David Bradley Pull Type Adjustable Blade

[billrigsby]

Wonder if anyone knows anything about the David Bradley pull type adjustable blade?
One locally for sale, $500, can see it Friday when the owner is back in town.

His description; Great old piece of equipment. I have used this for light road maintenance. I was told this originally came through the Sears catalog. Very heavy duty. Tows with a pintle hook. Asking 500.00 because you can always go down but you can't come up!

I see a lot of David Bradley walk behinds, chain saws, etc. that were sold through Sears and Roebuck.

Would like to have a manual for this old beast if anyone has one?

 

[BigG]

I like it. It looks like the only thing that can go bad are the bearings. You can take them to a good parts store and they can measure them. So if you can not fine a manual it is no big deal.

I would go a little lower than $500. Maybe $350.

 

[Lil Foot]

I agree, cool tool that I would like to have, but a little high on the price.

 

[billrigsby]

So if you can not fine a manual it is no big deal.

Yeah, I know, Just anal about documentation,
like to have it for everything, sometimes it takes a while,
but almost always it is out there, call me crazy-everyone else does.

 

[billrigsby]

I agree, cool tool that I would like to have, but a little high on the price.

Price is always negotiable!
And I always negotiate!

This was the only sale I could find on-line.
I do like yal's $300 range.

 

[leveraddict]

A three point mounted blade is faster backing into tight spots and turning around but if you have lots of room on your property its a nice implement!

 

[woodman55]

Looks like a grand old rig to me, and it's even the right color. LOL. I think it would look great behind your tractor. Also, a cat walk at the back, so one person can operate it while another drives would be cool. I agree, any type of literature would be interesting to have.

 

[Chanceywd]

If it was in my neighborhood I would buy it probably pay the $500, I am thinking about adding some adjustable wheels for my stone rack to work like that.

Bill

 

[billrigsby]

Ended up giving $340 for it, checked out the bearings and
all was good, towed it home behind my truck.

Simple, well built and very functionable. A nice addition.

I has had some repairs and the welds look like mine,
not pretty but penetrated. Needs few drain hole drilled here and there.
Looks like the steel was made by Colorado Fuel and Iron, down the road in Pueblo.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

Ended up giving $340 for it, checked out the bearings and
all was good, towed it home behind my truck.

Simple, well built and very functionable. A nice addition.

I has had some repairs and the welds look like mine,
not pretty but penetrated. Needs few drain hole drilled here and there.
Looks like the steel was made by Colorado Fuel and Iron, down the road in Pueblo.

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Cool! Those wheels will make grading much smoother. I foresee a project to replace those adjusters with hydraulic cylinders.

 

[billrigsby]

Cool! Those wheels will make grading much smoother. I foresee a project to replace those adjusters with hydraulic cylinders.

That was my thought exactly, box blade or rear blade, I just don't have 'the touch'

Nearly 30" of travel....

.....and you could make a serious crown with the available adjustment

 

[woodman55]

Great find. I also was thinking hyd cylinders, but seeing the amount of travel you may need to go to motors and chains, to get the entire amount of travel.

 

[BigG]

Hitch that thing to the 3 point arms and with the manual adjustments just the way it is. You will have a great tool to maintain your road. Much more useful then a standard 3 point blade.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

That was my thought exactly, box blade or rear blade, I just don't have 'the touch'

Nearly 30" of travel....
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.....and you could make a serious crown with the available adjustment
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You can cut some swale ditches, too (see what I did there?).

 

[Vigo]

That's a great piece for the price! I agree that it looks a LOT more capable than a regular 3pt blade, at least while moving forward!

I also agree about hooking it to a 3pt drawbar. That way you will still have the option to lift the blade off the ground from the operator's seat without getting off to go mess with those levers.

 

[billrigsby]

Hitch that thing to the 3 point arms and with the manual adjustments just the way it is. You will have a great tool to maintain your road. Much more useful then a standard 3 point blade.

That's a great piece for the price! I agree that it looks a LOT more capable than a regular 3pt blade, at least while moving forward!
I also agree about hooking it to a 3pt drawbar. That way you will still have the option to lift the blade off the ground from the operator's seat without getting off to go mess with those levers.

That was my thought, I have a draw bar and a spare pintle hitch,
(could also just pin it to the draw bar, but a pintle hitch will add versatility).
still nursing a shoulder surgery, but that's what neighbors are for.
(who do you think man handled those levers to check the articulation)!

