April Showers Bring Snow Plowers

  Its not unusual to get snow in April and I enjoy plowing snow at work but this close to the riding season is a real punch in the gut. Just when the weather was hovering above freezing and the roads were almost salt free, we get the biggest storm of the season. Here we got a foot of snow while just north in Green Bay I heard they got their second largest snow accumulation on record at two feet. That's not lake effect snow, no sir that's good old fashioned precipitation.
 For me this event meant an eighteen hour tour of duty in a plow truck. That was preceded by an all day run by the first shift and will be followed up by a clean up shift. I spent the better part of the next day in a truck cleaning loading docks and trailer parking stalls. We won't be done before the next predicted storm of 3-5" arrives. The wind has been strong and with the ice buildup we had the result was a lot of downed trees and branches. Its good to be busy and have work available but we really would rather doing spring-like activities.

 The delivery man was at my house and dropped off some stuff I can play with in the spray booth. Some of the stencils are cool but the narrow masking tape will likely be the answer to finishing the sportster tank. We'll see, because I still haven't settled on a design yet.

Later.

Bumpy Ride

 We had a few days of snow, rain, sleet and general crap this past week and that meant I spent time in a plow truck. At times the snow was coming down pretty heavy and many people claimed they haven't seen flakes that big in a long time. I'd say the largest were sized anywhere between a poker chip and a bar coaster. For those of you that don't drink or gamble, that would be about the size of a key fob and a sport bike drive sprocket. For those of you that don't drive or fix sport bikes, they were bigguns. Ya I stretched the truth but it's my blog, I can do that. Call it fake news if you want.

 Visibility was crap but that really didn't seem to keep people off the roads. I think for the most part people got caught in it. We had a few 10 minute bursts that would produce an inch of snow for a total of three or four inches on top of the rain we had for the previous eight hours. It was a huge problem that still exists in gravel lots that are built up with ice, but I think we'll be able to clean those up this week as the temps are supposed to get into the 40's. I wonder if that will be some kind of record?
 During all this snowfall excitement we have to keep trucks moving in the loading docks at a nearby manufacturer. Sometimes it can be like a carnival ride.

 The asphalt is rutted from the trucks moving in and out of the same spots for years. This makes a pretty bumpy ride for the first few passes. Still, I wouldn't trade it for a desk job. In fact, it could snow every day this winter and I'd be fine with that.

Later.

Go Pack Go!

Workshop Wednesday-John Deere 5100 part 3

 Regular readers will remember back in November a post about making a mount and installing a snow plow on a tractor. I had a follow up post about the controller bracket. Well just last week we finally got some snow to try it out when Mother Nature hit us with nearly a foot of the heavy wet stuff.

 I'm happy to report that the mount held up well.

 Now, how about everything else that broke in the three days we spent cleaning up those pennies from heaven. On day one the loader in the pic lost first and second gears. We had to remove the pusher because it was too much of a strain on the trans running in only third gear. Luckily those gears reappeared on day two. Must be an electrical gremlin.

 My truck left me stranded. I was plowing and pushed on the brake pedal only to have it stay to the floor. I bet you think I lost my brakes. Brake fluid everywhere? Wrong. All I had were brakes. When I shut off the engine the brake pedal came back up. When I started the engine the pedal pulled down tight to the floor and applied the brakes. Turns out the hydro assist from the power steering must have a bad seal or valve and was activating fully. Thanks to Al for figuring out all we had to do was remove the serpentine engine belt and drive the truck back to the shop.

 I found one of our sidewalk tractors with a tire off the rim and the snow blower disconnected from it. I'm still not real sure how that all came about. Something happened to the other sidewalk tractor but it was repaired in a few hours and I never asked what broke. I'm responsible for nine guys and our largest plowing account. Sometimes you just need to look at results and ignore the pesky little details. Two guys with walk behind snowblowers running down a sidewalk in a staggered pattern can get a lot of work done. I didn't know it but one of those blowers threw a track. It's nice having a crew that knows how to deal with crap rather than getting beat up by problems. The backhoe had two hoses break at different times. Oh, and the john deere in the pic broke a u-joint on the pto shaft. Did I mention that the salter froze up on the second truck I ran? It's always something.

 We normally don't have this many problems. Everything just decided to test us this time around, but I wouldn't trade this storm for a sunny day. We needed snow. It's good for everybody and really helps the local economy.

