54 blade question - Extension width?

[Randy Tuura]

Okay, I made my trade - my fully functional sickle bar for a 54 blade I can use for a snowplow next winter.
We are both very happy with the trade and that's a good thing.
If it snowed a bunch tomorrow I would be ready.
Having said that, there are some improvements I would like to make to what I got.
I already ordered the shoes, a new 5/8 x 12 bolt and a boomerang extension...
Lifting mechanism needs some work...

My question is about the snowblade extension - the metal piece along the top edge of the blade to increase the height.
I plan on making one. I am a machinist and I can order a 54" long piece of something to use from work.

How wide was the original? 1/4" x ??" x 54".
If we're talking CRS can it be 3/16" Thick?

Has anyone used some kind of rubber? Many snowplows up here in the northland are edged with a flap of rubber that kind of flops over until it has a good roll of snow under it.

[offrink]

We had record snowfall this last year and I never had a need for it. The tractor won't push the large rolls you see on the pickups. The hard Teflon blades on the bottom are better because it can pop the stuck down snow up instead of gliding over it. I just used a steel blade with no sleds and monitored the down pressure. Just remember to take the Teflon blade off if you plan on grading with it.

[Randy Tuura]

You probably get a lot of lake effect snow from Lake Michigan, but Caledonia, MI is pretty far south of Duluth. I used to live in Warsaw, IN which is only 2-1/2 hours south of you. Winters there are just enough to be miserable but not enough to enjoy. Duluth is five hours north of you as the crow flies - about as far north as Sault St. Marie.

I saw some pretty large rolls pushed up by Cubs on YouTube in NH. Those films convinced me that a rig like that would actually work around here. Some of the snow in my driveway last winter was up to my elbow when I was moving it with my 10.5 HP snowblower. In the future, I figure most of the time I could use the Cub and if necessary the snowblower. My gravel driveway is about as long as a football field. That's the reason for the shoes. I use shoes on my blower so I don't scrape up rocks. I figure they'd do the same thing on a blade.

Maybe I don't "need" a blade extension but I think they are cool. They seemed to work well wherever I saw them on YouTube when a Cub was plowing deep snow.

So my question remains, how wide was the original one and is 3/16" CRS suitable or should I use 1/4"?

[Criswell]

It should be 8" wide and 3/16" thick.

[Bob McCarty]

I have an OEM extension that is 6" wide with 4" extending above the top edge of the blade. There may have been several sizes available. When I plow I have the blade angled and have not had a problem with snow falling backwards over the top of the blade.

Bob

[Criswell]

You are correct in that it is 6", not 8". That was a typo on my part, I had an 8" dimension on the brain from a project that I was working on today.

[Jim Becker]

I don't have the extension on mine. There were definitely several occasions last winter when snow was spilling over the blade. The extension would have been helpful but it depends on the snow.

[offrink]

Grand Rapids, MI (which is 5 minutes away) had 112.7 inches of snow this last year. Seventh snowiest in the USA. Everyone that was over 100 inches was from Michigan (4), New York (3), and Pennsylvania and Maine (tied with 1). So yes we saw a lot of snow. I could see how it could be useful to have the extension on the top. If I was to modify my plow it would be to put side extensions at a 33* angle. Would help keep the snow in front instead of going around even on fully rotated blade.

This was just a thin path from the barn to the driveway.

[Randy Tuura]

Grand Rapids, MI (which is 5 minutes away) had 112.7 inches of snow this last year. Seventh snowiest in the USA. Everyone that was over 100 inches was from Michigan (4), New York (3), and Pennsylvania and Maine (tied with 1). So yes we saw a lot of snow. I could see how it could be useful to have the extension on the top. If I was to modify my plow it would be to put side extensions at a 33* angle. Would help keep the snow in front instead of going around even on fully rotated blade.

This was just a thin path from the barn to the driveway.

That was more like Upper Michigan then! Sorry for the attitude in my response.

Thanks everybody for the information. I'll be able to fabricate my own extension easy enough.

My new "used" plow is a summer project and it is going to take some work and maybe $100 or so to get it right, though it is usable right now. Looks like it suffered some sort of trauma in it's previous life. Blade is slightly bent backward in the middle, but the wear plate is straight. The lifting arm was broken and then welded right where it bolts to the bolster on the tractor. Will have to bush the hole or replace the arm. And the link that connects to the blade looks like something off a garden tractor. Maybe the spring is just missing or something.

[Scrivet]

...... The lifting arm was broken and then welded right where it bolts to the bolster on the tractor. Will have to bush the hole or replace the arm. And the link that connects to the blade looks like something off a garden tractor. Maybe the spring is just missing or something.

It's not unusual for the lift arm to be welded at the pivot. Seen a lot that away. Are you sure it's missing the spring or could it be the earlier 54 blade (or even earlier McCormick blade) and not a 54A blade? Time for some pictures whatever it is

[Randy Tuura]

Yeah, I'll have to get some pictures but not tonight. It does say "International" on the back of the blade which is red in front and white in back. All I really care about is that it will move some snow. I liked the idea of spring pressure pushing down on the blade.

[Randy Tuura]

Okay, here are some pictures...
The first one shows the strange lifting hardware.

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100_0638 (640x480).jpg (323.05 KiB) Viewed 548 times

100_0635 (640x480).jpg (430.82 KiB) Viewed 548 times

[Barnyard]

The lift is homemade or modified. You need to find the correct one.

[Randy Tuura]

The lift is homemade or modified. You need to find the correct one.

That's just what I thought. I have all summer to do it.