Wear edge option for our blades

[jimbob200521]

First off, I want to say while this works out very well for my application, it may not work well for everybody. I do snow removal on everything from gravel driveways, paved driveways, through some grass to get to sidewalks, as well as a lot of sidewalks that heave during the winter. Since the sidewalks heave, having a steel edge doesn't work very well. When I hit a big heave, either the tractor would stop suddenly, or the lift arm would snap (threaded for a built in weak point) and the blade would fold under the machine (only happened once, but that was enough for me). So, last winter, I searched for a viable option for gravel, pavement, grass, and uneven sidewalks. I first tried a plastic composite wear edge from Extreme. The Extreme wear edge worked out fairly well, but wore quicker than I would have liked it to (also, since it was brittle, I ended up chipping/breaking it). So I started searching around for another fairly inexpensive option that was flexible to what I needed it to do.

After browsing several forums, I found a solution that would yield me multiple edges, cost less than $50 (iirc), and would stand up to whatever I threw at it. I went to Farm & Fleet and bought a 3/4" horse stall mat. I took it home, cut a 4" tall edge out of it (in case I needed to flip it), bolted it up, and went to work. That single wear edge lasted me the rest of last winter. With this edge, I was able to keep all my plowing areas clean and since it is essentially just thick rubber, it worked well to flex over uneven ground/sidewalks and didn't tare up or dig into grass when I had to go across it.

While it worked well, it did take a beating. So, today I cut out a new edge from the same stall mat. For those wondering, a saws-all works GREAT for cutting the edge. A box cutter/knife works well too, but takes a lot longer and is harder to get a straight cut with. Cut my edge, drilled my holes, and mounted the uncut flat side down. So without further delay, onto the pics; enjoy guys!

[J-Mech]

Looks good Ryan!

Just curious.... You say that the tractor would either stop, snap the lift rod, or fold the blade under. You do have the trip released right? Cause, I've hit a lot of stuff, and the trip never failed to work. Usually it would fold over, slide over whatever it was caught on, and go on. Only a couple times has it folded and stayed caught on something.

[jimbob200521]

Originally Posted by J-Mech

Looks good Ryan!

Just curious.... You say that the tractor would either stop, snap the lift rod, or fold the blade under. You do have the trip released right? Cause, I've hit a lot of stuff, and the trip never failed to work. Usually it would fold over, slide over whatever it was caught on, and go on. Only a couple times has it folded and stayed caught on something.

I do have the trip released, and you're right, most of the time, the blade would trip. But once I put that plastic edge on to try, when it tripped, it was so harsh on the plastic that it started cracking and breaking chunks of the wear edge off (only really the corners, but it was working its way in when I said enough was enough with it). As far as going under the tractor, like I said, it only happened once but that was enough of a ride for me! The heave was around 2 inches high and the sidewalk sections were actually separating a bit. I think what happened is the edge caught the heave, then slide down a bit between the sections and that didn't allow it to trip. Either way, it was a fluke and taught me in short order to watch out for that section of the sidewalk

For being only 5 1/2 years old, our building's sidewalks have aged horribly. The concrete we had put down when the building was constructed was done (of course) by the cheapest bidder. The mix wasn't very good, they didn't put any rebar in it, and within 6 months of being open, they had to come back and replace several sections of sidewalk because they were cracking so bad. The sections they replaced are very obvious, the concrete is actually a different shade in those sections

[drglinski]

I like it too. I may go this route when my wear strip wears off.

[PGHsteelworker]

Good solution. Here is a tip. I plow a lot of gravel an dirt roads without shoe's on the plow and it wears fast. I replaced the wear strip with a piece of 1/2 x 6 x 55 flat bar and it wears much longer, is tougher, and can still be flipped.

[mjsoldcub]

Or a .25" ×4" chunk of 304....hardly seems to wear at all.....but i suppose you were trying to get away from metal...

[bocephus1991]

Heah if it works , why not! I had thought about a piece of that thick plastic like they use for work bench tops. I forget what they call it now but it's like 3/8" or 1/2" thick. All I use mine on is concrete. I know it would wear fast , was just a thought.

[yeeter]

Originally Posted by bocephus1991

Heah if it works , why not! I had thought about a piece of that thick plastic like they use for work bench tops. I forget what they call it now but it's like 3/8" or 1/2" thick.

Corian counter top material?

I like the rubber Ryan.

I was leaning towards something like Mj did (was going to purchase a couple or three pieces of 1/4x1" SST bar stock off the internet, the smaller width seem to be cheaper then I was going to weld it together.

But may rethink it - my drive has some spots where the asphalt is deteriorating and something like that rubber edge might not lift a chunk of asphalt the same way a sharp edge would

Thanks for all the ideas, my day is coming soon to do an edge replacement.

[edw]

I guess I am just cheap. I got a worn out 4 ply tire from a buddy at a tire shop. I cut the tread off the caseing and mounted behind the regular metal cutting edge leaving about 1 inch below the metal cutting edge. I know I dont clean as much snow as a lot of you and when I do it is on asphalt or concrete but sofar has not worn down much.

[jimbob200521]

Thanks for the input guys! If this doesn't work out well this winter, I may order a nice thick piece of steel to use, I'd actually thought about that last winter. But with what I was dealing with and the considered cost vs return, I had to give the thick rubber a try.

PGHsteelworker and mjsoldcub; I bet the edge you guys have would do some mean damage, looks good!

Originally Posted by edw

I guess I am just cheap. I got a worn out 4 ply tire from a buddy at a tire shop. I cut the tread off the caseing and mounted behind the regular metal cutting edge leaving about 1 inch below the metal cutting edge. I know I dont clean as much snow as a lot of you and when I do it is on asphalt or concrete but sofar has not worn down much.

I'd read about that too, nothing wrong with a little useful recycling