Leaving Plow and Wheel Weights on all year?

[Alrashid2 310]

Thanks guys. I also just noticed something...my levers are on the outside. Every other bracket shows them on the inside... Is mine assembled wrong?

[Bar Nuthin 569]

10 minutes ago, Alrashid2 said:

Thanks guys. I also just noticed something...my levers are on the outside. Every other bracket shows them on the inside... Is mine assembled wrong?

 

 

Yes, you probably wouldn't be able to fit your plow on because the outside clearance is pretty tight (on mine at least). All I've seen are on the inside.

[Bar Nuthin 569]

On 12/10/2024 at 12:56 PM, kpinnc said:

I hate iPhones. I never typed “dozen”, but it doesn’t just check spelling, it injects grammar where it believes it is needed. 
 

…And people want AI. Bunch of bleeping idiots. 

 

Auto-correct can be your worst enema!

[Alrashid2 310]

25 minutes ago, Bar Nuthin said:

 

Yes, you probably wouldn't be able to fit your plow on because the outside clearance is pretty tight (on mine at least). All I've seen are on the inside.

Yup you are spot on - wouldnt fit! I swapped the hardware and levers to the inside and now she fits

 

Next up I need to find a wear bar for the plow, she's pretty worn down..

[Bar Nuthin 569]

11 minutes ago, Alrashid2 said:

Next up I need to find a wear bar for the plow, she's pretty worn down..

 

I just picked one up from @76c12091520h a.k.a. K&B Horse parts in the Vendors section. You can message him here.

 

They're very nice! (that's my own plastic added behind the wear bar)

 

Edited December 12 by Bar Nuthin

[Alrashid2 310]

Sweet not a bad price either! Thanks for sharing the link and pictures!

[Alrashid2 310]

Wheel weights are on! 

Thanks @davem1111!

[Handy Don 12,470]

On 12/11/2024 at 10:12 PM, Alrashid2 said:

I also just noticed something...my levers are on the outside

Ok, fingers crossed for you...

The brackets for the earlier “A-Frame” plows DID have the levers on the outside and did not have holes for pins.

Before you get too far along, carefully measure the outside-to-outside distance of the bracket at the point where the crossbar meets the two brackets.

If it is close to 11” then you have a newer bracket badly assembled.

If it is longer, then you do not have the correct bracket for the newer “parallel frame” plows. 11” is the inside-to-inside spacing of the plow frame arms.

Edited December 14 by Handy Don

[ebinmaine 68,447]

24 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

Ok, fingers crossed for you...

The brackets for the earlier “A-Frame” plows DID have the levers on the outside and did not have holes for pins.

Before you get too far along, carefully measure the outside-to-outside distance of the bracket at the point where the crossbar meets the two brackets.

If it is close to 11” then you have a newer bracket badly assembled.

If it is longer, then you do not have the correct bracket for the newer “parallel frame” plows. 11” is the inside-to-inside spacing of the plow frame arms.

 

 

@Alrashid2

If you try that bracket you have and it ain't right lemme know.  

We have extras.  

[Alrashid2 310]

@Handy Don thanks for the info! Luckily it looks like my bracket is the former and was just misassembled. It's about 11" and looks like it's fitting the plow frame correctly now that I moved the levers to the inside. Here's a pic

 

Thanks for the offer @ebinmaine!

Edited December 14 by Alrashid2

[Alrashid2 310]

Posting another update!

 

Couldn't sleep last night so opened up a bottle of bourbon, turned the tunes on, and got into the garage! Got the rear axle bracket on and the plow mounted up, and she is a beaut! Also ordered a new wear bar in advance as I got a good deal on an open box one and installed that too.

 

Unfortunately, seems like the A frame is tweaked pretty badly, as the plow does not sit level - when raised, about 5" from ground to bottom on the right side and 6.5" on the left! This probably wouldn't be a huge deal if I was just plowing with the plow fully dropped, but that is not what I'll be doing. My old asphalt driveway is pretty bumpy and covered in old cold patches. I'm not repaving anytime soon and don't want to tear it up more, so the plan is to install a Dial a Height kit and have the plow hover just a quarter inch off the ground, similar to how a snowblower works with shoes. Obviously this 1.5" difference in height from side to side wouldn't work.

 

Well, I got to thinking. My plan was to draw a line from one side of the wear bar to the other and cut it with an angle grinder to basically "even out" the crookedness, but luckily I came up with a better idea just before I got cutting!

 

I had some spare metal bracket components since I had the axle bracket and the Wheel Horse Parts and More receiver hitch. I uninstalled the axle bracket, and used one of those bracket pieces to shim between the axle and the bracket on the opposite side of the droop. The metal shim was about 3/8" thick. This essentially dropped the high side of the plow while keeping the lower side the same, and it worked quite well! Went from a 1.5" difference in height from side to side to just a hair more than 1/8" difference. Close enough for me!

