Thinkin' about tapping into my rear hydraulics

[ampa]

I'm thinkin' of buyin' a new Craftsman 48" snowblade,I had a Craftsman 42" blade but I left it on my LT that I sold in April of this year.....I wanted a 48" plough since I have a PA (Princess Auto) ( now repainted yellow) 4' plough for the 3 pt. ,you can see a bit of it in front of the tractor...but for the very little snow I got to plough at this townhouse we just moved into.....I'm not up to shoveling no more(health reasons won't let me do what I use to)the grass is mostly done by the hired contractors so I have a 60" (5') Waco/Douglass Finish mower for sale ...... a front plough is all I'll need since the driveway slopes downwards towards the garage, I need to know if I can tap off the rear hydraulic lines without messin' things up....and what do I need to buy in parts?,the angle I will just leave it manual,only the up and down motion is all I'll need, as the exercise to angle it right or left and will do me good,I've included a pic of my ISEKI G-174....Yes it's a 4x4,I could probley adapt the 4' 3 pt. graderblade to fit on the front but that would mean cutting/welding it to fit and also it don't have the fold down springs when you hit something solid ......Thanks in advance Ampa

 

[ampa]

I could use a 12 volt winch like I used on the little LT,but it was way too slow and I was always snapping the cable,which was a real pain having to freeze my fingers on the very cold days last winter,Princess Auto have a 12 volt motor driven hydraulic type including controls,can't remember exacly what it's called,it's priced around $250 cdn, unless it goes on sale for less it may be worth trying it out,but winter will probley be over before that happens, but then again by the time I buy all the needed parts to tap into the exsisting hydraulics it probley be the best route to go,whatever blade I end up using won't weigh too much,I'm sure this unit should be able to handle it,some feed back will help me to decied ...... Thanks in advance .. Ampa

 

[ampa]

I'd like to mount a snowblade on the front of my ISEKI the only hydraulics is built into the rear 3pt. of the tractor,the hydraulic pump I've mentioned is not the 12 volt motor/resorvoir/pump,it's a cylinder/pump 12 volt motor on the top,the type with the resorvoir/motor/pump is the type used for adding a plough to a 4x4 pickup truck/SUV/etc. way too expensive for me,I just need some info if these newer types are worth the effort,the Craftsman snow blades come with a long type manual handle bar for raising and lowering it, a cable operated lever for left and right angle,I could just leave it like it comes, as the blade is quite light weight and don't require a lot of strength to operate it,I don't really know what to do,need some ideas,thanks.....Ampa

 

[Rod in Forfar]

My G174 came with a pair of hydraulic lines mounted to the right rear fender. The handles were in the way so I had a friend remove the whole assembly. It took him about ten minutes. He just reversed a couple of parts and everything was back to normal. You might want to talk to a farm machinery guy and have him install a hydraulic line. It seems very easy to tap into the system just to the right of the driver's seat.

 

[ampa]

Hi Rod in Forfar....would it be possible to post a pic of your G-174 rear hydraulic connections,you mentioned removing the handels....do you mean the ones on each side of the tractors rear fenders?, I can't see these would be in the way,just curious of what your friend done in only10 minutes, wow, this be a great inexpensive route for me to go,like just add quick disconnects/high pressure hose to the front of my tractor, and whatever else I would need to hydraulicly lift and lower a front snow blade,perhaps a duel controler for a single cylinder for the main operation (raise and lower) and a single cylinder for right and left angle,it is a pain getting off and on the tractor to do this.....seeing there would not much weight involved, I could buy the cheaper (lower pressure) (black color) cylinders...Thanks kindly for your info.....take care.....Ampa

 

[Rod in Forfar]

Here are a couple of shots I found on my camera.

Rod

 

[ampa]

Thanks Rod in Forfar,seems someone has added the box with the 2 controls,my Bolens/Iseki had no mods done to it,till I bought it,I guess this is what I need to build,the lines have caps on them so I assume these are quick disconnects,very interesting,all I need to do is use this set up,ask Princess Auto to make up some extra long HP Hydraulic hose,looks to me the one hose is connected to the controls,then to the 4 quick disconnects the return line which be the larger one must run up under the fender from behind,I don't know,I'm unable to see this one,anyhow by all means,simple,bein, quick disconnects yes one could connect very quickly,but like I mentioned above my tractor don't have this conversion,but one thing is proven,this can be done,I just need to see how this is connected to the original 3 pt hitch hydraulics,I know for sure that the pump is mounted on the side of the engine,the steel lines (2) one feed and one return run to the built in resorvior (not too sure if I spelled this correctly) but this be part of the axle case I presume,anyhow maybe some one else can now chime in,because this is what I need to do to get hydraulics up front to raise/lower and angle an new 48" snowblade for this coming winter,thanks once again for your interest and input plus providing the pics,take care....Ampa :thumbsup:

 

[Rod in Forfar]

You sound as though you are in Ontario, as well. Wanta buy the whole kit for $100? The levers will take some loosening up, but it's complete.

