Only Cub Cadets - How to angle a 54" blade

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How to angle a 54" blade

1st, I got a QA36A snowthrower!!! Pick it up Saturday. (Darn, I feel like a kid in a candy store!).
Now for my questions on the 54" blade:
1. Was there a kit to manually angle the blade?
2. If not, has an member made a gizmo to manually angle the blade?
3. Has an member made a hydraulic angling kit? Maybe using the hydraulic lift cylinder? The NOS and used kits are out of my price range for now anf winter's coming.
Thanks for any and all help!
:Cub7:

The hydraulic lift cylinder is not strong enough IMO. If there's nothing to manually angle it, you must be missing some parts. It locks 15 and 30 degrees to each side.

CD:

Here is a link for the Operator's Manual......... 54 Manual

The 42 & 54 inch front blades came from the factory for manual angle. You get off the tractor, pull up the locking tab and angle either way.

YES, I have seen numerous home made Hydraulic Angle fabrications that work real well.

I was afraid you were going to say get off and angle. My 71 Sears SS12 used ropes. Yeah, ropes. Guess I've have to grin and bear the cost of the angling kit.
Thanks guys.

I looked long and hard for a cylinder to make one with. I never found an acceptable alternative. I broke down and just bought a kit.

Only thing I found, using my 54 blade with the hydraulic angle is you can only use it for snow. Using it even for loose dirt snaps the small mounting pin in the head. I've tried every type of bolt made, searching Mcmaster high and low, they all break. If somebody has an alternative please let me know. Usually I'll angle to where i want and drop the stock angle rod in to lock it in position.

A 54' blade with X-trac front tires is the way to go. I had a 42' before and it was almost to narrow. With the 42' blade locked straight and plowing deep snow , the path it cleared (AFTER IT FALLS BACK IN) was barley wide enough for my 1211. Before I got the X-trac's The 54' blade would push the front with turf tires all around. Not any more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wild Bill (Post 41871)

I run Super Lugs turned 'backwards' in the winter. When you hit the snow with the 54" blade angled, it still shoves the front end around.

Not NEARLY as bad with the 42" blade.

Plus, when lifting the 54" blade with it angled, the corners of the blade barely are off of the ground. The 42" allows more ground clearance, with the blade raised and angled VS the 54".

AG tires are not designed to have good traction on slippery surfaces. I have tried to explain this before. It dose not matter if they are on rite or back wards. It is the tread design. Look at a good winter tire, not an all season or all terrain. They will have many grooves and sips. That is where the traction comes from. Plus most Ag tires are made from a hard compound, and that is not good for traction on slippery surfaces at all.

Have you ever tried to drive a tractor with Ag's tires on the back on a slippery driveway or road ? No amount of weight is enough they still slide. Now put that same tractor and Ag's in deep snow and they it will go almost anywhere. But once the surface gets smooth and slick it is all over.

You're first picture will actually help me prove my point. If you had one of you front wheels in you're hand and held it solid so it could not turn or spin. Would it be easier to slide it sideways, slide it forward ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wild Bill (Post 41884)

I've seen farm tractors with 3 rib tires digging clear down to the stones in the driveway-or the grass in the yard...yet the front end is being shoved around by the blade.

I've also seen 4x4 trucks, locked in, and the blade is shoving the front around, so the driver is having to fight the front , and have the wheels turned into the side the snow is on.

There comes a point, when physics kicks in, and tire tread design makes no difference. The weight of the snow that you are trying to push, and it's resistance to being moved, overpowers the weight of the tractor (and the front tire tread design), and the tractor loses. Shoving snow straight ahead is a different ballgame. However, depending on depth and type of snow, even pushing straight ahead can be nearly impossible.

Having the blade angled in 6" of snow isn't a problem. Taking a full cut, and trying to shove 12" or more with a 54" blade angled is a hassle....and if you can't take a full cut, you might as well be using a 42" blade.

The next time it is windy, go outside and hold up a 4'x8' sheet of plywood straight into the wind. It's fairly easy to brace yourself, and keep the plywood pretty steady. Then, without moving your feet, quickly turn the plywood to 30*, you will get shoved sideways and you will have to move your feet to keep from falling down. Then walk towards the wind as fast as you can, with the plywood at 30*...and try to walk in a straight line.

