54A Blade - How High Does Yours Lift ?

[DieselDennis]

Recently got a new-to-me 54A blade hooked up on the front of my Cub. How does your hook to the rockshaft? I realize that I may not have it hooked up exactly right per se, I just used what presented itself. I've seen other hook up in pictures in the manual, Updike's books, the web, etc. My hookup worked OK, but seems like it doesn't lift the blade very high, maybe 6"-8". And I believe it would go a foot down if it didn't hit the dirt first. What part am I missing here?

Also, has anybody mounted any weight to the blade? I'm not talking much, 60-80 lbs or so. Just something to keep it from bouncing around. I know it's not meant to plow fresh dirt, but seems like a little weight would settle it down a bit.

[Don McCombs]

You're missing the bellcrank extension.


Photo courtesy TM Tractor Parts

[PaulMac]

My lift arm is bolted in the hole below where yours is. It only lifts the blade about 4 inches. I too want more height, and was planning on just using a longer lift arm. However I think the bellcrank extension is also important to spread the load on the rockshaft. Without it we could break off the rockshaft end. I hope someone can answer why the blade is designed with so little lift. Is there a danger in it being to high and breaking something?

[Urbish]

I'm pretty sure you could hang the tractor from the rockshaft without breaking it. You need the bellcrank extension which will give you more lift. Also, any slop at any of your attachment points/pivot points will contribute to the blade not lifting as high. My blade lifts about a foot off the ground. There is an issue if you lift the blade too high in that the lift arm will contact the support brackets. Keep in mind that as old as these tractors are, the plow setups can vary from bone stock to a mix of different components with some homemade/home repaired items in just for fun. That will cause great variation in function from tractor to tractor.

Also, adding 60-80# to the blade will increase stress on all of your lift components. If the blade is bouncing around too much, you probably need to tighten up all of the pivot points.

[Scrivet]

Here's my opinions. 6-8" of lift is normal. Really what would you do with it higher? You're not going to plow anything. The only benefit to me is transport over rough ground. Unhook the blade from the wishbone and chain it up higher until you get where you're going to work.

Weight on the blade is not needed. If it'll "go down a foot" put some down pressure on it to keep it from bouncing around. Watch out for frozen rough ground though or you may be adding weight in the form of welding rods. Some bouncing and slop is a good thing, it gives instead of breaks. Anything you do to raise the blade up takes away from how far it can go down. Which decreases the range of down pressure.

I don't see how the bell crank extension is going to increase lift. You are moving the connection point closer to the pivot point of the rockshaft, which would be less travel, which would be less up and down movement.

[Buzzard Wing]

L54 on a Lo Boy has even less lift, only about 4". Bell Crank extension will not fit on my Lo Boy as it hits the steering shaft, possibly something out of whack. It's not necessary, I use just a bolt. Likely to waller out the hole on the TC rock shaft more than it would with support on both sides of the bolt, but it works.

[Marion(57 Loboy)]

I only get about 4" of ground clearance with my front blade on my 57 loboy also. Wish I had just 2" more is all I need to not scrape the ground anywhere I go in my snowplowing travels. If the blade is swiveled, it hangs even lower.

[Urbish]

I don't see how the bell crank extension is going to increase lift. You are moving the connection point closer to the pivot point of the rockshaft, which would be less travel, which would be less up and down movement.

You are quite correct. I was thinking the bellcrank extension moved the connection further from the pivot point. I don't have one. I have a 5/16" thick flat plate that DOES lengthen the lever arm at the bellcrank.

Here are pictures of my setup. With the manual lift lever locked into its highest position, my blade is 12" off the ground. Pushing the lever all the way forward gets me 16". However, at this height, the main arms of the plow are at an upward angle such that any nudging into a snow bank only lifts it higher, putting my tie rods at risk of being hit by the main arms. When the blade is on the ground, I am at the mid-point of my fine-notch adjustment.

I have a 3/8" Rolled Homogeneous Armor scraper bar and a 8" marine grade plywood extension. The added weight on the plow does make it a bit hard to handle with the master control lever, even with the assist spring adjusted for balance.