Workshop Wednesday-John Deere 5100 part 2

 Last week I showed you a mount I made for a John Deere tractor. This week I'll show you the plow controller.
 A lot of the controllers you see lately are handheld units. The operator is expected to run the vehicle with one hand and run the plow with the other. To me this is just ridiculous. If you set the controller down then you have to hunt for it when you need it. To me a controller should always be in the same spot every time you reach for it. The problem with that logic is you need that "spot" to be ergonomically correct if you want to be comfortable for an 8+ hour shift.
 The controller that came with this plow is a big one. It's designed to strap to the front edge of a center seat in a pickup truck. Our tractor has no such mounting spot and all the good spots are already taken up by shift levers, pto controls and a bucket joystick. I spent a lot of time trying to decide on a location and got a lot of feedback from the other guys in the shop. All the ideas I got were a compromise. Put it here but it blocks the shifter. Put it there but it will make getting in the tractor difficult. How about that spot? Nope, blocks operator visibility. What I needed was a lucky leprechaun to crawl out of someones ass and show me the way.
 Then I noticed two tapped holes in the front window pillar. I could make some kind of bracket that would locate the controller right over the bucket control lever. The problem was we might want to drop the snowplow and mount the bucket for snow stacking operations. The plow controller would be in the way unless I could make it movable.
 There's probably a dozen different ways I could have done this. I thought about what I wanted then wandered around the shop for a few minutes. Hanging above my toolbox was a lever from a snowblower that I was saving. What was I saving it for? I dunno, seemed too good to toss in the scarp dumpster. This lever has detents on it and I figured I could use those to adjust the locating height of my plow controller.

 This is the adjustable lever assembly welded to a plate of steel. The plate will bolt to the window pillar and two bolts will remove the entire assembly from the cab for the summer months.

 And here is that same lever with an extension welded to it and a bracket to hold the actual plow controller.

 This is what it looks like from the drivers seat. The controller is resting right on top of and in front of the bucket lever. I feel this is the most natural reach for this joystick. I've told the other guys in the shop they are welcome to change it if they like. Last time I looked it was still the same.

 In this position the controller is locked up out of the way to allow access to operate the bucket control. The wires have since been tied up and properly routed. I don't see us running this way a lot but at least we have the option of using the bucket without messing around relocating the plow controller.
 Overall I'm happy with the way it turned out. Sure there is one blind spot where the controller kinda blocks your view when it's up, but I haven't seen any leprechauns crawling out of hiding and snapping their fingers to change it.

Workshop Wednesday-John Deere 5100 part 1

 The boss picked up a new tractor that we'll use this winter for snow plowing. The machine will get a seven foot snowblower hanging off the back of it. For the front we could have added a pusher to the loader bucket but we have found that these tractors are much more maneuverable without the loader bucket. The trick is to find a blade sized right for the machine. We had a few new Blizzard 8611 blades left over and decided to tool this tractor up with one. 8611 means the blade is eight foot six wide and extends to eleven feet. If you continue to extend the wings they will fold forward into a scoop plow. Long time followers will remember when we tooled up a Kubota tractor with similar but smaller plow and another Deere with a Blizzard Speedwing
 I like these kind of projects and this mount will be similar to the Kubota. Usually the type of materials used is determined by what is available in the shop at the time. We had some one inch steel plate looking for a home so the first step was to make a template.

 It's easy to modify a piece of cardboard till it looks like you want. Then it's just a matter of tracing the outline onto the steel plate and attacking it with a torch.

 Not everything gets cut with a torch. I drilled the holes for the mounting bolts with this magnetic drill press. The one inch broach used here bored through the inch thick plate in less than a minute. Nice.

 There was a lot of cutting and welding involved between the last two pics. The main drop plate has a Blizzard mount welded to the bottom and gussets welded to the back.

 There is also a mount on the back for a kicker arm that runs all the way to the rear drawbar mount of the tractor. That black wire loom is the power harness to the plow.

 Here is the completed project. The blade is seen in the eleven foot width and I can't wait to see how productive this machine will be. Compared to a pickup truck these tractors really shine. The operator sits up higher and has great 360 degree visibility. The stock lighting makes it easy to see and be seen. They are a smaller package yet weigh more and have great traction. Overall operating costs are less than a truck too. The only drawback is a truck has the ability to travel down the road much better.
 This may be my blog but I can't take all the credit for this project. The boss supplied his wisdom and vision for what he wanted and also did the paint work. Al did the electrical and helped with the head scratching when we were coming up with a plan for the mount. Troy helped me do the actual building of the mount and Greg installed some tunes in the cab while the tractor was laid up here in the shop. Others involved were Dan who assembled the new blade and Steve, our in house snowplow guru.
 Sorry James, I think your involvement in this project may have been limited to keeping us hydrated when you lost the flip and by letting us use your big impact.
 Next week I'll talk about the plow controller mount in the cab.

Workshop Wednesday-Slow Days, not Snow Days

 Not much exciting happening at work. I've been busy putting together proposals for our fertilizer and weed control applications program. I enjoy taking care of that part of the business, I'm just not fond of sitting behind a desk all day.
 I did get a chance to do some wrenching yesterday but that was only so I could get my truck running enough to haul my ass to work. I was in a rush to get there because it started snowing. Turns out mother nature is a bitch and she suddenly quit dropping the white stuff. Nothing to plow. I know some of you are buried with snow but here we are a foot below average. You can see dirt in farmers fields. I don't think they ever opened the snowmobile trails here. It wouldn't suck as much if the weatherliars were even close on their forecasts but every time they predict a storm we just get a heavy dusting. The crust in my underwear can do a better job of predicting the weather.

