Snow plowing and risk of cracks to radiator support

[HiltzMachineWorks]

I recently saw a post on a social media platform about a gentleman who unfortunately cracked both his engine block and the radiator bolster while plowing snow.

It appeared that he had the older 54 Plow without the vertical spring/shock like the 54-A plows.

I’m wondering if cracking the bolster is common when pushing snow or dirt. I’ve only recently been using my Cub to plow snow (maybe 5 years), but the Cub has been in my family my entire life.

Does the older plow without the “vertical” spring have a higher rate of issues? It seems as though my later 54-A plow has enough slop in the entire system that it would be difficult to shock the casting hard enough to crack it. The plow has enough “give” between the blade, the upper and lower shock/springs and mounts that it would absorb impact.

Of course, I’m very careful not to ram the tractor into hard packed snow or obstacles.

Are there other preventative measures that could be taken to prevent damaging the tractor?

 

[Peter Person]

Identify objects with a snow stake so you don’t accidentally hit them.
I always drive my Cub up and down the long driveway prior to the 1st snow to refresh my memory of what I’m plowing.

 

[Dale Finch]

I think the guy who broke the engine mounts & cracked the bolster was "ramming" into a snow bank that ended up being more an ICE bank. :shock:

Sure glad we here in NC don't get much snow very often!!

 

[inairam]

The blade is a grading blade not officially a snow plow even though it is widely used as a snow plow. It does not have the spring release to tilt it. Some guys have installed a release

If you are careful and know the area you are plowing the snow it is fine to use. Plowing snow does not break the tractor. The operator breaks the tractors. I have safely plowed snow with the cub for years.

 

[staninlowerAL]

....Plowing snow does not break the tractor. The operator breaks the tractors. I have safely plowed snow with the cub for years.

Yeah, it's been said some people can break an anvil!!! :lol:

 

[Gary Dotson]

The design of the 54 blade is such that the shock load would be transferred rearward to the torque tube. I’m not sure how one would crack the front bolster, even ramming a snow bank. It is possible to break the torque tube, though. Ask John Puckett how to do that.

 

[ricky racer]

This is what I did to make sure damage won't happen to my Cub while plowing snow. It has been by far the best modification I've made to my blade, even better than the power angle modification.

viewtopic.php?f=64&t=48334

 

[Urbish]

Back to the original post: The spring on the lifting frame of the blade is not so much for shock absorption during plowing, but to allow the blade to float up and down with some down-force on it. I suppose if you hit an obstruction it may allow the blade to skip up over it where it would otherwise flex the lift bracketry and/or bend/break something. Ricky's blade trip mod is a solid one and something I have been considering for my primary snow plowing Cub.

I used an older 54 Leveling and Grader blade on my regular Cub to plow snow for many years without an issue (my profile pic). But the linkages and pivot points were all pretty sloppy and allowed things to move a bit. My lo boy has the 54A blade with the top spring which, if nothing else, allows a little better terrain following without having to make fine blade height adjustments.

 

[Jim Becker]

They all have a relief spring on the bottom of the blade. Granted, it doesn't let the blade flop all the way on its face. But if you have the blade pitch set in the usual snow plowing position, I blieve it lets the blade edge go past vertical. That should be adequate for nearly anyone not trying to set the land speed record.

 

[ricky racer]

No land speed records being set on my Cub. Second gear is used for about everything. First gear is too slow for most work and third is too fast. I plow most always in 2nd gear at high idle. That gives me just enough speed to roll the snow off the trailing end of the blade. However, when you catch the edge of the pavement or a rock frozen in the ground or an uneven section of concrete at an expansion joint, it still about jars your teeth out and just about sends you over the steering wheel. That can't be good on any equipment especially something 70 years old (or a driver nearly the same age). The cushion spring under the blade has never helped absorb the shock in my experience. Modifying my blade by allowing it to trip like every snow plow on the market allows it to act like a snow plow should. If I need to do some grader work with it, in about 10 minutes I can exchange the chain for the OEM spring and go push dirt. If you push much snow, I highly recommend the modification! 8)

 

[Greenthumbfarms]

This is what I did to make sure damage won't happen to my Cub while plowing snow. It has been by far the best modification I've made to my blade, even better than the power angle modification.

http://farmallcub.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=48334

I did this to mine using Ricky's instructions and it works very well. I found a second blade to modify and leave the snow extension on, and have a plain blade to use as a grader

 

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

My personal experience has been the from about mid 48 back to the beginning of the cubs the ears on the front of the engines were weak and broke easier than they should have. That being said, I have found that in the right circumstances you can break almost anything that is on a cub, including yourself. I was blading snow on a road I had graded and plowed snow on for years. It was a stretch of level road, something rare around here, and to get the snow to roll better I was running about half throttle in 3rd gear. The leading corner of the blade caught on a frozen in place rock, and when it hit out near the end of the blade the forces are applied in a way that spring on the bottom of the blade assembly did not compress much if any, and the tractor stopped in about an inch of travel only provided by the flex an torquing of the metal. Unfortunately I did not stop that quick and wore the imprint of the steering wheel and spinner knob on my chest and stomach for quite a while. :headbang

 

[RogerW]

This is my snow plow set up. I built the front plow about 25 years ago. The rear plow is controlled by a winch.

 

[ricky racer]

This is my snow plow set up. I built the front plow about 25 years ago. The rear plow is controlled by a winch.
025 - Copy.JPG100_2039 (2).JPG

Looks good! You're plowing snow coming and going! :{_}:

 

[Urbish]

This is my snow plow set up. I built the front plow about 25 years ago. The rear plow is controlled by a winch.
025 - Copy.JPG100_2039 (2).JPG

I really like that. Purpose built for moving snow and transfers all the forces to the rear end.

 

[ShawnAgne]

The trip blade is a great mod, however I'm finding out on the A54 blade of the 100, the pivot is to hi and it trips to easily, even with 6 heavy springs on it. Cub doesn't have the issues as the blade can sit lower to the ground it appears.

 

[muleboss]

Here is a photo of one of my blades. Fastens to the final drive with 3 bolts on each side.

 

[ShawnAgne]

Ment the A60 on my 100 not the A54. Seems the geometry is off a little that the A60 trips easier than it should.

 

[ricky racer]

Do you have your pin in the lowest hole on the blade (detail 1 in the lower picture)?

 

[ShawnAgne]

Yes on both and for whatever reason the A60 will trip unless I'm taking light passes. Have 6 of the heaviest 2" 10" long springs McMaster Carr sells. Will say with the 30+ mph winds the snow was packed super tight but still should have been eable to push through it. Envisioning the only thing that should tip the blade is edge of concrete or somthing hard,solid, and doesn't want to move correct?