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Cub 54A Snow Plow Wings

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sevy
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Re: Cub 54A Snow Plow Wings

Postby sevy » Sun Feb 22, 2015 7:48 pm

I got my Cub set up for plowing for the first time this year. Once the ground froze, it was amazing how much this little tractor could push with the chains on it! I plow in 2nd gear as much as possible, to get the snow rolling in front of the blade, but sometimes I have to use 1st on the uphills or in the really heavy stuff.
I also find the blade size requires me to do multiple passes to clean up decently. Honestly, something that would take a pickup truck with a Fisher 3 passes takes me more like 15! Still, the Cub seems to love running in the cold air at a good fast throttle setting, and the harder I work it, the more it seems to enjoy it.
This summer I am going to redo the plow, and I was thinking of getting one of those transparent ones from somebody who swapped for a steel unit. I am thinking the clear plow would be wider and move more snow, but without much of a penalty in weight. I can also widen the blade I have now, but of course I need to be aware of just how much this tractor can push. So far this winter doing up to two feet of wet sticky snow, it has been okay. The unheated shop where I keep this is at the bottom of a hill, so I have to drive it in 1st and let it work its way through the snow to the top, and then turn and make my first downhill run. Across the street at my mother-in-law's driveway, I can now plow up or down, as the gravel driveway is frozen hard, and the cub seems content either way. Having plowed with a big rear wheel drive doodlebug in the past, I am very cautious about getting the plow blade stuck downhill where I can't back it out, so I have been very careful to avoid this situation. So far, so good.
One thing I am noticing is that she is a cold blooded bitch, and I have to use starting fluid every time to get her running. Once she is up and going though, she runs great. I stuck a piece of cardboard over part of the radiator to keep her at a good working temperature, and when she is working really hard, she does blow a little steam out the overflow tube, but never enough to drop the level very much. The oil is seeping out of her at a pronounced rate though, as is the hydraulic fluid, so I need to do some tearing down this summer. Since her life during the past 20 years has just been mowing hay for about three days per year, none of the leaks ever showed up as much. One plowing session takes me about 4 hours to complete, so she has been getting a workout up in North Creek NY, as the snow has been plentiful.
One other issue is that I have broken two of the bolts which hold on the lift arm through the bolster, but fortunately their size matches the ones off power poles that hold crosspieces on, and I have a bucket of those, so I have those in my "parts department". Also, the locking pins for the lift arm break off, so I keep a bag of those on board as well. I didn't have a chance to paint any of the plow parts as I got them in the Fall, so right now I have everything sprayed with Fluid Film to keep the rust down, and the snow seems to slide off just fine. Next summer everything is going to be wire brushed and painted fresh. I have 5 gallons of surplus red lead, and I may just use that.
One tip I'll toss out is that I keep my blade square, and rather than make long runs down the driveway, I make multiple short ones, keeping the snow ahead of me all the way. I find the long passes just tend to push the snow to the sides, and you end up re-plowing the same batch of snow over and over, which is really easy to notice because the texture of the snow gets greasy like snow that has been driven on in a street multiple times. Keeping it all ahead of you by working short passes side by side seems to work better for me, although if the snow begins to pile up too deep, you do need to make an occasional long pass to push some forward.
The last thing I want to mention is that I use a sheepskin seat cover that I bought for my motorcycle which I throw over the seat for plowing. Keeps my butt warm and comfortable.

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jsharp1071
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Re: Cub 54A Snow Plow Wings

Postby jsharp1071 » Sun Feb 22, 2015 8:05 pm

You do amazing work. Everything you fabricate looks factory (or better).

Here in NJ we've been getting about 5-6 inches of new snow each weekend. Its been so cold that nothing has melted in between. So the problem I'm having is that my drive is getting narrower as the mound at the edge of my drive gets higher. And of course I have the same problems as you describe with the trail off making multiple passes necessary, so I'm looking at those wings with a covetous streak. One thing I'm curious about: Are the wings sturdy enough to wack-back the frozen driveway edge mounds without damaging them?

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ricky racer
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Re: Cub 54A Snow Plow Wings

Postby ricky racer » Sun Feb 22, 2015 8:51 pm

jsharp1071 wrote:You do amazing work. Everything you fabricate looks factory (or better).

Here in NJ we've been getting about 5-6 inches of new snow each weekend. Its been so cold that nothing has melted in between. So the problem I'm having is that my drive is getting narrower as the mound at the edge of my drive gets higher. And of course I have the same problems as you describe with the trail off making multiple passes necessary, so I'm looking at those wings with a covetous streak. One thing I'm curious about: Are the wings sturdy enough to wack-back the frozen driveway edge mounds without damaging them?


Thank you for the kind words. As far as the strength goes, no problem. When I first was considering fabricating the wings I was concerned that the 10 ga. material might be too thin and was thinking maybe 1/4" might be better but once the gusset was in place, it was evident that they are rock solid. I did use 3/16" for the portion that bolts to the grader blade thinking that 10 ga. might be too thin in that area. The 1/2" thick solid rubber I used ended up coming apart. I ended up using some 4" conveyor belting which is reinforced with cording similar to car tires. Those have held up well. The wings have proven to be a great addition to the grader blade for removing snow.
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Re: Cub 54A Snow Plow Wings

Postby Posco » Sun Feb 22, 2015 10:12 pm

randallc wrote: Love your projects.