+

 I added this pic just because it makes me happy. Thanks Frank. It reminds me of vacation fun with friends and twisty roads. It also reminds me that we are only a few weeks or so out from riding season and I haven't touched this bike all winter. I'll get right on that. Yep.

Workshop Wednesday-Random stuff I built at work

  I've been pretty busy fertilizing lawns lately so theres nothing exciting to talk about at work.
 When I'm not out on the yards I'm in the shop. I like my job. It's varied enough that I stay interested.
 We do light fab work at the shop and these are a few examples of crap I built that were taking up space in my phone. 

I built this bed and the boss sprayed a nice coat of gloss black on it.

4 x 8 work bench on retractable wheels. One lever operation raises or lowers all four wheels at once.

A new welder deserves a new cart.

My first attempt at a drawer slides from scratch. It works pretty good and supports my body weight. Thanks Uncle Tommy for the bearings.

This side plate was easy to build and adds a lot of strength to the snow blower. The sides no longer curl in when the operator slides into a curb.

A salt spreader on the back of a small tractor. The blue pieces were made from a plastic drum. The idea is to keep salt off the back of the tractor and only on the sidewalk, not the grass. As it turns out the blue pieces I made worked pretty good but the salter itself was always jamming up. We ditched the whole thing in favor of a drop spreader.

A truck blade before it was cut down to fit this tractor. This little machine gets a lot of work done when James keeps all four wheels on the ground.

I was a grunt on this hand rail project. I only did some grinding and painting. Bill laid it out and did the welding.

End.

Workshop Wednesday-Kubota Tractor

 We did another plow install on a utility tractor. This Kubota is getting a Blizzard Power Plow. It is eight feet wide but has power wings that extend to ten feet or continue to extend till it becomes a scoop blade. Each wing can be controlled independently for a variety of plow configurations.

 This mount was designed with the same overkill I use in most projects. The large plate and angular supports are 3/4" thick steel plate.

Shown here is the front mount and a support arm running back to a mid tractor support. We've tested this mount and it doesn't move. It doesn't even flex.

With fluid filled tires, a 200 lb weight bolted to each rear tire rim, and a snowblower on the back, this little 4wd tractor pushes pretty good.

Workshop Wednesday-New Tractor

 This blog isn't just about bikes. Its also about other things that interest me of a mechanical nature. I may also throw in a few personal observations from time to time about stupid crap I see or do.
 I have been posting on Sundays and Wednesdays. I'm gonna try to keep Sundays posts about bikes. Wednesdays posts may wander into other areas. I was thinking I need a name like "Workshop Wednesday" or "Wing Nut Wednesday" then the title of the post. I'm open to suggestions. My daughter suggested Willy Wonka Wednesday because things get crazy around here. We're seeking professional help for her.

 My employer, from here on referred to as "the boss", decided one of our tractors was ready to be replaced so he traded it in on a new John Deere 3520. This is a nice size machine as it can handle most attachments pretty easily and also trailers easily. This will be a rental machine next spring but not until we break it in this winter pushing snow. It was decided that we put a Blizzard SpeedWing blade on it and also some weights. Making the mounts to do this would be my job.

 When I start a project like this I like to hold the pieces in place and visualize whats needed to mount it there. The piece on the jack is the push bar for the plow. I need to build a fixture to mount it to the tractor.

 It took me a full morning of cutting, welding and drilling but this mount should be plenty strong. There is also a bar that will run all the way to the rear of the tractor to help sturdy things up.

 It all fits together quite neatly. I took advantage of an open slot in the dash panel to make a bracket for the plow controller. These days they offer controllers in joysticks or hand held units. Some people argue the hand helds are the best and they are by far the most popular. I hate them. I like to be able to reach to the same spot every time and know the controller will be there. If I try to use a hand held I am always dropping or losing it. I'll set it down to use the phone or shift the truck or run the salter and when I look for it again it has somehow worked its way down between the seats or worse. The cord gets tangled around my leg or the seat belt and I waste a lot of time messing around with it when I should be getting work done. I think its gremlins. For that reason I mounted this hand held unit in a spot that it can be used as a fixed unit or be taken off the bracket and used as gremlin bait.
 The next step is to add some weight over the front tires so this tractor will be able to steer with a blade full of snow.

 The first step was to remove the mounts for the loader bucket. I then made a cardboard template of the 100 pound weights I was to use and then decided on a size for this upright piece.

A little more cutting, welding and head scratching and I had a plan for the bracket. One piece isn't shown in this pic. I knew what I wanted but this was clearly a "design as you go" project. Ya I know its just a bracket but I didn't want it to fail.

 The finished bracket and weights. The large bolt locks the weights to the bracket.
 The boss suggested each bracket was overkill for 300 pounds of weight. Maybe so but I like to think its one less thing that will give us problems this winter. I hate down time that could have been avoided. I hate gremlins too.