David Bradley Pull Type Adjustable Blade
- Thread starter billrigsby
- Start date
BigG
Well-known member
Equipment
l2501, FEL, BB, Rotary cutter, rake,spreader, roller, etc. New Holland TL80 A
You might look into covering the wheels with rubber treads from a tire. The Amish often do this on their steel wheeled machinery. That way the machine stays original and it becomes more roadable.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??
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Poking around the grader today, I noticed what should be a pair of 'stops'
The left side is missing
Does anyone have any idea what these are for, they are mounted to the same
area that the blade is mounted to, and it is fixed, unlike snow plow blades?
There is definitely evidence of contact being made with the back of the blade
but not sure how with it being fixed?
The left side is missing
Does anyone have any idea what these are for, they are mounted to the same
area that the blade is mounted to, and it is fixed, unlike snow plow blades?
There is definitely evidence of contact being made with the back of the blade
but not sure how with it being fixed?
I have seen blades flex when snagged on something, but it's hard to tell from your pics what that distance is and whether the blade could flex that far and still pop back to its original shape.
This pic makes it look like if the blade were tilted back using the other tilt hole, the distance might be pretty close? How much travel is in the slots on that stop?
This pic makes it look like if the blade were tilted back using the other tilt hole, the distance might be pretty close? How much travel is in the slots on that stop?
There is an inch of adjustment, the left hole is at max, right is about centered.
I guess when using the back upper holes, and with flex, they may come in handy.
I'll make one for the left.
It's just my best guess. Anytime i own something 'old and cool' I tend to ask myself 'am i making this thing better or letting it get worse' and i try to at least break even, so i'd probably build that other one too even if i wasn't sure what it did! 
At least then i'm on the right side of that question.
At least then i'm on the right side of that question.Bill, you better check this out. It's in your neck of the woods. Tom posted it this morning on this forum. https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=132&acctid=9468
Thanks, I think I'll stick to plowing from the comfort of a F250!
Of course this year, never even hooked it up, hope that changes.
I understand that, but you may be able to pick up a bargain and come Fall find someone needing that thing!
I agree with Vigo's thoughts that those are to stop any excessive flexing of the top edge of the blade if you hook something unexpectedly, catch the top edge of a buried rock, etc.
Have been searching all the other likely sites for info on David Bradley/Sears road graders and see you've been there too! Ha! There's not much info to be found on these old graders!
Started to work on the pintle to draw bar conversion tonight.
The existing pintle hook is not round, which will work to my advantage
Made an insert, 2.25 x 1.00 with a 1.125 center hole,
that center hole will house a 1.125 x .75 bronze bushing
The outside will be taken down to be a tight fit in the 'not round' pintle hook
Drawbar and .75 grade 8 bolt will secure it all together
This will allow it to be used on the 3 point hitch as mentioned by
@BigG and @Vigo
The existing pintle hook is not round, which will work to my advantage
Made an insert, 2.25 x 1.00 with a 1.125 center hole,
that center hole will house a 1.125 x .75 bronze bushing
The outside will be taken down to be a tight fit in the 'not round' pintle hook
Drawbar and .75 grade 8 bolt will secure it all together
This will allow it to be used on the 3 point hitch as mentioned by
@BigG and @Vigo
That is a thought I guess, I might keep my eye on it. Weld County's pretty far away from me, probably three or four hours, with the price of fuel and the amount of time I'm not sure. Depends on what it's going for at the time I guess.
Yeah you got that right there's not much out there at all and I've been all over the place. I did find one that sold on Big Iron the beginning of June for around $500 and some odd dollars. But other than that absolutely nothing.
BigG
Well-known member
Equipment
l2501, FEL, BB, Rotary cutter, rake,spreader, roller, etc. New Holland TL80 A
When I was a kid we had a set of disc that were attached with a pintle hitch to the tractor. We used a clevis to hook the disc to the tractor. This arrangement allows the disc to move independent of the tractor as you crossed the plowed fields and the leveling disc was able to do its job.
Did a little more work on the pintel to drawbar conversion
Took down the metal insert to fit in the pintel end
Added a backer bar to prevent rearward movement
No bushing yet, but did a test fit, everything is nice and tight, should work well.
Bushing should arrive Monday.
Everything will be removable so going back to a straight pintel hitch will take minutes.
Took down the metal insert to fit in the pintel end
Added a backer bar to prevent rearward movement
No bushing yet, but did a test fit, everything is nice and tight, should work well.
Bushing should arrive Monday.
Everything will be removable so going back to a straight pintel hitch will take minutes.
Been a while on this project.
Lightning strike took out computer, modem security system - the list goes on and on.
Got my Starlink dish, had to get that setup.
New bushing arrived and inserted in pintle insert
Made a top plate to hold it all against the original pintle hitch
Got it all assembled and greased up
Made a couple of test passes today, works pretty good
Lots of slop in the main blade pivot point and blade mounting bolts
That will be next to fix, but useable now, happy with it!
Lightning strike took out computer, modem security system - the list goes on and on.
Got my Starlink dish, had to get that setup.
New bushing arrived and inserted in pintle insert
Made a top plate to hold it all against the original pintle hitch
Got it all assembled and greased up
Made a couple of test passes today, works pretty good
Lots of slop in the main blade pivot point and blade mounting bolts
That will be next to fix, but useable now, happy with it!
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Can you get a bushing with a shoulder on it and clean up those holes to take out the slop?
Possibly, or weld in a correct size washer to do hole repair.
3" washers are out there for the main pivot point, boy
they are sure proud of them, quite spendy.
3" washers are out there for the main pivot point, boy
they are sure proud of them, quite spendy.
Broke everything down today, greased up the main pivot point and reassembled that
Ordered some 3" ID washers and 10" Grade 8 Bolts to finish it up
These holes are not quite 3/4" any more, I'll weld in some thick
washers to remedy that, the bolt did not help matters much
Ordered some 3" ID washers and 10" Grade 8 Bolts to finish it up
These holes are not quite 3/4" any more, I'll weld in some thick
washers to remedy that, the bolt did not help matters much
Wow! Square-head offset bolts and square nuts. That's something you don't see every day.