Snow plow fabrication

[Wild Bill the 2nd]

My next question is concerning the placement and angle of the SA cylinders, and that is. Is there any reason why I should not have my cylinders angled out were they connect to the mounting plate? on the current design and most all that I have seen where SA cylinders are used shows the cylinders a straight as in this illustration,
View attachment 455156

What I am considering is shortening the plow arms by about 1 foot, but to do that I would need to move the rear anchor point of the cylinders outward to compensate for the travel distance needed. I know I could just buy shorter cylinders but if a simple change in placement with save me a few bucks... why not.

Or you can do something like this.




Fabrication thread here.
I still have not had a chance to blast, paint, and assemble. So no progress from the last posting.

 

[Glrret]

My old plow truck has some nice 6" round shoes and I still managed to catch rocks in my in-laws driveway. I've got some major work to do on that drive this coming summer. The driveways at our two houses, the barn yard and my mothers house are a lot better and easier to plow. I'm going to groom them with the intention toward getting a snow blower for next year. I'll still need the plow on the tractor for some locations where their just isn't anyplace to put the snow short of blowing over the fence into the pasture.

 

[Rustyiron]

Won't it work plumbed in between each "end" of a single s/a cyl?

Meant to say d/a cyl. :confused2:

 

[Rustyiron]

I still want to allow the plow to free travel up and down a liitle but I also want the option for down pressure for things like back dragging.

This is pretty simple
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/349647-snowplow-design-float-d-p.html

 

[Glrret]

I picked up the hydraulic hoses I needed to run my plow angle cylinders from the rear remotes. I wasn't expecting the $260 price for 2 20FT hoses, but its a far cry cheaper than a 3rd function kit.

I thought I had everything I needed until I saw Wild Bill's and 4Shorts design, I kinda like the idea of kicking the A-frame back under the mounting plate.

 

[Glrret]

Rusty Iron, that design you have for the chain replacement is almost exactly what I had envisioned I would use.

 

[Wild Bill the 2nd]

I picked up the hydraulic hoses I needed to run my plow angle cylinders from the rear remotes. I wasn't expecting the $260 price for 2 20FT hoses, but its a far cry cheaper than a 3rd function kit.

I thought I had everything I needed until I saw Wild Bill's and 4Shorts design, I kinda like the idea of kicking the A-frame back under the mounting plate.

Should only be $37 a hose from surpluscenter.com then another $20 per hose for a quick disconnect set from discounthydraulichose.com
If you get them from a local hydraulic shop then you will undoubtedly pay more. But it is likely much better quality hose as well.

I am excited to try my plow out some day but we have only had 2-3 inches of snow this entire winter. Nothing like the last three or so winters. We would have had 24 - 36 inches total snowfall by now. So weird...

 

[Glrret]

Wild Bill do you have any pictures of the finished project? What did you use in place of the chain? Did you have to add any rear shoes to prevent the plow from tipping backward and dragging?

 

[LD1]

Meant to say d/a cyl. :confused2:

Answer is still no. It won't work cause oil volumes are different

 

[Wild Bill the 2nd]

The last pics in my thread are where I am at.





I am going to still use a chain. If I curl the QA plate forward the plate will contact the A-frame on the plow. At that point I can put the loader in float and have some down pressure.

Rustyiron's design is a lot more robust than mine in the downpressure department. I could see where you could pretty much lift the front end of the tractor off the ground with his design. I don't think I really need to go there but I can see where some people might.

I am going to try running without shoes in the back at first and see how that goes. I dropped the pins in the back by 4 inches so the plow should have quite a bit of swing up and down. If I do need to add shoes back there I plan on doing something like this.

 

[mike69440]

Or you can do something like this.




Fabrication thread here.
I still have not had a chance to blast, paint, and assemble. So no progress from the last posting.

Nice Render and design by the way, what software?

Anyway I'd also add a skidplate under the cylinders to protect them from all the snow, rocks & such encountered in plowing.

Also beef up the to of the QA plate at the edges.

 

[Wild Bill the 2nd]

Sketchup, previously a Google product but sold off. Still the free version does a pretty darned good job at 3D modeling.

