Snowplow for my b-II

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I bought a 3-point hitch style snowplow a few weeks ago and have adapted it to fit the front of my b-II.

What I brought home.

I figured I needed some type of shock absorption so I adapted some leaf-springs, you can see how I bent them in this thread;
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120826

You can see in the following pic how I mounted the leafs to the plow to allow for leaf movement;

After a lot of head scratching and a few false starts, this is what I came up with;

I figured to use a 2500 lb atv winch to supply power to move the arm which moves linkages to raise the plow. It works with hand power as it is right now but I want to be able to sit in the cab and work it.
I built this out of scavenged metal, the plow I paid C$250.00, and bits and pieces I had on hand. I did use about C$50 dollars worth of drill bits on the springs All the welding was done with a lincoln weld-pac 100 with .035 flux-core
Some pics;

I ground out a 45 degree relief for welding

Started to weld. The goober looking weld is not mine.

Tried vertical up, It's ok but I can use more practice.

Ground out the goober weld prior to re-welding;

Here are a couple of pics of me cleaning up after a previous tenants' sand blasting residue;

Right after I took those pics the plow decided to take a rest; I forgot to pin the contraption to the truck receiver....ooops :-[ But that did lead me to think about how I was going to lift it back up to re-install it. I had a bitch of a time getting it in the first time. So I have a spare wheeled trailer jack with a 2" stinger welded to it, I'll weld a short receiver to the plow bracketry to install a removable jack.
I also have to make something so the springs don't separate.

I'll have to get some close up pics to show how I ran the winch cable. The plow rotates 360 degrees so I came up with using a ball with a large chain link trapped under the ball before I welded it on. I ground two flat spots on the base so I could slip the link on before welding it to the front of the blade. Unfortunately I got ahead of myself and welded the ball on before slipping on the chain link. DOPE! So I cut a diagonal on the link, opened it enough to slip over the ball, squeezed it ,then welded it back shut.

It seems to be working good enough for what I would use it for but I will have to upgrade the springs in my b-II. I'm going to see if I can find air-shocks for the front first though, as I don't want to $fix$ this truck, I have another in much better shape to sink money into. You can see it in the background of a previous pic.
Total cost ~C$300.00 and 15 hours so far.

Richard

 

[Snoranger]

I like the idea, 2 things though.

1) see if you can find those airbags that go inside the springs, they would be better then air shocks.

2) the leaf spring is being pulled the wrong way, youre really only using the main leaf, not the whole pack. I would redesign the mounts to flip the arc the other way, that would solve your separating spring problem. (unless your also spinning the blade around to push, not just pull.)

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

If I can find bags cheap enough I'll do that.
Yes, the plow is both pushed and pulled. I changed the stack so the main spring is in the middle of the pack.

Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

As promised/threatened, here are some detail pics;

the ball and chain link, I preheated the shank before welding as it was -10C and windy;

How the cable is run;

I used a piece of angle for the receiver tube, it's sloppy, I'll have to add some filler;

Temporary hook up for the winch;

Trying it out in the hard-pack snow, now I have a reason for lights on top of my truck. You can also see that I angled the long bar that the end of the cable attaches to, I was trying to get more lift, failed;

As a first iteration I'm fairly pleased with the results. Maybe I should have done some research by seeing how snowplows are hooked with a three-point hitch [tractor] and on a truck before I started building this but I wanted something done before the next dump of snow. I should have put the stinger lower so as to raise the plow when hooked up, it's close but I can't quite swing the plow around for pushing when it's on the truck. Airshocks or bags or springs would probably solve that. If I can't find one of the first two I'll do the third, I have some 1/2 tons I can steal coils from.
I changed the spring pack so the main leaf is in the middle.

Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

An update cause I'm stuck in the house. It's currently -31C and I have no money for heat at the shop, I run propane heaters.
I made some clamps for the springs. I used some off cuts, ~1/16"x1/2"x~10". I used my vise to make the first three bends, then clamped and hammered the last bend and welded it on. I wanted to just bend the ends to hold it shut but didn't have the length for that so welded it instead. There should be enough slack for spring movement yet not so much that it slides where-ever it wants.

