C-125 snow blade mods for easier lifting

[Jeff-C175 7,199]

51 minutes ago, Gregor said:

definitely work

 

I think so too.  I'm doing some ciphering now to figure out exactly how to push/pull the cable.  The pulleys and sn4tch blocks are easy peasy.

 

 

That's very interesting Greg!  Got me thinking again...  I see your two limit switches, and now you've got me thinking about how garage door openers work with a single push button.  Door closes, hits limit switch and stops.  Next time button is pushed, door reverses direction, hits limit switch and stops, and is ready to reverse direction next time the button is pushed.  I really like that idea, is that the way yours works?  One pushbutton?  That would be most excellent to have just one button and 'preset' limits.

 

I've got a well stocked junque boxe with all sorts of relays and such.  I'm going to begin the electric design...

 

42 minutes ago, pfrederi said:

a hydro tractor

 

Well... I have one, but the blower is mounted on that.  The 125 that I've been working on is going to be a dedicated plow horse.  It's an automatic but has manual lift. 

 

I suppose that I could collect all the parts to convert to the hydraulic lift but I do so enjoy engineering and building!

 

Edited December 14, 2021 by Jeff-C175

[Gregor 4,846]

I can't find pictures of it now, and I may not have them any more. I had a DPDT push button switch mounted in front of the lever that holds the PTO pulley on my 656. Push the pedal once, it went down. Push it again, it came up. It's been a while ago, but I think the switch only controlled a relay that actually reversed the motor. The amp rating on the switch, could not handle the motor.  THIS is the switch I used. That being said, I learned of something new on here the other day, Well, new to me anyway. A dual action solenoid, if you will. 1 solenoid used for operating an actuator in either direction. Heavy enough to handle the load. That would make things simpler. No relays. If you can still buy mercury switches, you could mount them on the plow frame, under the tractor, in such a way that the actuator would shut down when a certain angle was reached. Up or down. The solenoid had 1 rocker switch. I don't remember who showed it to me, or in which thread.   I had 3 beers last night, remember?

[Jeff-C175 7,199]

2 minutes ago, Gregor said:

I had 3 beers last night, remember?

 

I had 4 and I don't remember either!  

 

That's what I would like.  Push once, goes up and stops.  Push again, goes down and stops.  Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

 

I'm sure I can design the circuit no problem...

[Snoopy11 5,714]

I am in this thread... not as much for the actual build stuff... but for the laughs. Jeff... you are something else...

 

1 hour ago, Jeff-C175 said:

I had 4 and I don't remember either! 

 

 

Don

[Snoopy11 5,714]

Alright boys, @Snoopy11 incoming.

 

So... for an electric actuator controller, I have used this 20$ magical piece of wonderfullness in my truck. I have an electric actuator on my tailgate (because I am lazy and don't want to have to get out of the truck when I go to pick up groceries that my sweet pretty lady women buy...)...

 

The controller looks like this:

 

Edit, link to controller... https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DC-9-30V-Wireless-Remote-Control-Kits-Linear-Actuator-Electric-Motor-Controller/281527174198

 

 

It controls up and down movement.

 

NOW... my second thought... @Jeff-C175... wouldn't it be a lot easier to get an atv winch for the blade?

 

 

Thirdly! The correct linear actuator for the application would need to be IP-65... right @KrazeyOlDave...?

 

Don

Edited December 15, 2021 by Snoopy11

[Snoopy11 5,714]

I should add. The controller I mentioned above can work for any application, not just electric actuators. Jeff, you might find it very helpful. It has different programs, and can be programmed for even more programs by someone a lot smarter than me.

 

Using an electric actuator for example:

 

It has a function that allows you to hold down the "A" button to control how far the actuator goes down. Then, you can hold down the "B" button to retract the actuator. 

 

This could also be true of a winch style system that you have in mind Jeff. 

 

Now... I am going to go slither back under my rock...

 

Don

[Handy Don 12,170]

1 hour ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

I had 4 and I don't remember either!  

 

That's what I would like.  Push once, goes up and stops.  Push again, goes down and stops.  Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

 

I'm sure I can design the circuit no problem...

Sounds like a power window motor, control switch, and limit switches to me. Only I doubt one of those has the oomph to lift a plow.

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,297]

Ok guys I found the attached videos that Dave supplied on the actuator working . The actuator will provide down force where a cable will not. I tried a cable and it did not provide the down force. I will provide photos of the unit tomorrow. Will also try to provide pictures of actuator on the 416-8 "what the what"

[Snoopy11 5,714]

1 minute ago, Handy Don said:

Sounds like a power window motor, control switch, and limit switches to me. Only I doubt one of those has the oomph to lift a plow.

Depends on how you want to do it... a power window motor does have the power to lift it... (for some odd reason I have a few of those laying around the shop)... but the question is how long it will work.

 

Second dependent variable... you have 2 avenues of doing this:

1. the easy way 
2. the hard way 

The fact that I could buy a 70$ winch at Harbor Freight... or 85$ from the jungle... and either use a controller such as I mentioned above... or the one provided in the winch kit... appeals to me. 

 

Don

[Snoopy11 5,714]

4 minutes ago, elcamino/wheelhorse said:

The actuator will provide down force where a cable will not

BUT do you really want as much downforce as the actuator would provide. I know some guys might have missed it... but I put an Enerpac hydraulic kit on my blade. It worked great... but was really REALLY hard on the blade. 

 

Don

[Snoopy11 5,714]

7 minutes ago, elcamino/wheelhorse said:

videos that Dave supplied

That is an IP-65 actuator.

 

Don

[Snoopy11 5,714]

On 12/9/2021 at 9:23 PM, Jeff-C175 said:

 

I would really like a foot pedal control for raising and lowering the blade.

