L-54 Grader Blade Height

[Lance Leitzel]

Hi Everybody,

First of all, thanks for having this forum, I have learned so much about
my "new" 1960 Cub Loboy.

I've just taken off my Woods mower deck and mounted my L-54 Grader Blade for the first time. I do have a question about how high I should be able to raise the blade off the ground when the touch control is all the way forward. At maxium lift, the bottom of the blade is 4" off of the ground. Is this correct? I do not have a rockshaft extension nor a flexible cleavis installed. Will either of them help or hurt my problem?

Thanks.

[Bigdog]

Lance - welcome aboard! The rockshaft extension will gain you some height. It effectively increases the range of motion of the rockshaft. The flexible clevis provides a little flotation of the blade but will not increase the travel. You might want to check out a post by RudyO in the for sale forum. RudyO is another fairly new member who is reproducing some cub items and he has a good price on a rockshaft extension.

[RustyVT]

Lance- With the extension and flex, I would guess I get around 8 inches or slightly less. While I don't think it addresses height, check out the awesome manual server, which includes a manual for the blade- -http://www.cleancomputes.com/Cub/Cub%20Implement%20Manuals/index.html

[Rudi]

Lance:

First, to the greatest forum on the internet, and to the Cub Family. You will find that all the folks on this forum are kind, helpful and just full of Cub info and knowledge. They also happen to be the finest folks I have ever met

You will find the answers to your question in the L-54 Manual under Cub Grader Blade Manuals in the Cub Implement Manual link on the server...

Sure hope this answers em all for you.

Glad you are enjoying your Cub and this forum.. it truly is the greatest forum on the internet..

Ok, so here is the spiel :

I would suggest that you read this thread: New Members and Visitors, Please READ Prior to Posting. There are many great links to informative pages such as the ATIS FAQ's 1 and ATIS FAQ's 2, The Best of H.L. Chauvin who has written very interesting articles on troubleshooting common problems with your Cub.


Also, you might want to visit the Cub Manual Server as there is tons of info on servicing, maintaining and re-building your Cub. In addition to this basic information, there are also a number of other useful tools available on the server. There is the Specialty Services page which has contact info for neat stuff like getting your seats recovered, buying quality Decals, Serial Number tags and a host of other neat items. Also there are the Parts Pages - both Used Parts Suppliers and New Parts Suppliers pages with links to quality dealers. I am always looking for YOUR favourite dealers for New and Used Parts to include here. These are intended to complement the businesses who support FarmallCub.com Website.

I would also recommend that you visit Binder Books and purchase the three most important manuals you can own for Maintenance, Repair and Rebuilding your Cub. These are the Owner's Manual, the GSS-1411 Service Manual and the TC-37F Parts Manual. Although they are available on the Cub Manual Server, it is better is you also have your own paper copy. Binder Books is the only Authorized IH Publication Reprint House and they have the best quality manuals available. Most other's are not of the same quality. Just a personal thought here, the I&T Shop Manuals, although helpful in some areas, really are not sufficient for the job. If you wish though, they are good additional reference works.

IF you really want to get the skinny on all things Cub, might I suggest you get a copy of Ken Updike's Farmall Cub and Cub Cadet's . Along with Guy Fay's Letter Series Originality Guide, these are two must have's in anyone's collection.

In addition to the above information, don't forget to check out the various articles that are available to help with your Repair, Restore, Rebuild or just your Maintenance Projects. There are a number of sub pages such as Electrolysis or Rust Zapper's, Maintenance Tips, Jigs and Techniques, Implement and Part Sketches and of course the Paint, Decals & Other Finish Questions which has the Paint Chart and the Paint Committee Decisions links.

I truly hope that you enjoy your Cub and that you will be a frequent contributor to the forum. Again, to the Cub Family

[gitractorman]

I ran my grader blade all summer, regrading about 1 acre of my back yard and cutting in some drainage swales. The blade worked great.

Just a tip or two in reply to your question.

You can gain a little bit of height by using the lower hole in the lift bar when connecting it to the rock shaft. Should gain about 2 inches.

Be careful, especially if you have the blade extention on top of the blade, that you do not raise the blade into the bottom of the tractor. YES, this is possible.

In all of the work that I did this summer, running over dumped piles of soil to spread them out, cutting in ditches, etc., I never had a problem with the blade only raising about 6 inches off of the ground. Also, in that position, you have enough down pressure left in the rock shaft to be able to cut into the ground without the hydraulics being at the full maxed out position.

[400lbsonacubseatspring]

At maxium lift, the bottom of the blade is 4" off of the ground. Is this correct? I do not have a rockshaft extension nor a flexible cleavis installed. Will either of them help or hurt my problem?

Thanks.

I just ordered a boomerang from Rudi O, because the low clearance bothers me as well. I don't think the clevis will help the lift, but it allows the weight of the blade to be put to better use, if you have the skid shoes on. I have my lift lever in the lower hole in front, and get about 6" as well, but I'd like a little more at times, as we live on a hill.