 

[Rod in Forfar]

First, with regard to the mower: it ate belts until I replaced the sheaves and got rid of the corroded surfaces. Now it works pretty well. Quite a job getting it apart, though. It's a restoration project. I own a 6' 3 pt. hitch blade which I use on one of my 35 hp tractors. Most of the mowing's with an off-brand 48" rotary mower I bought new this summer. I also have a new Rhino 60" rotary mower for the TAFE 35DI.

I have never used these hydraulic controls. All I know is that if I hit a tree limb while mowing, it would load the engine down until I straightened the lever back up. They're stiff from disuse and not pretty, though I think they did the job when last connected.

The unit's in my storage shed. Tomorrow afternoon I'll take a picture of it and send it along. The plumbing's surprisingly simple.

 

[ampa]

I sent you a PM.....,I need to know what city or town you live here in Ontario,.....Ampa

 

[ampa]

Hi everyone.....I mentioned at the first of this thread of buyin' a new 48" Crastman SnowBlade(Plough) "DON'T BUY" these flimsy things......all though John Deere sell almost the same as the Craftsman,theirs are a bit more robust,but still made out of very light guage metel,I was able to find one that is quite robust(steel bracing on the back of blade) that are made to fit most ATV's, 48"-60" etc.I chose the 48",these are under the brand name of POWERBLADE manufactured up here in Canada, CANADIAN TIRE here in Canada sell them,be aware these are not sold as a complete unit like the Crasftman which include the main frame and that(Ugg) crazy manual lift handel and cable control for the angle,which suited me just fine,first I bought the 48" blade thinkin' it was the whole complete unit including the to me the useless manual lift but a way more robust than the Crasftsman @ $169.00 plus tax,I thought what a good deal,so then I thought I was ordering the main frame for the blade @$179.00,to me still a good deal,turns out this was the lift handle only,took it back,found out,the part I needed was called pushbar(main frame as I would call it,this sells @$199.00,to me still a good deal,I wouldn't be needing the manual lift handle anyhow,so I saved shelling out the $169.00, I think there is another attachment for a electric winch, which to me is better than using the manual lift,I chose a different route,leavin' my tractors hydraulics as they are, and bought a 12 volt acutator this looks very same as a hydraulic cylinder except it has an inclosed 12 volt motor at the top mounted to the side of it,bought this at Princess Auto, kinda' exspensive @249.00 but still way cheaper than goin' the hydraulic route, I needed to buy the so called extra's so now the total price for this item came to around$320.00 including tax, back to the 48" blade,which was in stock as well as the pushbar,which I was told was a Canadian Tire stock item,both of these were open boxes,the blade had a ding on the edge which to me is no big deal,the pushbar frame box look like it was in the II world war,the frame looked to be all there,but when I got it home,I found that the angle latch thingy to be missin',so I guess back to the store and argue with the sales guy about these missing parts, I no longer have the beat up box it came in,but I do have my reciept,so I don't know how I'll make out,if worse comes to worse I may have to make something up or buy another acutator for the angle part of it,more money to spend,what do you guys think about all this did I do the right thing not tampering with my hydraulics that are working just fine for any implement I need install on the 3 PT,which I doubt not,as I'll be usin' my tractor for snow removal only,I've got my 48" Grader Blade up for sale, I have a couple of interested buyers for my 60" Finish Mower,so that may be sold soon,I'll be sure to let everyone know how I make out with this new plough and lift set up,although maybe it wasn't the cheapest way for me to go,a new snow shovel would of been the cheapest,but I'm not up to this manual labor, my tractor is sort of my fun machine,and I have fun ploughin' snow rather than shoveling it.......thanks guys for all your input and interest,take care.....Ampa

 

[ampa]

Just an update on this hydraulic issue of mine,although I had bought the acutator,I found it would be a pain,to install as it was muchtoo long in length and also the fact that I would have to dismantle the small dash on my tractor and add another accessory onto the one and only accessory pin on my ignition switch,and the fact that I didn't really know how to hook it up,I decieded to take acutator back got a full refund and bought a small (yellow) in color Myers snowplough hydraulic ram (matches the snowblade which is yellow and black),plus a twin control valve,so now I can ,when I buy a double acting ram, I can run both the UP and Down plus the Left and Right angle off my tractors on board hydraulics,since I removed all the 3 pt hitch the other day and won't ever be using this tractors hydraulics no more,the cost may be a little more than I planned for,but to have two acutators to run both raise and angle would have cost a little more or the same,and I would have had to put up with the very slow action,anyhow guys thanks ever so much for all your help on this issue of mine,I've started a new thread on the TBN hydraulic section asking questions on hydraulics and recieving information that I need help on>>>>take care>>>>ampa