How to angle a 54" blade

[cdlong]

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!

[Matt G.]

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.

[R Bedell]

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.

[cdlong]

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.

[BanditCub]

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.

[jbollis]

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.

[jbollis]

Originally Posted by Wild Bill

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.

[jbollis]

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 ?

[jbollis]

Originally Posted by Wild Bill

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.

[jbollis]

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.