Grader Blade Modifications

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Spent a couple of hours today getting the blade back into a usable condition

Welded a bit of 4" x 1/4" flat across the back of the boom and welded the little triangles I cut off the front corners of the 4" angle into the angle as gussets to try and prevent it bending up:


Drilled 7/8" holes through some scraps of 2" wide flat to make a retaining clamp to support the front of the blade mounting disk:


Drilled 7/8" holes through the sides of the old blade mounting disk (on the boom) for the angle adjusting bar to mount:










It's in a usable condition now ... I'll do the finishing touches, tidy up the welds, and paint it at a later date (when I have some spare time)...

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I did 3 hours work with the blade today... I'm thoroughly impressed

I couldn't be happier with it (other than having hydraulic tilt control)

It all works perfect

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Spent about 4 hours using the blade to cut a new track the other day (I'll go take some pics later)...

The blade worked well other than the lower link mounts bending when I hooked it over a stuff to pull it out:





I've been planning to replace these mounts so it's no real problem I'll post more pics in the next few days when I tackle it.

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Some pics of the new track I started work on last week:

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A couple of pics of what I'm doing with the 3ph mounts:




I only got about 1/4 way through the first of the 7/8" holes in the 3" x 1/2" plate for the mounts when the holesaw caught in the hole, I didn't realise it had broken a tooth so when I put the weight back onto it all but 3 of the teeth were broken off by the bit of tooth left in the cut ... Only 1 tooth really had a cutting edge left on it but as I didn't have a spare I had to finish the holes with it anyway, it cut ok, was just a bit slow.

(The holesaw was well used and a bit dull to start with, so it's no real loss)

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Welded the mounts together today:




Also welded a bit of 3" x 1/2" flat between the top axle supports to make them stronger:


Welded triangular gussets to the lower-link mounts to add extra strength:

When I get a new 7/8" holesaw I'll cut holes through some 3" x 3" angle and weld it to the inner sides of the inner mounts to strengthen them further...

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Finished the new mounts today, added a bit of angle to the inner sides of the mounts



I think it should be indestructible now

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I slapped a coat of gray kill-rust primer over it last night:


I wouldn't mind throwing a few cheap black pressure packs over it but I haven't got any and I don't want to make a special trip out to get some (the gas would cost me more than the paint ).....

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Found 1/2 a can of black, it's a bit blotchy but it'll do for now

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I started putting it back together today...

Drilled and tapped a 10mm thread into the top of the axle so I can use a bolt to hold the axle in place and help tie the whole hinge together top to bottom:

(Drilling the end of the axle was no problem, it was just like cast steel)

I'll tidy this up later, I just slapped it together with bits that were on the bench


Drilled a 5mm hole through the axle so I can put a pin through to help prevent the hinge plates spreading... I really didn't need to do this but I was interested to see if I could drill through a car axle... I broke a drill bit and dulled another doing it, if I was going to do it again I'd grind through the case hardening first (about 1/16").


Every time I have to remove the cylinder the split pins (cotter pins) that hold the cylinder pins in place annoying me, so I replaced them with R-clips... I'll use this cylinder for on other implements, eventually, so I want to be able to remove it easily:


And since you all like photos so much here's a few more