Was thinking about turning the edges on my D4H LGP serial is in my signature line if needed. Right now the edge overlaps the moldboard by about one inch. On a farm dozer would you turn now or wait til they wear a little more on the current side? Thanks T
How badly is the moldboard itself worn.? How about a photo.? Based on the bolt location in your photo taken from the front it's worn pretty badly I would have said.
I would agree with Nige - overdue for a flip. Aftermarket cutting edges and bolts are cheaper at TEC than Thompson FWIW.
Thank you gentlemen. I’m not sure what the bottom of the moldboard should look like, but I suspect this is worn pretty badly. CM1995 I’ll give TEC a call tomorrow to check on ends and bolts from them. I need to talk to them about new track pads anyway.
Based on those photos there is at least 1" worn off the bottom of the moldboard. I would suggest to turn the edges now. The potential problem is that the lack of material on the bottom edge of the moldboard (as a result of the wear) will provide insufficient support to the cutting edges after turning. An unworn cutting edge hanging down below the moldboard will put some hellish loads on the cutting edge hardware.
I was thinking about the new edge torquing on the bolts and moldboard without adequate moldboard support as well. If I don’t turn the edges now do you guys think the moldboard will wear any faster due to the short cutting edge, or does the moldboard only wear when a cutting edge is allowed to wear down even with the moldboard? If the moldboard only wears when the cutting edge is allowed to wear even with it, then it seems to me that the moldboard did ok to support this edge to wear as far as it has. Assuming is was new when put on the machine. I don’t mind spending the money to turn the edge, I just don’t want to end up putting cracks in through the bolt holes in the moldboard from stress.
Dropped by our yard this afternoon and snapped some pics of our D5GXL. D5G is loaded on a trailer bound to the dealer to recalibrate the hydrostats so I was able to get a decent pic of the moldboard. Aftermarket end bits from TEC on the D5GXl. Not many hours on them yet. Back side of the 5's blade. IIRC it has 7K hours on it. Different angle. At least it can give an idea of how much you have left.
Thanks a ton CM1995. Looking at yours, I'm thinking mine doesn't look so bad after all. Clearly mine got worn down more at some point in its' life, but it doesn't look as bad as I thought it was. Looks like I'll start gas wrenching the bolts in the morning and call TEC. Thanks again. T
Flip it now and forget about it....leave it and it may get away from you and wear to the moldboard of which you don't have anything extra to lose. jmho
Run some high-hardness hardfacing weld on the underside of the moldboard to reduce wear on the moldboard when the edge is getting down to the moldboard edge. If you can find some of the hardfacing rod with the tungsten carbide chunks in the weld matrix, that's the way to go for moldboard edge protection.
Well when I got the cutting edges off I didn’t like what I found. Worse than I could really tell from behind. So I decided to fix it. Bought a piece of 3/4 x 1 1/4” piece of steel stock and welded it on the bottom. Looks about right now I think, as long as my welds hold.
Nice work.
Looks really good now, it should hold up well with the added support.
I would have suggested "chalky bars" welded on the bottom. The mild steel backing adds a little strength and meat to the moldboard and the carbide layer gives exceptional wear resistance. Now that an extra strip was welded on should be good but could still consider hardfacing or wear plates of some sort welded on. I'm considering if I should do something on the grader moldboard. It's worn pretty good in the center. To weld a strip on would have to make a template and then cut with a water jet or plasma torch so it doesn't warp from the heat. Something to look at next summer. I've got some new serrated edges I could bolt on. I think they'd work OK for my applications. It must have been a little fun and/or awkward welding the new piece on.
The front face was easy of course, but the back side was the bear. I pulled the front of the machine up onto a railroad tie to get the front end pitched up extra high. The right side of my moldboard was worn more than the left side. I was looking at the left side when I thought it wouldn’t be too bad. Then when I got the old sections off I was surprised to see it worn down to a couple of the bolt holes. No bueno.
Some previous operator was most problably right-handed. The same reason the RH corner bit always wears out before the LH one unless the operator is a lefty.
Been a long time since doing close to that same job. I however removed the front blade and arms complete and rolled it over with a wheel loader so the cutting edge was up top. Made it a lot easier. You done good.
Thank you. I thought about doing that and I'm sure it would have made for much better welds on the back to have it lying flat, but I just couldn't bring myself to try to fight that blade off (having never taken one off before and having very limited equipment and tooling available at the moment with no shop).
That operator should probably get his butt out of the seat and take a look at the machine once a while to check things for wear and tear so wear and tear like that doesn't happen. ugh....
It was for this job I purchased a "Heck" bevel mill and had the plate sheared for the moldboard. I used the mill to bevel both edges the length of the stock and probably got 100% penetration. However being able to roll the assembly around so all the welding was flat was a great asset.
This is the "Heck" Bevel Mill: This is after a single pass on a piece of 8" structural channel by hand. Workbench is my 1845C skid steer fork and a welder's "F" clamp: Sure is a LOT easier that grinding bevels for welding if the tool can be used. Just need to be careful and keep chattering under control as the cutter inserts are carbide and break easily.
How fast does it cut? Looks pretty handy.
I think that piece of channel was about 10" in length and it didn't take but maybe 90 seconds to put that bevel on there. The chips were blue coming off it it. It will cut very smooth if you shallow the cut down. Here is a link for this tool: https://heckind.net/product/model-8000-plate-beveler/ I purchased this one from a pawn shop of all places. Think I gave $400.00 for it but could have been a bit less. Been too many years to remember for sure. Didn't know if it would work or not as had been told about them, but never seen one. It works very well for long straight bevels and rebuilding that dozer blade was the motivation I needed at the time. You don't have to lean into it at all, just keep it pressed against the workpiece as it's heavy enough to do the work. Tooling inserts add up quickly so you want to ensure you are working in a relatively smooth surface. Hand torch cutoffs are alright if they are straight but if erratic they can be troublesome for the tool. A set of inserts last a long time if cutting sheared plate, or beveling a machined edge. It basically works like a router in wood on an edge.
Very cool. Wish I knew more about machining stuff.
If'n you got enough gumption to tackle that moldboard job, you have what it takes to build upon. Formal education is good and has it's place, but you're not going to do better than finding someone that will take you under their wing and show you the ropes no matter what you do in life.
I agree with you 100%. At the moment, I can hardly keep up with the stuff I have to do now. Just finishing up building a house and starting to clear the land to build a shop next God willing.