[Ford-ferguson] Re: NAA Grader Blade

Fri Nov 10 14:45:38 PST 2006

Dave:  I used to do a lot of writing so if this is a bit long winded, 
please excuse me, but my reply is more of a chronological story.
In 1983 we built a new home.  Built in the sense that I acted as 
general contractor and lead carpenter.  Once the house was finished 
there was the landscape/lawn to consider.  The pad for our house was 
raised 30" above the mean level of the street so we had a lot of fill 
(sand) to deal with.  I convinced my wife that we needed a Bolens 
tractor with a 4' bucket for the three point system.  Now a 4' bucket 
doesn't take a big bite and sometimes the Bolens couldn't move the 
load but I learned to work with what I had, knowing it was a lot 
easier than using a shovel and wheel barrow.
Let's skip forward seventeen years, two years after I retired.  My 
wife was not about to move but she went along with the purchase of a 
small farm so I could keep busy; I'm not interested in shuffle 
board.  The farm consisted of a perimeter fence, a road and a couple 
of ponds, nothing more.  I wanted a place to stay, one that my wife 
would be comfortable in, and a shop.  Livestock would come 
later.  The spot for the structure was the remains of some dozer work 
that had been done many years ago and consisted of a large pile of 
friable soil and tree logs.  About this time I inherited a Ford 640 
tractor that was not in running condition.  I hauled the tractor to a 
fellow I knew who worked on such machines and in a couple of months I 
had, operating, the largest tractor I had ever owned.
I took my 4'  box blade, which hadn't  been used in years and 
attached it to the 640; a nice fit.  As I did with the Bolens and the 
4' blade so I adjusted to the 640 and the 4' blade.  I pulled logs 
with the draw bar and leveled soil with the blade.  Sometimes, even 
with the 640, I still got more of a bite than the tractor was 
balanced to handle and the tires spun.  But I knew that what I had to 
work with was a lot faster than using the Bolens.  So we built a 
building and graded our road.
Now let's skip forward to 2004.  By this time we had cross fencing, a 
water well, a cow barn, shop, apartment,  and several head of 
cattle.  Life was good ---but, the cow barn has a loft where we keep 
the 50 lb. sacks of cubes that we fed the cows.  It was really hard 
on the back of a fellow in his seventies , getting those cubes up in 
that loft.  I really needed a tractor with a front end loader to lift 
those cubes.  My wife's the greatest so in the fall of 2004 we were 
blessed with a new 65 hp tractor.  Well it wasn't long until the road 
needed grading but this time I knew that I could pull the much used 
4' blade behind our new, more powerful, tractor.  So I attached the 
4' blade and commenced to grade, for a short while, then the blade 
rotated about the two lower pins, forced the top link down and, 
fortunately, did not ruin anything but, of course, failed to work.  I 
had overpowered our 4" blade.  So, I put the 4' blade back on the 640 
and the match did a good job of grading the road.
Now I'm about to begin building an entrance to our place; lots of 
pipe, old implement wheels, a cattle guard and a nice gate under a 
bow arch complete with our address.  But you know, what I really need 
is a Bobcat with a hydraulic post hole digger up front where I don't 
have to turn around to watch it dig.   I thought about that then I 
realized that it just might be time for me to appreciate what I have, 
including my wife, and adjust one final thing, myself.

The point of all this is that each of the several people who 
responded have probably adjusted to their equipment and are 
happy.  You will probably enjoy whatever you eventually settle on.  I 
applaud people who work hard to improve their lot but I feel sorry 
for those who are not happy knowing they have done the best they can 
at any particular time.
Good luck from an old man who began working 48 hours a week, in a 
dairy, at age 14.  I didn't mind the work but I still don't like 
getting up at 3 a.m.

At 02:00 PM 11/10/2006, you wrote

>I had posted the question to both AT + FF, and received a large number of
>well thought out answers from both lists.
>
>Not surprisingly, there were good reasons for 5, 6, and 7 feet.
>
>A local tractor friend has offered a 5 ft blade free, but I'm 
>wondering what I'd
>use it for. He claims the NAA wouldn't handle a 6 or 7 ft.
>Claims it doesn't have enough [Colorful description omitted here.]
>
>My leaning is toward a 6 ft to get outside the tractor width.
>The idea of a 7 ft being outside the tractor when angled is appealing,
>but I had doubts about having enough traction, especially in snow.
>
>Probably ideal would be one of those pro blades with side shift like 
>a real road grader.
>
>I've been looking all summer for a good used blade, not much luck at 
>a decent price.
>Went to an auction where there were a bunch of them, also some good looking
>brush hogs, but dealers were there and grabbed them all.
>
>Currently thinking of a TSC 6 ft acct limited funding, believe it's 
>King Kutter, any good?
>Also thinking of a single shank ripper (subsoiler) to break into our 
>gummy clay.
>
>My plan is to do a little dirt moving + grading, and to try to move some snow
>on a relatively short 100' limestone driveway.
>
>With the snow depth we get here, I'm probably looking at doing 
>turkey tracks with
>the blade straight + pushing, rather than whooshing it off with the 
>blade angled.
>Suspect the tractor would just slide sideways if angled.
>
>This brings up the next question, chains in snow?
>
>The tractor has nice looking replaced rear tires, with modern 
>wide-angle lugs, plenty of depth.
>They seem a bit wide, 12.4 - 28.
>
>Thanks
>Dave
>
>At 06:59 PM 11/8/2006, you wrote:
>>
>>
>>Dave, I've got a seven foot on my TO-20 Ferguson, and it's just right for
>>scraping snow off the driveway, since I use it angled. Smaller wouldn't work
>>well.
>>
>>
>>Steve Zakaluk
>>
>> >From: Dave Merchant <nesys_com at ameritech.net>
>> >Subject:  [Ford-ferguson] NAA grader blade
>> >Want to get a 3 pt grader blade for my  NAA.
>> >Considering either 5 ft or 6 ft, from TSC.
>> >Outside width of  tractor is 5.5 ft,.
>> >Would it handle a 6, or would it be happier with a  5?
>> >Thanks
>> >Dave
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>Ford-ferguson mailing list
>>http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/ford-ferguson
>
>Dave Merchant
>kosh at nesys.com
>nesys_com at ameritech.net
>
>http://www.nesys.com
>http://www.nesys.org
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Ford-ferguson mailing list
>http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/ford-ferguson