I'm not a commercial outfit so I don't know that it is really necessary to add a skid-plate under the cylinders. I don''t really know of any truck mounted plows that have skid plates. Seems overkill. You can't really see it from the renderings shown but there is 4+" from the cylinders to the ground. The plow should clear away anything that would contact the cylinders, hydraulic fittings, or hoses.

Where are you thinking the plate needs to be beefed up? Not being an ***** but wondering which edge you feel is insufficient. The actual design I welded up is a little different than my original renderings but I don't know that either would be insufficient. Just looking to cover my bases.

 

[Glrret]

The plow A frame and cylinder placement in your rendering is almost identical to the plow I will be retrofitting to my FEL. However my plow has a "D" frame under the "A" frame for stability while pushing. The cylinders are about 6 inches from the ground and the ram shafts are above the "D" frame. I've been plowing with it for over 17 years, I have never had a problem with rocks or brush damaging them.

 

[Wild Bill the 2nd]

Mine is a Western plow and also has the D-Frame that attaches to the plow and A-Frame.
I just didn't draw it since I didn't need to fabricate anything that interfaces with it.

 

[Glrret]

Wild bill seems you I are of the same mind and resources my plow is also a western. Question: in your design did you shorten the "A" frame in any way? I was thinking of shortening it buy about 6" or more and re-welding the pivot pin hangers on the top of the "A" frame. By the looks of your drawing you are doing the same thing, but did you make the "A" frame any shorter?

 

[Wild Bill the 2nd]

No I did not make any modifications to any part of the plow.
I don't see a reason that you couldn't shorten up the A-frame though.

 

[mike69440]

Sketchup, previously a Google product but sold off. Still the free version does a pretty darned good job at 3D modeling.

I'm not a commercial outfit so I don't know that it is really necessary to add a skid-plate under the cylinders. I don''t really know of any truck mounted plows that have skid plates. Seems overkill. You can't really see it from the renderings shown but there is 4+" from the cylinders to the ground. The plow should clear away anything that would contact the cylinders, hydraulic fittings, or hoses.

Where are you thinking the plate needs to be beefed up? Not being an ***** but wondering which edge you feel is insufficient. The actual design I welded up is a little different than my original renderings but I don't know that either would be insufficient. Just looking to cover my bases.

Beef up the Slid Steer Plate at the top corner edges and also bin the middle between the loader skid steel plates.

I made my own Plow. I found all the weak spots

 

[Glrret]

I ended up using Wild Bills design only with a few minor modification. I shortened the A frame arms by 12 inches by cutting the arms off right behind the cylinders. I needed take as much weight off as I could, the plow I am using is an old 8.5 foot Western of an International 1 ton State forestry fire truck. The plow and A frame together weighed in over 600 lbs. I mounted the push plate as close to the plow as I could without interfering with the pivot. I'm not 100% done but I did take it our for a test drive. I works like a champ. :dance1:

I'll add some pictures as soon as I get them off my phone.

 

[Wild Bill the 2nd]

Well you are a lot faster than I am!
I finally got mine painted today. hopefully tomorrow I'll get it pinned back together but I still need some hydraulic fittings etc. to actually get it up and running.

Please post pics of your shortened A-frame design. I'd love to see it.

 

[Glrret]

Bill here are some of the project pictures... Be kind, I'm not that great at welding.....But I've never had a weld break.

As you can see I cut the A frame arms right at the cylinder, leaving only enough as to not weaken the mount.



From there I attached the mounting plates to the top and made it so I could adjust the placement of the push plate if I ever needed to.

After that I sort of followed the same pattern you had in your 3D sketch, the big difference is the distance from the push plate to the plow.




I plowed with it today and I think I'm going to add some sort of shoes to the back edge of the frame. There seems to be a sweet spot for the cutting edge where it is able to run without digging in, but if you roll back too far on the front shoes your not able to cut the packed surface where vehicles have driven over the snow. I find myself having to adjust a lot on the fly. If I have rear runners or shoes that would simplify thing a lot. I'm also going to add a brace to the back of the plate to the connector arms just to improve the overall strength.

As for back dragging it works very well by just pitching forward with the push plate and the push plate makes contact with the A frame. The design seems solid, I can roll the push plate forward and add down pressure with the FEL and the plow and frame will hold the weight of the tractor with the front wheels suspended.

Over all I'm pleased with the performance and the design.

I want to thanks everyone for the help with the design and the feedback.