Me too! The only thing I'm lacking is skill and raw materials.

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Re: Cub 54A Snow Plow Wings

Postby cub 3 » Sun Feb 22, 2015 10:41 pm

Sounds like Ricky is making speed bumps!! Ricky got his wings!!

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Re: Cub 54A Snow Plow Wings

Postby BigBill » Tue Feb 24, 2015 10:53 pm

Ricky, I been thinking about adding extensions on my plow but the full height. But they need to angle when the plow turns. I'm thinking about a tie rod to connect them to the plow frame and hinge the wings. If your sitting on the tractor when the plow angles to the right the left wing can be straight with the plow while the right wing needs to angle to the rear so the snow flows off the plow in a straight flow. Yet when the plow is straight the wings need to be both in the cupped position like yours is now. I need to add more width on my jeep plow so the 8,3x24 tires will fit behind the plow.
I'm building a swamp buggy clone. I need the added height for plowing deep snow. I think having extensions that can turn or swing in both directions is the way to go.
I'm thinking the four 8,3x24 tires with four of my duo-cross ice tire chains would be awesome with the two locking differentials.

My jeep threw off two chains so my left side has no chains. My right side has car chains. She still pushes this deep heavy snow with the lockers. I need to see if I can get some lockers made for the fcub, cadet and 154 tractors.
I'm technically misunderstood at times i guess its been this way my whole life so why should it change now.

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Re: Cub 54A Snow Plow Wings

Postby PaulMac » Wed Feb 25, 2015 7:36 am

Well I wasn't sold on this idea at first, but now I am convinced that I need a set. Ricky, your snow plowing experience sounds much like mine. Chasing trails of snow across a busy country road over and over again. Your wings look awesome and you seem happy so far with how they work. The best part for me is they just bolt on. Though I have a feeling once they go on they will likely never come off again!
However please remember in the future that some of us that are new to this forum have 10 plus years of knowledge and projects to catch up on. :D Seriously though, keep up the good work, and thanks for taking the time to share.

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Re: Cub 54A Snow Plow Wings

Postby ricky racer » Wed Feb 25, 2015 7:39 am

Bill, you're obviously more ambitious than me. :lol: That sounds like a neat project. Make sure you post pictures of what you come up with, I'd like to see it. I'd like to see your Jeep too.
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Scrivet
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Re: Cub 54A Snow Plow Wings

Postby Scrivet » Wed Feb 25, 2015 11:35 pm

We have a Blizzard Speedwing Snowplow at work. It has two short wings on each end. Whichever one is on the trailing edge automatically folds back in line with the blade when it is angled left or right. When you are going straight they both are angled forward. Haven't looked close at how it does it but it is mechanical and has some sort of tie rod. Here's a link to their website with some videos of it in action. (Scroll through the boxes under the main picture) http://www.blizzardplows.com/bd/showroom/speedwing-snowplow

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Re: Cub 54A Snow Plow Wings

Postby Urbish » Thu Feb 26, 2015 4:54 am

Scrivet wrote:We have a Blizzard Speedwing Snowplow at work. It has two short wings on each end. Whichever one is on the trailing edge automatically folds back in line with the blade when it is angled left or right. When you are going straight they both are angled forward. Haven't looked close at how it does it but it is mechanical and has some sort of tie rod. Here's a link to their website with some videos of it in action. (Scroll through the boxes under the main picture) http://www.blizzardplows.com/bd/showroom/speedwing-snowplow


I interviewed for an engineering job at Blizzard Snowplow's mfg headquarters in Calumet, MI many years ago. They have very robust and well-engineered products!
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Re: Cub 54A Snow Plow Wings

Postby Mortgaged » Thu Feb 26, 2015 10:34 am

Scrivet, can you look closely and take some pics and post them? With all of the creativity and skills here, I'm betting someone can make this work on a cub blade.

Even with manual angling this would be really useful!

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Re: Cub 54A Snow Plow Wings

Postby Jim Becker » Thu Feb 26, 2015 7:19 pm

Mortgaged wrote:Scrivet, can you look closely and take some pics and post them?


You can start with this US patent 6408549.

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Re: Cub 54A Snow Plow Wings

Postby Scrivet » Thu Feb 26, 2015 8:52 pm

Looked at it closer today. The patent drawings are a better description. In a picture it just looks like a snow plow, not much of the mechanism is clearly visible. I had said it was controlled by tie rods but in fact is two short heavy cables.

The short version of how I think it works;
There is a tab that sticks forward of the blade left/right pivot point. This tab is where the inner ends of the cables attach. The Wings look like they are held in the angled forward "wing" position by a heavy spring. Once the blade pivots to almost full swing the distance from the outside corner of the blade (now well behind the pivot) to the tab in front of the pivot becomes longer than the distance from the pivot to the end of the blade. The cable pulls an arm on the wing around to a stop the last few inches of swing and it is held there in the "extension" position as long as the blade is at it's full swing travel. Once the blade is swiveled back towards straight, the distance from the tab to the end of the blade starts to decrease and the spring pulls/pushes (not sure which didn't look closely enough it was 20 degrees) the wing back into it's forward position. There is a threaded portion and lock nuts on the outside end of the cable to fine tune the adjustment.


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