Even better is to use pins with a mount on each side of the 3 pt. arms. Cutting edges are usually 5/8" or 3/4" thick and 6 or 8 inches wide. You can also get curved cutting edges or straight ones. Better box blades from the factory usually have a recess bent into the moldboard so that when the cutting edge is bolted on, it is flush with the moldboard.

 

[stormpetrel]

Design looks pretty good but you may want to get a bigger welder to beef up the welds. They look too small and very cold. You wouldn't want all your hard work to come apart if you caught a root or something. I was curious why you mounted the 3 pt. arms so high and on the inside? It would be stronger to have the mounting pins go through the double thickness of the horizontal and vertical attachment points. Even better is to use pins with a mount on each side of the 3 pt. arms. Cutting edges are usually 5/8" or 3/4" thick and 6 or 8 inches wide. You can also get curved cutting edges or straight ones. Better box blades from the factory usually have a recess bent into the moldboard so that when the cutting edge is bolted on, it is flush with the moldboard.

I knew it was just a matter of time before the welding police got on my trail! I was careful to bevel, preheat, and multi-pass the welds. They may not be as strong as they could have been with a bigger welder, but they'll hold until I can get one. One day (hopefully before Spring when I'll be using the BB) I'll be getting a Thermal Arc 211 or 252....until then? I gots what I got.......

 

[SPIKER]

I knew it was just a matter of time before the welding police got on my trail! I was careful to bevel, preheat, and multi-pass the welds. They may not be as strong as they could have been with a bigger welder, but they'll hold until I can get one. One day (hopefully before Spring when I'll be using the BB) I'll be getting a Thermal Arc 211 or 252....until then? I gots what I got.......

I just wanted to state that if you have access to it some T1 steel would be more than fine for the cutting edge, no need to buy very expensive actual cutting edge material that bolts on. MY box blade is 13 years old was my 1st ground engaging implement & it is mild steel cutting edge nothing fancy WALLACE brand on close out from Quality Farm & Fleet (prior to bankruptcy.) I think I paid all of 179 bucks out the door, it was setting there long time and was really cheaper to buy the the materials from work. I was working as industrial equipment manufacture at time so had raw steel costs in the 45cent a lb range then. The cutting edge on mine is just some 3/8 structural steel angle iron not even sharpened. It WORKS FINE and I have move a LOT of dirt using it and SNOW as well For the average home owner having fancy cutting edges is not required, now if you plan to maintain 3 or 4 miles of gravel road then ya hardened steel cutting edge would be needed otherwise Steel is Plenty Hard and T1 is a very good upgrade to mild steel A36 stuff.

(Note T1 is more wear resistant and only a slightly harder than A36 but it welds very similar & you can weld it using regular materials...)

Mark

 

[Arc weld]

Bolt on cutting edges aren't that expensive, especially only 60" wide. Anybody doing snow removal with a skid steer uses bolt on edges because they are relatively inexpensive and easy to replace. They were out a lot faster than on a box blade but it's still good to have an easily replaceable cutting edge. They can be cut with a torch or what ever you have. T-1 steel is a lot higher tensile but isn't used for cutting edges. T-1 is used where you want maximum strength with lighter weight. A simple explanation is that 1/4" T-1 would have the same strength as 1" A-36 mild steel. AR400 is a common wear plate but both do require special welding rods and procedures. I bet getting a piece of T-1 or AR400 cut to size and curved would cost more than a standard bolt on edge. Bolt on edges come with the square counter sunk holes as well. You could check with your county to see if they have some old grader edges kicking around that could be cut to size. Often counties only use one side then discard them. The holes are sometimes offset but they might just give you an old blade or sell it cheap.

As far as the welds, I guess you'll find out. If you used NR211 it's designed for single or multi-pass welds but a lot of the wire sold for those little machines is only designed for single pass welds. One way to look at it is if you were paying someone for it, would you accept those welds? Even when I blew up the pictures, the welds looked too small and not fused very well. 110 volt machines have their place but they just don't have enough oomph for 1/4" and above steel. It's great to build your own projects but sometimes you have to have enough experience and the right tools for the job.

 

[SPIKER]

Hi again:

Went ahead and took a few more photos of the wallas built box blade I bought 10+ years ago.

click photos for full size.

back corner outside edge, shows the bolt on flat stock, not sure of the material it is not all that hard there are some small nicks probably A36..



inside corner from top



3pt lift arms and shows the inside angle and channel for the drop from the top link down to the back of the box. You can see the close arm where it was all bent up, heated and sledge hammered back into place.



Money shot underneath of the cutting edges bolted to the Angle Iron that is welded between the two upright end plates.


Mark

 

[ovrszd]

Mark's last picture above clearly shows how to setup the angle iron and bolting on the cutters. If you are concerned about the strength of the angle, you could add triangles as we talked about before. But don't forget to locate and drill your cutter holes before adding the triangles so you don't put them in the way.

 

[Aussiebushman]

Great job, Stormpetrel

Question - how did you cut the rectangular holes in the 4X4 RHS? I'd like to do the same but don't have plasma, so they would have to be cut as slots with a cover plate screwed or welded over the open side

Cheers

Alan

 

[stormpetrel]

Great job, Stormpetrel

Question - how did you cut the rectangular holes in the 4X4 RHS? I'd like to do the same but don't have plasma, so they would have to be cut as slots with a cover plate screwed or welded over the open side

Cheers

I cut the rectangular holes in the 1/4" steel with a plasma cutter. If you look around for a while you can probably find a used one at a reasonable price.

Drilling and/or using a jigsaw would have taken forever....so I am very glad I was able to get one for short money...

 

[ovrszd]

You can also cut them with an acetylene/oxygen torch. They don't have to be exactly precise so a little error with the torch would be acceptable.

 

[Aussiebushman]

Yes, Plasma would be the go. but my use for that would be limited, so it might be better to get the local engineering shop to cut the holes. What do you think about my alternative suggestion to cut U-shaped slots, insert the tines and bolt on a heavy cover plate?

Love your comment about the "welding police." I work in the bush with a 10KVA generator and 120A stick welder and a mate says my welds look as though they were done with a knife and fork!

Cheers from Oz

Alan