[Jim Becker]

Lance,
One more area to check for maximum lift is where the blade's frame attaches to the square implement mounting hole near the front axle. The large bolt that goes through the hole should have 2 square spacers to keep it centered in the hole. If they are missing, you loose a lot of lift. Also check the lift arm that pivots on the bolt. It should be a fairly snug fit between the adjoining brackets. If it isn't, take the play out by tightening the bolt or adding flat washers as needed.

[sviennadan]

Lance,
One more area to check for maximum lift is where the blade's frame attaches to the square implement mounting hole near the front axle. The large bolt that goes through the hole should have 2 square spacers to keep it centered in the hole. If they are missing, you loose a lot of lift. Also check the lift arm that pivots on the bolt. It should be a fairly snug fit between the adjoining brackets. If it isn't, take the play out by tightening the bolt or adding flat washers as needed.

Someone at Cubfest, I can't remember who, had some of those spacers for sale and I picked up a pair. I just installed the blade today, as we're due for snow later this week, and I wanted to make sure everything was done before the temperature fell. I even put a fresh coat of paint on the blade!
I'm sure that someone her will remember who was selling those spacers......


Dan

[Don McCombs]

Tom at TM Tractor has them for $37 a pair.

http://www.tm-tractor.com/gb/393fp.htm

[Lance Leitzel]

I'm trying to get in touch with RudyO to get buy a rockshaft extension. As for the play in the lift arm pivoting on the 12" bolt. I am seeing enough movement left to right that the arm gets pretty close (imagine 1/8" to 1/4" close) to the steering housing. Is that normal? How tight does that nut on the 12" bolt get tightened or should I think washers first? Sorry about being a newbie and asking "how tight is tight?" question already.

[DuxburyFarmall]

Welcome aboard Lance!

Chad

[jostev]

I don't know about the clearence between the steering housing, but mine actually hits is sometimes, so I think that I will put some washers inbetween the square implement thing and the lifting bar.

[awander]

Lance:

I have the older blade(The 54, NOT the 54A)(the one without the spring on the top link, and WITH the round lifting rod) and I have some weird stuff going on with height also.

With the bellcrank extension(I bought a new one from TM Tractor) I actually get LESS movement of the blade-in other words, the hole in the extension is sligtly closer to the center of rotation of th bellcrank, than the hole in the bellcrank itself. The extension does help in letting the lift rod be parallel to the plane of motion(it moves the hole further out from the tractor centerline).

I ended up mounting a small L-shaped piece of 1/4" steel on the end of the lift lever, in order to "move" the hole on th elift lever "up" and effectively raise the blade. I used a bracket made by Unistrut, which is about a 3" x 3" "L", by 1-5/8" wide, with 2 holes in each of the "L" sections. I had to bore the hole for the lift rod out abit, but now I get a decent range of motion. Before, I would catch the blade when going up small hills.

I also tried drilling another hole in the lift lever, closer to it's pivot point, for the lift rod-that increased the range of motion, but also had the effect of moving the entire range to a lower position, to a point where I still could not get the blade high enough. A longer rod would have done it here, but......

Anyway, I think what's importanyt is that you use the axle housing pivot spacers(you said you DID have them, right? and get the blade mounted in a way that lets you get it high enough off the ground so you don't foul it on stuff, and also lets you lower it far enough to do what is needed.

I could post a pic of my setup, if that would help.

I have been wondering why it didn't work right, but there is evidence on my Lift lever of welding, right at and around the pivot point, so it is possible that some PO actually moved the pivot point. Anybody have one of these teyy would be able to measure? What's the total length of the lift lever, and where are the pivot and the end holes located?

[Lance Leitzel]

Hi Andy,

Interesting about the bellcrank extension. I must admit I've been out at TM Tractor's website trying to eyeball and guess how much further out it would put the mounting bolt hole.

I do have the axle pivot spacers installed, and I am eternally greatful to my father-in-law who stopped me from using my rubber mallet to drive the 12" bolt through them. The PO had installed them in such a way they weren't lined up with each other.

It would be great to see a picture of what you are talking about, but here are the measurements of my pivot:
It looks like a backwards "L" to me, with the short side being 5 1/2" long
longer side is 7 1/2" long.

Measured in from the tips are the following fixed pin and holes: Short side large hole 5/8" and small hole 2 9/16", longer side fixed pin at
end 5/8" in from end, large hole 3 1/4" in and smalled hole 4 1/2". I'm assuming that the blade lift lever should be mounted in the large hole on the longer side of the "L". Should I have it on the fixed pin at the very end instead?

Thanks - Lance

[awander]

Lance:

I think those measurements you gave are of the bellcrank, right?

That's what they sound like.

The part I was looking for measurements on is the lever that pivots in the front axle housing pivot, on the bolt with the spacers.

I will try to take some pictures of my setup in the morning(too cold outside right now!) and post them so you can see waht I mean.