 

You mean, like this?

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Automations-Control-Linear-Actuator/dp/B006P5922Q

 

Don

[Jeff-C175 7,199]

1 hour ago, Snoopy11 said:

easier to get an atv winch for the blade?

 

Haven't ruled that out!  Thing is that I only need to lift less than one hundred pounds.  Seems way overkill to get the smallest one I can find at 1500 pounds.

[Gregor 4,846]

On 12/12/2021 at 7:23 AM, KrazeyOlDave said:

I used a 400lbs actuator at the time, worked flawlessly for doing a 3 car driveway. PROGRESSIVE AUTOMATIONS Electric Linear Actuator 12V

 

i set it up using a solenoid and a rocker switch. 

 

Once I started plowing the road (private drive, county doesn’t plow it), I had to modify my battery box for a marine starting battery, because I was depleting my normal battery. 

Page 2. This thread

[Gregor 4,846]

Back to the lift assist spring. The problem seems to be, once you have a spring on the plow, large enough to do any good, you have taken all or most of the weight off the plow. Maybe you are thinking bass-ackwards. What if you had a spring that would lift the entire plow, and modified your lift lever to push down on the plow, rather than lift it.   Just throwing things out there.

[wallfish 16,986]

8 hours ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

Haven't ruled that out!  Thing is that I only need to lift less than one hundred pounds.  Seems way overkill to get the smallest one I can find at 1500 pounds.

What about something like this mounted to the front tach a matic? Just throwing stuff out there

Add a mechanical stop to the top as a winch tends to drift after cutting power. Down wouldn't matter with a chain.

Those cheapie $85 winches come with a remote hand switch that could be converted to a toe/foot switch fairly easy

[wallfish 16,986]

throwing curve balls

A sliding weight attached to the rear of the plow frame?

I'm thinking this might be able to be moved with the manual handle at the same time as the lift with some added levers using the rear cable. Weight amount can be adjusted to leave enough down pressure

Edited December 15, 2021 by wallfish

[ebinmaine 67,317]

29 minutes ago, wallfish said:

Weight amount can be adjusted to leave enough down pressure

 

I'm thinking if you're going to use a winch maybe you could just leave the plow fairly heavy all the time?

 

We use our plows with solid links so we can have down pressure when we need it. Every storm we use the down pressure at least a little bit in areas where maybe we were walking or driving and mashed down the snow. If you were going to have a winch as your powered up / down, would there be a disadvantage to anyone to just leave the plow on the heavy side?

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,317]

Forgive me if this has already been answered. Is there a concern for a linear actuator creating down pressure given consideration that most linear actuators are not designed to be forcefully impacted upon?

 

[Gregor 4,846]

10 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

most linear actuators are not designed to be forcefully impacted upon?

I think you could impact on this one. Not sure about lifting the plow though. It could be remotely wired I think.

[Gregor 4,846]

@Jeff-C175I found this pic in an old post.

This is on my 656 before it was painted. The switch is mounted in front of the PTO pulley, operated by the pedal. Tap and it goes up, tap, and it goes down. I originally had the lift motor operated by a simple 2PDT switch mounted in the dash. Up, and down. I got to thinking about the push button switch mounted in front of the PTO mechanism. All you need is a simple SPST latching, push button switch, and a 2PDT 12V relay. Switch the 12V on to the relay, it closes, plow comes up. Push the push button switch again, kill power to the relay, it opens, reversing polarity to the (motor, actuator,) whatever, it goes down.  There are many ways to limit travel. Micro switches, but they can be a pain, both to install, and to keep in adjustment. Mercury switches, but the bouncing of the plow may make them impractical.  There are these

 

 They simply turn off at a pre-set time, (~ 2 sec)  but without sitting down with paper and pencil and actually laying it out, I believe you would need 4 of them. That could get a little cashy. Maybe one of the electrical gurus could weigh in on this,

[Gregor 4,846]

@KrazeyOlDavesaid:

I used a 400lbs actuator at the time, worked flawlessly for doing a 3 car driveway. PROGRESSIVE AUTOMATIONS Electric Linear Actuator 12V

 

i set it up using a solenoid and a rocker switch. 

 

Once I started plowing the road (private drive, county doesn’t plow it), I had to modify my battery box for a marine starting battery, because I was depleting my normal battery. 

 

Did you incorporate any type of limit switch, or simply run the rocker switch by hand?

[Handy Don 12,170]

22 minutes ago, Gregor said:

@KrazeyOlDavesaid:

I used a 400lbs actuator at the time, worked flawlessly for doing a 3 car driveway. PROGRESSIVE AUTOMATIONS Electric Linear Actuator 12V

 

i set it up using a solenoid and a rocker switch. 

 

Once I started plowing the road (private drive, county doesn’t plow it), I had to modify my battery box for a marine starting battery, because I was depleting my normal battery. 

 

Did you incorporate any type of limit switch, or simply run the rocker switch by hand?

Most of the stronger, weatherproof electric actuators I've researched had internal limit switches to prevent self-destruction.

[Gregor 4,846]

10 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

Most of the stronger, weatherproof electric actuators I've researched had internal limit switches to prevent self-destruction.

I was thinking of a limit switch for travel. I would hate to have to bring my actuator to "near destruct mode" on every cycle.

[Handy Don 12,170]

3 minutes ago, Gregor said:

I was thinking of a limit switch for travel. I would hate to have to bring my actuator to "near destruct mode" on every cycle.

They are designed to use full travel with no ill effects. Unless you had a need for variable "max" travel, I recommend getting only as long an actuator as you will use and using its full travel.