I also adapted a door hinge to hold the winch. I didn't like that the winch would roll over the exact way to make it harder to reverse the line. But I liked that it would keep tension on the line, so that's why the hinge. I welded it so that it couldn't pull apart at the pin, the fingers are just rolled and if enough force is applied, apart it will come. You can just see the discoloration in the plating, I welded on the other side.

The wheeled jack almost works to lift everything up enough to be able to swing the plow for push or pull, but not quite. I was able to swing it for pushing and that's how it will stay for now.

Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Update;
I've come across two problems so far.
1) the spring clamps want to walk off. I will try drilling a hole through the clamp and partially into the first spring and weld a plug in.
2) the center bolt that holds the spring pack to the stinger contraption broke. I'll try using a larger bolt. The original is 7/16" or 1/2", the original size for the springs, don't recall exactly.
Other than that it works good enough. I think painting would help with keeping snow from sticking. An extension up and forward would help with deeper snow removal. I'd like to experiment with see through material, I can get a 5'x8'x.118" sheet plexi-glass for $45.00. Build a frame for support. I see this getting scratched really quick but I think I'll still be able to see a blurry outline of whats in front; like ditches.

Richard

 

[triumphrider-1]

You'd just have to make sure to have a steel lip on the bottom so the road surface doesn't chew the plexiglass up to much.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

My idea is to attach the plexi to the top of the existing plow.

Richard

 

[triumphrider-1]

Ah, never mind then. I was thinking you were going to redo the face of it in plexi and make it taller at the same time.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Update;
The spring clamps aren't walking off any more since I replaced with tighter.
I finally replaced the way the springs are mounted to the adapter after breaking the 2nd 1/2" bolt;

I grabbed a spring plate from my scrap/parts pile;

I welded some tube to the adapter and mounted the springs, I think this will work much better;

There is a headless bolt centering the springs, same as a stock set up.
I wish I had hydraulics but this does work good enough. It does look funny tho, I'll have to take a pic. I still have to add heavier duty springs to the front of the b-II, the tires are rubbing when I have the plow in the up position.

Richard

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I think painting would help with keeping snow from sticking. An extension up and forward would help with deeper snow removal. I'd like to experiment with see through material, I can get a 5'x8'x.118" sheet plexi-glass for $45.00. Build a frame for support. I see this getting scratched really quick but I think I'll still be able to see a blurry outline of whats in front; like ditches.

Richard

I don't think sticking snow will be much of a problem, I have ran several like that on the back of tractors and really haven't had a problem with it sticking. Have it straight to drag what you can and angle it to roll it off one side or another. In wet heavy snow it tries to steer my 5500lb 2wd tractor... not sure how the front of a light 4wd vehicle will compare.

I don't know if you have a way to adjust the bite of the blade, it looks like it is going to bite really good going backwards (hitch is tipped down) but float going forwards. Normally you would use the turnbuckle style center (top) link to adjust this.

If you have a gravel driveway you may want to put skids on it since you can't see what all is being pushed by the blade.

Here is now they mount on a tractor if it helps you any, I am modifying my 3 point hitch because I got a bigger blade and need to pick it up higher so it will be a bit if you need different views.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Right now I use it with the blade set so I push with the front of my truck and it floats going backward.
Yeh, I get pushed around when doing heavy snow, but then I just do 1/2 at a time.
Thanks for posting the pic, it helps me visualize a stock set-up.

Richard

 

[wildbill23c]

If you are planning on just using that jack to lift the plow setup enough to angle the blade or for installation and removal from the front hitch receiver on the B2, an easy way to get it to lift higher is just put a block of wood under the wheel of the hitch that's thick enough to get it to lift to the height you need. Something I would do is find out how high you need it to go then build a wood block to that height. Or carry a few different thicknesses of blocks with you so you can adjust for different heights if the ground is uneven, etc to give enough lift on the jack.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I do have to admit, the thought of putting a three point blade on the front of a truck had never crossed my mind before.

Since my last post the more I think about it the neater of an idea it sounds. I have a 7' blade 3 point blade and it does get rather miserable sitting on a open tractor...

Unimogs have front 3 point... someday after I swap to a 5 speed and get a welder I just might try it if I don't sneak up on a small regular plow in the meantime.