Belly mount scrape blade

john hall · #1 10-02-2016, 09:15 PM

Anybody here ever use a belly mount scrape blade on ANY type of lawn tractor? The 124 I got last week has a homemade one. I haven't had time to check it over good, just to play with it for about 10 minutes. I think the guy that built it has it rigged up to provide down pressure. The reason I say that is it will stop the machine even on hard gravel driveway where it can only get a 1/4" bite at most. I tried it again to fix a wash in a road on the back of the farm, it did better, but not great. My question is how well do these things work and do they typically float, have hydraulic down pressure (mine is hydraulic lift), or do they use a spring to split the difference? I've never used a lawnmower to do anything outside of mowing grass so my expectations may be too lofty as my background for this type of stuff is with farm tractors.

J-Mech · #2 10-02-2016, 10:08 PM

Personally I have not used one.

There have been some members here in the past that have had them, and there was a company that produced them to fit a CC. I only personally know of one member who has one, but last I knew he never mounted or used it. Most were floating, but may have had a lock to where down pressure could be provided.

Disadvantage to down pressure is obvious... you will lose traction, so extra weight is necessary. Disadvantage to center mount is that the machine is so short, it will be hard to make anything level.

Advantage is....

I don't know if there is any. It looks cool?

Yosemite Sam · #3 10-02-2016, 10:13 PM

It's my contention that almost any kind of down pressure will cause a catastrophic loss of traction.

If it were heavily weighted, it may work as one would hope.

ACecil · #4 10-02-2016, 10:27 PM

Looks to be a nice attachment to have! I like the 124, John!

Tom4981 · #5 10-03-2016, 06:20 AM

Thats interesting you'll have to keep us updated..

Randy Littrell · #6 10-04-2016, 06:51 PM

You gotta stop using the lawn mower words!!!

In my best Dr. McCoy voice-"Damn it Jim, these are garden tractors!"

Randy

Mike McKown · #7 10-04-2016, 07:06 PM

I would think if you were trying to level loose dirt or gravel, the mid mount would be the way to go.

Rear/front mount blades bob up/down like a blue gill cork on short wheel base tractors, even big ones.

The center mount would give your best shot at leveling. That is the reason road graders have the blade mounted mid ship.

IHinIN · #8 10-04-2016, 07:36 PM

Road graders also have a really long wheelbase unlike a garden tractor.

Mike McKown · #9 10-04-2016, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IHinIN

Road graders also have a really long wheelbase unlike a garden tractor.

That's true but the whole weight of the grader pushes on the blade to keep the graded surface level. Unlike a back or front mounted blade that every time a front or rear wheel goes over a bump, it changes the grade.

J-Mech · #10 10-04-2016, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike McKown

That's true but the whole weight of the grader pushes on the blade to keep the graded surface level. Unlike a back or front mounted blade that every time a front or rear wheel goes over a bump, it changes the grade.

Kind of....

You can lift the front tires off the ground with a grader if you don't control it right, so it actually is limited. Yes, it pushes down, but not really all that hard. It's not the weight that makes it level, it is the length of the machine.

Adam is right, the very short wheelbase of a GT will limit it's ability to level. Even though it is mid mounted and the operator will have more control, it will still move up/down as the tractor rolls over terrain because of the short wheelbase. A grader does the job it does because it is sooooo long.

Another note:
A member on here has one for a JD that I have looked at. It had quite a few adjustments built into it. As I recall, you can "roll" (pitch of the plow) it so you can change how hard it cuts in. It will twist/turn and go up and down.
A grader has side shift, blade roll (pitch), left/right level, rotate.... and many more functions. The more of those functions you can incorporate, the better it will do. Blade pitch is a big deal. If you can, add that and it will make a huge difference in it's ability to cut or level.