[Urbish]

And a couple more showing my bellcrank extension.

[DieselDennis]

Thank you Scrivet and Skwimjim for the advice.

I suppose the lift height of the blade is sufficient for most work. I was wincing just driving around the barnyard afraid I was about to bottom it out (not something I want to do at half throttle in 2nd gear). I think more height might also help if you were spreading a pile and wanted to "knock the top off of it".

I do have the lift arm from the belly mower that I could mount forward and use that for more travel. I also saw an old post where Rudi had turned his bell crank unpside down and gotten more travel from the blade. I wanted to seek the advice of the forum first before I did anything too crazy. I know all the geometries play together between the blade, the front axle, and the steering rod. Sure don't want to mess anything up.

And thank you for the reminder that the Cub can actually apply down pressure. I've always used a rear mounted blade where the weight of the blade was the only down force you had. Next time I'll push it on down and see if it settles out.

[Buzzard Wing]

Looks like a C-2 mower lift piece.

Dennis.... that looks like an L54. A 54A has more holes in the top piece, a Lo Boy version has 2. It sits much higher on a Cub but should work fine. That may explain why it won't lift as high?

BTW I just did some plowing and noticed it's not a bolt but a pin on my rockshaft. The main purpose of the bell crank extension is when the blade is belly mounted. Can't do that with a Lo Boy, no clearance.

The 'lift link' (?) that comes with the blade decreases the amount of lift too.

[Scrivet]

..........The 'lift link' (?) that comes with the blade decreases the amount of lift too.

Are you thinking about the flexible clevis? Actually that would be the start of a simple idea to get more lift. Mount an L shaped piece on the end of the lift arm where the flexible clevis goes.
Basically made the same way as the flexible clevis. Mount it so the L is upside down and sticks straight up and the tail faces forward.
Weld the single center upright close in to the ears that fit down over the lift arm, so the whole thing can't pivot around the end of the lift arm.
You could continue the ears below the lift arm and put another piece between the ears on the bottom side so the whole thing had a slot that fit over the end of the lift arm with a hole for the pin.
Put a hole, or a series of holes in a taller (top to bottom) tail. Viola instant height adjustment.

[cub.bub]

Looks like a C-2 mower lift piece.

Dennis.... that looks like an L54. A 54A has more holes in the top piece, a Lo Boy version has 2. It sits much higher on a Cub but should work fine. That may explain why it won't lift as high.

I have a 54A and mine only has two holes on the Y lift piece.....at least I think it's a 54A?
Mine will lift about 10" which, so far has worked well for me.
Bruce.

[Peter Person]

Looks like a C-2 mower lift piece.

Dennis.... that looks like an L54. A 54A has more holes in the top piece, a Lo Boy version has 2. It sits much higher on a Cub but should work fine. That may explain why it won't lift as high?

BTW I just did some plowing and noticed it's not a bolt but a pin on my rockshaft. The main purpose of the bell crank extension is when the blade is belly mounted. Can't do that with a Lo Boy, no clearance.

The 'lift link' (?) that comes with the blade decreases the amount of lift too.

When I put a flexible clevis on my 54A, I lost a couple of inches of lift and I only get about 5" as it is, so off it came.
TM Tractor has a set of comparison photos between the L54 and 54A that are really helpful. http://www.tmtractor.com/tm-tractor/gim/bladelb1_001.htm I would say that DieselDennis has a 54A based on the size of the "pressure spring rod assembly" and the spacing of the two (2) holes. Interesting that the "54A pressure spring rod assembly" in the TM photo has a 3rd hole real close to the spring that I don't have on my 54A nor does Dennis have on his. Most likely added to provide more lift.
The limiting factor on getting lift on the blade is as the lifting lever is pushed down (lifting the blade) it bottoms out on the 'Y' shaped arm coming up from the frame, i.e. at the pivot point of the lifting lever.

Peter

[DieselDennis]

I seem to recall that there is a 54A decal on the blade somewhere. The blade was sold to me as a 70's model, so it does have original paint & decals.

Amazing how we can complicate an implement that was intended to be so simple.