Got Lucky today...

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,033]

1 hour ago, bellevillerod said:

there ya go

Thank you.

Click on the fuzzy picture.

Garry

[LengerichKA88 1,883]

Almost looks like you had to take it outta the box, given its age. Good score! 

[ebinmaine 67,279]

11 minutes ago, WHX22 said:

What keeps it from pushing up on the lift arm EB?

Oh I certainly DOES push up on the lift arm.....

I AM the down pressure.

 

[squonk 41,030]

Mid graders are easier to control with the manual lift. Eat some spinach or lots of pizza to use human down pressure. I had a homemade blade on my 704. Made it out of a simplicity blade. That blade was heavy and worked much better than the WH blade. But I needed the drool factor on here so I got a good deal on the WH blade and sold the heavy one. 

 

 

 

 

[WHX?? 48,784]

Good thread Mike ...you still got the 704? Mafia would have fun with that one!

[bellevillerod 834]

1 hour ago, WHX22 said:

Just having too much fun with seat time on the 857!

I hear ya, getting excited about my commando 8. Almost ready to work.

[WHX?? 48,784]

Check this one out @Sarge just put up for sale! I guess I didn't realize they were worth so much. I got lucky too then ... paid 450 for the 857 with the blade and a deck! There's your how to do on that blade edge Rod.

 

Edited March 29, 2019 by WHX22

[bellevillerod 834]

Yep kinda what I was thinking. I have some 1/2 x 2 in spring steel that would last forever. Also add some weight to the blade.

[clueless 2,976]

1 hour ago, squonk said:

Mid graders are easier to control with the manual lift. Eat some spinach or lots of pizza to use human down pressure. I had a homemade blade on my 704. Made it out of a simplicity blade. That blade was heavy and worked much better than the WH blade. But I needed the drool factor on here so I got a good deal on the WH blade and sold the heavy one. 

 

 

 

 

Mike, tried to buy the heavy one to put back on the 704, Bruce said no, maybe I'll give it another shot. They belong together .

[clueless 2,976]

1 hour ago, WHX22 said:

Good thread Mike ...you still got the 704? Mafia would have fun with that one!

It's living a nice retired life in Florida .

[Lee1977 6,643]

43 minutes ago, clueless said:

Mike, tried to buy the heavy one to put back on the 704, Bruce said no, maybe I'll give it another shot. They belong together .

I built mine with a 5' grader edge blade I cut down to 4'. It had two mounting hole that center the 4'. They are surface harden I ground  all around the blade with a side grinder then saw it off with my cut off saw.  The blade is 3/8" thick.

[squonk 41,030]

1 hour ago, clueless said:

Mike, tried to buy the heavy one to put back on the 704, Bruce said no, maybe I'll give it another shot. They belong together .

Darn right they do. That blade was extra handy dragging snow away from entrances or in your case sand

Edited March 29, 2019 by squonk

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

9 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

if you're looking for constant down pressure on one side or the other you could attached some weights to that end of the blade, or both ends.

Your feet work for that one side or both down pressure (believe it or not that's what my old Dealer said when I was asking about one)

 

5 hours ago, squonk said:

Darn right they do. That blade was extra handy dragging snow away from entrances or in your case sand

Brinly or AGRI-FAB (Craftsman) has that covered...my box blade the side caps unbolt to turn into a rear blade or go completely "home built" with tilt feature for pulling side ditches... Maybe I should try making a mid mount like you did to use it both ways...hhhmmm, see pics

 

6 hours ago, Lee1977 said:

I built mine with a 5' grader edge blade I cut down to 4'. It had two mounting hole that center the 4'. They are surface harden I ground  all around the blade with a side grinder then saw it off with my cut off saw.  The blade is 3/8" thick.

like Lee's version here a replacement cutting edge for my 3pt 5' Dirt Dog brand rear scraper blade would make a great one...