 

Next I need to remove the index angle lever and try to make some bends... as I predicted, the lever is totally in the way of the brake. I can't even brake with it pushed all the way forward! So need to figure this out before I can drive her again. Wish me luck... if I can't bend it, I'm going to pray Lincoln at AZ Tractor or maybe somebody here can hook me up with a proper lever that has the right bends! Thanks for reading. 

Edited December 14 by Alrashid2
Photos

[Alrashid2 310]

Additional photos 

 

Edited December 14 by Alrashid2

[Bar Nuthin 569]

12 minutes ago, Alrashid2 said:

 

[Alrashid2 310]

@Bar Nuthin yup that'll be me here real shortly! My wife is above the garage working on things so I'm giving her poor ears a break before I start hammering again 

[Alrashid2 310]

Well, that didn't go as planned... 10 minutes into hammering and I broke my bench vise!!!

 

I guess Dewalt isn't as good as it used to be. Time to get a new vise - I'm thinking a Wilton...

 

Unfortunately I think even if the vise didn't break, I wouldn't be able to get the tight 90 degree bends I need to make this work. Any chance any of you guys know a proper part # for the correct angled lever I need? Time to start searching... 

[Bar Nuthin 569]

4 minutes ago, Alrashid2 said:

Well, that didn't go as planned... 10 minutes into hammering and I broke my bench vise!!!

 

 

Probably should have been more like 8 minutes of heating and 2 minutes of hammering - just sayin'

[Alrashid2 310]

@Bar Nuthinha! I did heat it! Apparently the junk vise didn't like how strong I was  

[ebinmaine 68,447]

6 minutes ago, Alrashid2 said:

. Any chance any of you guys know a proper part # for the correct angled lever I need? Time to start searching... 

 

Don't overthink a part number. 

Many of these numbers are changed or nla at this point. 

 

Contact one of our own vendors. 

 

PM Brian Badman of K and B Horse Parts. 

 

Or. 

 

CALL Lincoln at A to Z Tractor in PA. 

 

 

 

Or place an ad in our classified area. 

 

[Bar Nuthin 569]

Proper heat and you would have been able to do about 90% of the bending by hand.

[Alrashid2 310]

Thanks @ebinmaine I'll do all that!

 

In the mean time... @Bar Nuthin you really think so? Will a propane heater get it that hot? Maybe I'll try again with what I've got left in the shop

[Bar Nuthin 569]

Just now, Alrashid2 said:

@Bar Nuthin you really think so? Will a propane heater get it that hot? Maybe I'll try again with what I've got left in the shop

 

Sure. Just keep the tip of the blue flame focused on the line where you want the bend (right above the vice jaws). Once it starts to glow, give it a pull and see if it's ready to cooperate. If not apply more heat.

Don't try to make the entire bend at one time - go by feel.

You're still going to need a vice to secure it - and a hefty hammer as you bend to get a nice 90° bend.

[ebinmaine 68,447]

1 hour ago, Bar Nuthin said:

Proper heat and you would have been able to do about 90% of the bending by hand.

 

45 minutes ago, Alrashid2 said:

you really think so? Will a propane heater get it that hot?

 

Agreed... with patience. 

Understand that the bar will heat slower than you might think. 

Also understand that the hammering involved may be a LOT harder than what you believe is reasonable.  

Don't be afraid of breaking the plow bar. 

 

 

Oh... and on that vise.... avoiding new would be in your best interest. 

Get an old one. Go as big as practically possible. Get heavy. Buy it ONCE. 

There are tools you'll get for a lifetime. This is one.  

 

 

[pfrederi 17,887]

If you want to plow a half inch or so above your pavement put on some plow skids...If there are slotted holes in the back edge of your blade Toro sells some for about $85 bucks a pair.  or weld a tab on the blade and use a carriage bolt and a pipe cap  they wear out after a year or so but for a couple bucks...

[Alrashid2 310]

Thanks guys, will be reaching out to them to see if they can help me out! @pfrederi I wish I had those in mine! Maybe some day when I learn to weld I'll do something like that.

 

Things are coming along tonight! Got the Dial a Height kit installed - thanks to Lincoln from AZ Tractor for putting it together for me! It works perfectly for what I need, though I did find out that when the plow is angled left or right, it'll be higher on the outside than the inside. Should still work though!

 

I did hit another problem though. Didn't realize how low the plow still sits when raised... When I tried to pull my tractor into my shed, the plow hit the shed floor before my wheels hit the ramp... Uh oh. I found if I pivoted the plow via the holes near the two springs to the top most hole, it moved the plow up and inch and I just barely cleared the shed floor... Wonder if it's fine to run the plow like that all the time. It did seem an extreme angle.

 

I also had the idea to drill a hole an inch down the metal flat bar that attaches the plow frame to the lift arm, which did help bring the plow frame a bit higher when raised. Maybe 3/4" space between the plow frame and front axle when raised now. Anyone else dealt with this?

[Wayne0 520]

I had that same problem except with my 2 stage blower.

I wound up extending my ramp another 3 feet to lessen the angle.

Just makes it now.