I get drifts that are 175' long, and just as wide, and anywhere from 18" to as much as 45" deep (one year at Christmas we had 27" of snow fall in 24 hours, the drifts in the morning were 45" deep. My Farmall H with FEL had it's hands full that day!). Like I said, when the snow gets 2' or more deep, the blade (of any size on a GT) has met it's match.....and it's time for a thrower or blower.

I agree there comes a point were the tire does not matter. But why people think that AG's are snow tires I will never understand. I have been plowing snow with trucks semi commercially for nearly 20 years. And I have tried to push more than the truck can control. As for the guy you saw in ( 4lock) that really does not matter. And in fact if the front wheels are spinning (no traction) they will slide easier than if they weren't. The reason 4x4 is good for plowing snow in a pick up is because when you raise the blade it takes all the weight off the rear wheels and you cant back out of the pile. There are plenty of plow trucks out there that are 2 wheel drive and do just fine, with enough weight in the back. Look at your township or city dump trucks, they are rear drive and pushing 10 plus feet wide.

Your question of the sheet of ply wood is exactly my point. The ply wood is like the treads on your AG tires. Is it easier to walk into the wind with it full face or turned sideways ? So how much resistance do you think the AG's offer in a side load situation like said.

I live just below Erie in the snow belt, so I get just as much if not more snow than most. I push it all with my 1211 and 54' blade. I use it at home because it give me some (me) time, and gives the truck a chance to thaw out. I clear about a 150 ft run with a 50x50 parking area at the end. I have no problems.

Oh and the amount of weight per foot of plow the front of our tractors have is nowhere near the amount of weight per foot of plow a truck has. And I am pushing close to 11 feet wide with the wings out on my truck.

I run Super Lugs turned 'backwards' in the winter. When you hit the snow with the 54" blade angled, it still shoves the front end around.

This is what you said. The way you say it sounds like that even with Ag's on the front, it still pushes it sideways.

I am simply trying to explain that the Ag's may be contributing to the sideways shoving and that would be less if you had a better winter traction style tire on.

It's been a long time ago, but I had chains on the front tires of my JD 140h3.

Lot's of good info. I think we are all looking for the best front snow tire. I don't think they've made it yet. I just bought V61s for my super. Can't wait to try them. Stock turfs don't cut it as said above. Especially with the heavy 54" Haban blade loaded with snow. That's a whole lotta weight out there. good point about the smaller blade. My old 800 MTD with a 46" arnold blade would have a real hard time moving a full blade of heavy snow. Often there is no choice but to take smaller bites. With the larger blade you can always take smaller bites in the deep stuff and big once in the light stuff. It's hard to Make a shorter blade longer. However the shorter blade is much more manueverable in tight spots. It's all a trade off. Every snowstorm is different. Now if I just had 2 Supers! One for the blade and one for the blower. or better yet add a 3rd for a FEL.

Oh yes once you go hydraulic lift + angle you'll never go back.

Around here we run reversed ag's on combines with rear assist. The reason is when you have to back up it provides a little extra traction in reverse.

Any one have some close ups of the hydraulic angling kit installed on a blade? I want my shop to fab something up. We have access to all sorts of hydraulic cylinders.

I deal with snow removal for 10-11 years now. One winter I took my uncle's Ford 8n out to back blade a few drives off the snow coverd road with rear AG's....You can pull a Dukes of Hazzard around the cornner if your not carefull. And when its super cold out........I'am lucky if I can even walk on a cleared parking lot. I never take more than the center line of the hood of the plow truck when pushing.....a little less than that is better yet, and so when the snow is wet. I have been running the JD2100 2wd. with back-hoe, fel., and of course ag's on the back and do my share of spinning, getting stuck. I think the Bossman got me a new 4wd-something this year! I take the snow way off into the lawn or recommended area and with out ag's I'd be using the arm to get out of being stuck. Its better for them to pay the landscaper to fix a few ruts than have my Boss get out the Macks and haul off the snow. When I was a miner, the guys always ran the tractors with re-versed front ag's. I happen to have the IH 42" and I keep up on my driveway every bit of snow that falls and have no problems. This is how I push my drive....angle right, start in center and work out from there, reverse angle when done and start other half...I take it out 3-4ft. past the driveway edges and float across the lawn to have room all winter for the snow to part. Because if you let the sides pile up, you will have the tractor only pushing off the pile. My job pays my Boss somewhere between 80 to 100g a season, thats about 3 factories.