Edited March 29, 2019 by WVHillbilly520H

[Sarge 3,463]

I have a buyer coming Sunday to pick up the 40" blade already, surprised it went that fast. I have a real heavy grader blade cutting edge, as well as some other blades here for making the new one for the D. All of my tractors are hydro units except the old 854, which I haven't had the weather window to get it running and into service - yet. Just picked up a welding job last night to replace the wear edge on a Kubota mid-size tractor loader bucket - he also kept the old edge of his last John Deere mid-size so I'll probably have that one as well. Most of the bucket edges are lighter but work great for making a solid, harder edge to add to an existing moldboard. Bucket edges, as well as grader edges, are almost always worn on the outsides the most, sort of in a long curve. If you can pick out either one half or another, or just use the center area that material will be more than straight enough for what we need here. Hunt around the welding shops in their scrap - be sure to ask them if they kept any edges that were removed. Most shops keep them around for hardened sections of steel to reinforce digging buckets later - sort of recycling waste if you will. Generally, you can get long pieces cheap or free. Compare those to the wear edges that WH used on the front blades - its like night and day as this material will never wear out. Just be ready - if it is AR400 or AR500 you will not be drilling holes into the stuff - they must be torch or plasma cut. I weld most of mine but it takes a proper preheat and welding rod to make it strong enough to hold. 

 

Sarge

[bellevillerod 834]

Ok got the blade dressed ready to work. Bolted on a 3/16 x 2 x 40" strip of 1055 steel. Really tough steel should hold up real good for a long time. Put the tapped holes on center so I can flip it if need be.

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

7 hours ago, bellevillerod said:

Ok got the blade dressed ready to work. Bolted on a 3/16 x 2 x 40" strip of 1055 steel. Really tough steel should hold up real good for a long time. Put the tapped holes on center so I can flip it if need be.

Not knocking what you have done there just another perspective...why not drilled through then button heads and nuts? since that 1055 is such tough material and tapping is usually where tough alloys like A6 D2 ect will wear a tap out and break it...again just another perspective from a fellow machinist.

[bellevillerod 834]

2 hours ago, WVHillbilly520H said:

Not knocking what you have done there just another perspective...why not drilled through then button heads and nuts? since that 1055 is such tough material and tapping is usually where tough alloys like A6 D2 ect will wear a tap out and break it...again just another perspective from a fellow machinist.

1055 carbon steel is right on the border between a medium and a high carbon steel, with a carbon content between 0.50%-0.60% and with manganese between 0.60%-0.90% as the only other component. The carbon content and lean alloy make this a shallow hardening steel with a quenched hardness between Rc 60-64 depending on exact carbon content. These combination of factors make this one of the toughest steels available because, when quenched, it produces a near saturated lathe martensite with no excess carbides, avoiding the brittleness of higher carbon materials. 1055 carbon steel is particularly suited to applications where strength and impact resistance is valued above all other considerations. The likely hood of this steel breaking at the hole are very slim. Also because it was only 3 holes and at 3/16 deep and before I brought it up and quenched it the material is easy on the taps. All that said, ya I could have drilled it for nuts an bolts I was just thinking it would give it a cleaner look. 

[Sarge 3,463]

 

Exactly the reason I go to the expense to use the pre-beveled 1055 - the amount of grading work done so far with the big D has shown almost zero wear on the new cutting edge. That 1055 is a great choice for what our machines are capable of doing. The original steel WH used won't last very long at all with the type of work I use my machines for - even routine snow plowing will wear the stock edge out in pretty short order on hard pavement or frozen rock. 

 

Sarge

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

My father built this rear grader blade about 35 years ago, and then added the welded on cutting edge made from a 50-60s era car/truck leaf springs about 20years ago and every spring and fall would repair our 1/4 mile dirt/gravel/sandstone rock driveway and this is all it has worn in those 20 years, I still use it to pull side ditches and level my BILs driveway.