Farmall A snow plow options?

[Plumberspieco]

So it’s time to get motivated and put a snow plow on my 41 A before winter. I do have a plow that appears to be off a cub that has been widened to 70” or so and 6”” welded on top. Just the plow and trailing arms. So I’ll have to fabricate a main frame that will go back to the drives. One push to get this done is that the cub I put together did well with its first real test that was a 17” snowfall. I was quite surprised with the cubs ability but bigger is better. No need to tell me that a Super A would be better because of hydraulics because I’m sticking with the A. What I’d like to see are some pics of anyones home brewed setups. As far as the lift goes I’ll probably use an atv winch that I already have. I may pick up a smaller plow for a Jeep and modify that too. I’ll throw a pic in of my A so you can see what I’m dealing with. There’s a post on it from last year also.
Note: I do not want to fart around putting an exhaust lift on it either.

 

[ajhbike]

Sounds like a great project, do what you want and have fun with it. I am doing the same kind of thing with a plow for a JD B and a 3020...I don't need 6 tractors with 6 snow plows, but I have fun adapting what I have and fabricating.

 

[inairam]

I have IH plows (54" and 60") on both cubs and a 140 and they are both great. The difference in ability with a bigger tractor is a substantial, not marginal, difference.

The only downside with the 140 being bigger it is harder to use in tight areas. Keep that in mind when fabbing a snow rig. Bigger starts to get in its own way are some point.

 

[Plumberspieco]

The only downside with the 140 being bigger it is harder to use in tight areas. Keep that in mind when fabbing a snow rig. Bigger starts to get in its own way are some point.

Yeah I’ve got a Massey H60 4x4 loader backhoe that I’ll never get snowed in with but it’s a pain in the ass to lumber around in. My first real test with the cub , the 17” snowfall, I got greedy and you can guess the result. Well no need to guess I was having fun up until that point.

 

[ShawnAgne]

Was going to tell you power angle and trip blade are VERY nice. But you don't have hydraulics so trip blade would be nice. However if you could figure out how to do a mechanical power angle that would be interesting.
Weights and chains will show you the full potential of your tractor plowing.

Nice looking A

 

[EZ]

My very first A had a power steering pump that operated a homemade front blade, it worked quite well. Unfortunately I sold that tractor and have no pictures of the setup.

 

[Plumberspieco]

While doing my typical auction search I ran across this A with a distributor/ hydraulic pump. I had seen references for these on The larger tractors but didn’t know if it worked on the A. Obviously it would have to be a vertical distributor as pictured and not a horizontal set up because of the oil filter housing.

 

[inairam]

I can not tell if the blade has springs. If is does not this set up will transfer any shock from hitting something snow-covered back to the finals. The grader blade for the A-140 mounts to the bell housing that this person used as a hose clamp.

 

[Don McCombs]

I see a spring and what looks like a shock absorber. Impossible to tell how it functions, though.

 

[Jim Becker]

I think the shock absorber looking thing is a lift cylinder. It raises an arm that pulls the chain. I think the blade, lift, etc. was formerly on the front of a pickup truck.

 

[Don McCombs]

You’re correct Jim. I had to enlarge it a little more to see the hydraulic line going to the red cylinder.

 

[Jim Becker]

That part of the picture is pretty busy. A lot of stuff going on there!

 

[Plumberspieco]

Here’s a few more pictures from the auction which should clarify the plow set up. My actual reason for posting it was in interest of the distributor hydraulic pump to add the hydraulics. I had not seen reference for doing this on an A before. A quick look for a used distributor pump combo seems quite expensive where I’d rather invest the $ in a different tractor. I think my quickest and cheapest option is using the atv winch I already have for lifting. Here’s the link to the auction this particular tractor is on https://www.proxibid.com/Farmall-A-4-Ne ... 7#topoflot

 

[inairam]

I have seen a lot of pics on this type of homemade plow setup. This one looks nicer than most. Just not really happy with the hard mount to the finals.
The tractor looks good. Go over the finals carefully. Some work you should be able to come up to spring set up.

I know from personal experience, at least in my area the A-60 grader blade is very hard to find for sale with or without a tractor attached.

 

[Plumberspieco]

So it’s been a year and I finally am getting around to my plow project. I decided to skip using the modified cub plow and opted for one that was used on a Ford 1920 supposedly. I only got the blade, A frame and some kind of bracket with two pulleys on it with a cable. Probably a modified unit but the price was right. I’ll more than likely use the atv winch attached on the top of the right side 1/2” x 6” wide plate used for the mounting bracket attached to the bell housing area. I could also just mount it up front where the pulley is as that just slides out of the 2” square tube bracket that mounts in the bolster. Obviously I’m still working out the cable set up and it is pulled all the way to the back to jet it out of the way. Here’s a few pics and I’ll add some later of possible winch locations.

 

[ajhbike]

I use a winch to raise and lower a large truck blade on another tractor and it works well....the remote is convenient. used an old Super C frame...Pics from when I was putting it together

 

[Plumberspieco]

I pulled out the pulley and made a quick bracket to mount the winch up front. It slides into the 2” mount up front so I can quick attach it. Tested it with a battery charger and it works better than I thought. I have to mount a loop offset on the plow frame keeping everything clear when I hand crank to start the tractor. I’ll have to convert to a 12v system for the winch as it’s now 6v. Still lots to do before the weather turns to …..

 

[ajhbike]

maybe weld a tray onto that winch bracketry and put a 12v battery there and trickle charge it after each storm....maybe cheaper than the conversion unless you don't have the 12v battery

 

[Plumberspieco]

I had thought about putting a 12v deep cycle cycle battery under the seat or on the fabbed frame and doing as you suggest but am not sure how long the charge would last. I probably have to get a new battery anyways and I’m not sure if my existing 6v charging system works. I’ve never had the lighting system working but would obviously want to get it operable for safety reasons. If I have to rework a lot of it I might as well go to 12v.

 

[ajhbike]

I have always had more than enough charge to do 3 driveways. 12v is better for additional cheaper lights.