IH 140 Snow Plow Assembly

[kelchmuseum]

Hi All,

I have a 1969 Farmall 140 that was acquired along with a property purchase by my employer (rural museum in Wisconsin) a few years ago. Its not pretty but it runs great and we use it quite a bit for mowing and towing.

Sitting in the corner of our maintenance shed is a snow plow attachment for this thing and we decided today to put it on for use this winter. Got the tire chains on and have wheel weights for plowing. Trouble is, even with a couple old tractor guys on the volunteer staff here, we can't figure out how to mount the plow itself. We have no manual or even a data tag for the plow to identify it. I spent a few hours today on this forum and a couple others looking for a diagram, manual or photos of a similar mount and I just can't find what I need. The cleancomputes.com site that everybody recommends seems to be offline.

Can somebody point me in the right direction for a info on how to mount this?

Thank you!

 

[farmallcub49]

Definitely home made, I don't see how those brackets can be of any help. It should attach to the final drives. I have never owned a 140 though, so my help is limited.

 

[havoc1482]

Yeah I got nothing. That is not anything made by IH. The 1A-60 is the model made for the A/SA-140

 

[Jim Becker]

Looks a lot like a Gladden-Haas. The push frame pins to the standard drawbar. One part of the lift hardware isn't obvious to me. The part at the top of picture 4 bolts to the bell housing and sticks forward and the piece currently sitting on it supports it from the front implement mounting hole. The lower part connects to the Touch-Control right arm, pivots on the front of the top part and the chain drops down to the blade frame.

Totally unclear?

 

[kelchmuseum]

Totally unclear?

It was totally clear, Jim!

We printed off your comments, went and stared at the pile of parts for a bit, and then it all clicked. This is definitely a home-brew plow but it seems to work ok on the tractor. We'll see how it performs once snow flies here.

Pictures below of the set-up. Thanks Jim and to all for your help on this! Now for a paint job on this thing....

 

[Jim Becker]

I didn't know the tractor had the highway mower Touch-Control arm. That makes sense of the other lift part I couldn't make sense of initially. With the standard arm, that piece wouldn't be needed.

Note that the part bolted to the bell housing has 2 additional holes drilled for use on an A (as opposed To Super A/100/130/140). I'm convinced it was made by Gladden-Haas. See how much it resembles this one made for the Cub. Looks like your chain runs forward as it goes down while the Cub one is vertical. I wonder of they intended the rear of yours to be attached somehow that set the blade back a little more.

 

[kelchmuseum]

That Gladden-Haas diagram shows our lift mechanism perfectly. That has to be it. The actual blade we have is different and so is the way it attaches to the supports. The springs were added also. Probably a hack job from the one you show in the pamphlet but it is fairly well done.

We had 4" of wet snow yesterday and the 140 cleared it from our hangar apron and driveway with no problem today. The only issue was the the rearmost attach point of the lift mechanism hits the steering wheel column in the raised position. Most of the time it just rubbed against it but if I raised the plow quickly, the lower pin would actually catch on the steering column and cause the hydraulics to bog down....killed the engine once as it was trying to bend the steering column downward. I need to find a way to hold the lift mechanism to the left about 1/2" or so. It has a bit of flex in it.

I'll keep the diagram and parts list in our file here at the museum. Thanks again, Jim for all of your help.

 

[Jim Becker]

I think your blade was actually made for the Super A/140 whereas the one in my document was made for a Cub. It is probably heavier built. I wouldn't be surprised if it is wider too. I think the springs were an added feature for the 140 from the factory.

The part attached to the Touch-Control arm is only held with one bolt. I suggest you look at that attachment point and see if you can get that part repositioned a little to eliminate the interference with the steering. Maybe a shim in the right place would fix it. Also, the pin that interferes, is the head thin enough that swapping it end for end will help? The hydraulic arms on those tractors have been known to get bent (although the highway mower arms are pretty stout). It wouldn't take very much to cause that much interference.

 

[cub.bub]

Jim, with this type of plow, mounted at the rear, seems like if you angle the blade it would want to float away from the angle?
If this happens wouldn't the lift rods damage the hood and radiator schrod? I only ask because I was concerned with this problem of being too close on my 140.
Bruce

 

[Jim Becker]

Yes and no.

Yes, angling the blade will put a side thrust on the blade and push frame. Actual side movement of the blade is prevented/limited by the 2-bolt attachment at the rear. Since the lifting mechanism is attached to the push frame by a chain, the side force on the lift mechanism is inconsequential. So it shouldn't hit the sheet metal parts. When mounting any lift mechanism similar to this, it is a good idea to check for any looseness/alignment problem that lets parts get far enough out of line to rub somewhere they shouldn't.

From the design of this particular blade, it does appear that some misalignment or wear at the L-shaped lever could allow interference/damage of the grill shell. This is much like the problem at the back where there is interference with the steering shaft. I have seen similar situations with the IH A-60 blade where the front lifting lever rubs the grill and the IH Cub-54 blade where the same part rubs the steering gear housing. In both cases, wear at the pivot point of the lever or a loose/bent hanger bolt can allow the misalignment that causes them to rub.

 

[havoc1482]

I know exactly what Jim is talking about. My solution is an I-bolt, spring, and some chain. This is an old photo. I've since gotten a bigger chain and spring. Keeps the arm away from the hood.

 

[kelchmuseum]

Jim, with this type of plow, mounted at the rear, seems like if you angle the blade it would want to float away from the angle?
If this happens wouldn't the lift rods damage the hood and radiator schrod? I only ask because I was concerned with this problem of being too close on my 140.
Bruce

Bruce,

We've had some decent snow the past week here in Wisconsin, so I've been pushing quite a bit and getting a feel for how best to use this setup. With the blade angled and trying to push a heavy row to one side, the rear attach points seem to push the rear wheels to the opposite side and you end up sliding somewhat. This is only in heavy drifts. I have wheel weights and chains but the rear end is still pretty light for heavy plowing. Pushing straight on works quite well though.

-6°F this morning...here is a short video of one of our museum volunteers clearing the ramp of about 8" we got Saturday.

[youtube]Mb0F1zqYKO4[/youtube]

 

[cub.bub]

Thanks for the video, nice work on getting your plow unit working, I too have been plowing quite a bit this weekend. I really like the foot throttle for snow plowing as it eliminates one more lever to deal with, as I added another hydraulic circuit for power angeling the blade and love it.
Double up the rear weights and you will be surprised at what you can push! :lol:
Enjoy,
Bruce.

 

[Lt.Mike]

I have the foot throttle for my Industrial A. While I'll be using a hand lift I'll bet that foot throttle will be nice.
I've also been kicking around the idea of copying the A's foot throttle setup and making one for my Lo-Boy.
Mike