Any refurbishing and painting will need to wait, but for now it is usable as is.

Computer time don't mess with the shoulder too much,
got'ta stay busy, working on new decals (needs some tweaking still).....

 

[bird dogger]

Bill, your grader is alot prettier than my old "township" grader!! Thinking this one started out as a horse drawn road grader. It was made in Minneapolis, Mn. but I forget the Mfg. It still functions great and I use it on the graveled area and driveway once or twice a year. It also did a find job making a slight slope in our 3 acre tillable garden spot for drainage. At some point, I'd like to put a better axle and rubber tires on it to replace the steel wheels.
The rear platform had rotted away where the rider would stand and operate the large handwheels for tilting and the levers for raising up and down. I just set it to level (or the angle/tilt I'm looking for) and pull it with a 3 pt. hitch drawbar so I can raise and lower it from the tractor seat.
It could use a good sandblasting and paint job at some point. Maybe when the axle gets re done. The steel wheels do prevent it from being borrowed and pulled down the highway by jealous friends!


You'll get some good use out of your machine!! I'll trade you!!

 

[woodman55]

Bill, your grader is alot prettier than my old "township" grader!! Thinking this one started out as a horse drawn road grader. It was made in Minneapolis, Mn. but I forget the Mfg. It still functions great and I use it on the graveled area and driveway once or twice a year. It also did a find job making a slight slope in our 3 acre tillable garden spot for drainage. At some point, I'd like to put a better axle and rubber tires on it to replace the steel wheels.
The rear platform had rotted away where the rider would stand and operate the large handwheels for tilting and the levers for raising up and down. I just set it to level (or the angle/tilt I'm looking for) and pull it with a 3 pt. hitch drawbar so I can raise and lower it from the tractor seat.
It could use a good sandblasting and paint job at some point. Maybe when the axle gets re done. The steel wheels do prevent it from being borrowed and pulled down the highway by jealous friends!
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You'll get some good use out of your machine!! I'll trade you!!

That's a great looking old rig, I would love to have one like it. If it was mine, I would replace the wood and leave it in it's "working clothes".

 

[billrigsby]

Bill, your grader is alot prettier than my old "township" grader!! Thinking this one started out as a horse drawn road grader. It was made in Minneapolis, Mn. but I forget the Mfg. It still functions great and I use it on the graveled area and driveway once or twice a year. It also did a find job making a slight slope in our 3 acre tillable garden spot for drainage. At some point, I'd like to put a better axle and rubber tires on it to replace the steel wheels.
The rear platform had rotted away where the rider would stand and operate the large handwheels for tilting and the levers for raising up and down. I just set it to level (or the angle/tilt I'm looking for) and pull it with a 3 pt. hitch drawbar so I can raise and lower it from the tractor seat.
It could use a good sandblasting and paint job at some point. Maybe when the axle gets re done. The steel wheels do prevent it from being borrowed and pulled down the highway by jealous friends!


You'll get some good use out of your machine!! I'll trade you!!

While mine may be prettier, to some, that is a true classic.
Even if it were all rusted together, it is fantastic 'yard art'
at the very least!

 

[bird dogger]

That's a great looking old rig, I would love to have one like it. If it was mine, I would replace the wood and leave it in it's "working clothes".

While mine may be prettier, to some, that is a true classic.
Even if it were all rusted together, it is fantastic 'yard art'
at the very least!

You guys are probably right! After thinking about it....I should just clean it up as is and keep it original as long as it still functions as is. Will have to do some research and see what the original colors were. Doubt it was rusty brown!! LOL!
Your posts above got me curious again so I went and took some pics of the two spots that had some data cast in the framework. It's manufacturer was: Stockland Road Machinery Co., Minneapolis, Mn. (at least I had remembered the Minn. connection correctly). The Patent Date reads Jan. 5, 1915 so it's had a few road miles beneath it over the years.
The story behind it: A MN township had two of them up for written bids submitted by mail. This one was the nicer of the two by far. They had a suggested value of $50-$75 and doubted if they'd get much interest in them. My $100 bid won the nicest one. Two other bidders tied with something over $50 for the remaining one. So they put the 2nd one up on bids again and the winning bid was just over $150. This was in the real early '80s. I felt pretty good about my purchase after hearing that. LOL!

After surviving the scrap metal drives for WWII, the old grader maybe does deserve to be cleaned up and kept original. Maybe I can have it all dolled up for its sesquicentennial (150th) birthday??