Our mini-tractor's first implement will work with any Category 0 tractor hitch!
A HOMEBREWED SCRAPE BLADE
Just last year, in MOTHER NO. 78 (on
page 172), we completed a three-part fea-
ture article about a sturdy homebuilt mini-
tractor that our research crew put together
for about half the price of the factory-made
offerings. The photos included in that piece
depicted a handy little Category 0 scrape
blade that, if you remember, we promised
to detail in a future issue . . . and, with the
winter season upon us, we thought that now
would be a perfect time to describe the
construction of that particularly versatile
implement.
The heart of our budget blade is nothing
more than a 12" X 48" section cut from the
wall of a discarded water-heater tank. With
its fairly heavy-gauge material and ideal
contour, it provides an excellent starting
point, but be aware that—unless you can lo-
cate a 66- or 82-gallon "highboy"-style tank
(these models have a diameter of at least
20", and a length of 48" or more)—you'll
have to cut two sections from a short, squat
tank (30-, 40-, or 52-gallon capacity), and
then weld them together to achieve the
desired dimensions. Keep in mind, too, that
galvanized vessels give off harmful fumes
when welded, so you may want to limit
your search to standard black steel tanks.
To prevent the blade from flexing under
stress, you'll need to weld stiffeners to its
back to form a perimetric framework. The
horizontal ones are 45-1/2" long, and can be
made from 1/4" X1" angle iron. The ver-
tical braces—which have to assume the
curve of the tank—can be either cut from
1/4" plate or formed (with heat) from 1/4"
X 1-1/4" X 12" flat stock.
Once all that's done, you can tackle the
blade's main frame. It consists of an 11-
MATERIAL
water-heater tank wall
(2) 1/4" X 1 " X 45-1/2" angle iron
(2) 1/4" X 1-1/4" X 12" flat stock
1-5/8" X 4" X 21-1/2" 11-gauge
rectangular tubular steel
1-5/8" X 4" X 18-1/4" 11-gauge
rectangular tubular steel
1-3/4" X 27" steel tubing
(2) 1/4" X 1-1/2" X 2-1/2" flat stock
(3) 1/4" X 1-1/2" X 4" flat stock
(2) 5 / 8 " X 3" cold-rolled rod
1/2" X 1 " X 6" flat plate
1 / 2 " X 2" X 6" Hat plate
1/2" X 4" X 6" flat plate
1-1/2" X 5-1/2" cold-rolled rod
1/2" X 4" X 5-1/2" flat plate
1-1/2" X 3-3/8" Schedule 40 pipe
1/2" X 8" flat plate
1/2" X 2-1/2" X 6-1/2" flat plate
1/2" X 1" X 8" flat plate
1-1/2" X 1 1 " cold-rolled rod
1/2" X 8" flat plate
1-1/2" X 7" Schedule 40 pipe
1-1/2" X 2" Schedule 40 pipe
(2) 1/4" X 2-1/2" flat plate
(2) 1/4" X 2" cotter pins
(2) 1/4" X 4-1/2" X 7" flat plate
158
gauge rectangular tubular steel base (mea-
suring 1-5/8" X 4" X 21-1/2") that's fas-
tened at right angles to a 1-5/8" X 4" X
18-1/4" arm made of the same material. Of
course, if you have stock of another size ly-
ing around, use it . . . because a substantial
piece of square, round, or even channel
steel will work just as well.
On the upper surface of the main frame
we've installed a top link wishbone formed
from a 27" length of 1-3/4 "-diameter tub-
ing. The crown of this hoop-shaped hanger
should be about 10 inches above the base
beam, and a pair of 1/4" X 1-1/2" X 2-1/2"
top link pin brackets must be welded above
this. (To position them correctly, use the
rod end joint on the top link as a drilling
and spacing guide). Although we employed
a section of preformed roll bar when build-
ing this wishbone, muffler tubing or 1/2"
flat bar stock—bent to shape—could serve
the same purpose.
The ends of the main frame are capped
with 1/4" X 1-1/2" X 4" plates . . . but, be-
fore beading them in place, you'll have to
center-drill them with a 5/8" bit and weld
the 5/8" X 3" hitch pins from the back side.
A third, undrilled, plate covers the front
end of the frame's arm.
Like any conventional scraping blade,
ours is designed to pivot on both a horizon-
tal and a vertical plane to execute various
kinds of cuts. Start fabricating the horizon-
tal pivot by cutting the three 1/2" X 6"
swivel-bracket sections to 1", 2", and 4"
widths as shown in the diagram (J, K, and
L). Clamp the 2" and 4" pieces together
and drill the three 1/2" locking pin holes
(1-1/2 inches apart and on a 2-1/4" radius),
then use a 1-1/2" hole saw to bore another
PURPOSE (LOCATION)
scraper blade (A)
horizontal blade stiffeners (B)
vertical blade stiffeners (C)
main frame base (D)
main frame arm (E)
top link wishbone (F)
top link pin brackets (G)
main frame end plates (H)
hitch pins (I)
horizontal swivel bracket (J)
horizontal swivel bracket (K)
horizontal swivel bracket (L)
horizontal pivot shaft (M)
horizontal pivot plate (N)
horizontal pivot collar (0)
vertical swivel bracket (P)
vertical swivel bracket (Q)
vertical swivel bracket (R)
vertical pivot shaft (S)
vertical pivot plate (T)
vertical pivot collar (U)
vertical bracket collar (V)
flat washers (W)
cotter pins (X)
blade-fastening gussets (Y)
opening (it must be centered over that
axis).
At this point, you can make up the hori-
zontal pivot shaft by grinding and drilling a
1-1/2" X 5-1/2" cold-rolled rod . . . forming
a 45° l/2"-deep bevel at one end and a 1/4"
hole through the other. Weld the beveled
end of this shaft to the 1/2" X 4" X 6"
swivel-bracket section (the "slice" offers an
increased surface area to assure a strong
joint), and fasten that piece to the rear of
the blade frame's arm.
You'll now need to fabricate two 1/2" X
8" round steel disks (for the vertical pivot)
and a 1/2" X 5-1/2" disk to serve as the hori-
zontal pivot plate. The 5-1/2 "-diameter
component should be given a 1-1/2" center
hole, and then a 1-1/2" X 3-3/8" section of
pipe—the horizontal pivot collar—must be
aligned and welded over the opening. Next,
bevel and drill the 1-1/2" X 11" vertical
pivot shaft just as you did the horizontal
pinion, and attach it perpendicularly to the
horizontal pivot collar, taking care not to
extend the bead any farther down the rod
than is necessary to fill the joint.
The lower half of the vertical swivel
bracket can now be formed from a 1/2" X
2-1/2" X 6-1/2" section of flat plate. When
that's done, the steel crescent can be
clamped to one of the 1/2" X 8" disks you
made previously, and three 1/2" holes can
be drilled through both pieces—spaced
1-3/4" apart—near the edge. Then separate
the pieces . . . drill a 1-1/2" bore through
the center of the full circle . . . weld the
1-1/2" X 2" vertical bracket collar over that
hole . . . slip this assembly over the vertical
pivot shaft and join both pipe collars to-
gether at their union . . . and go on to weld
the collars and the internal shaft together as
one, using a full, penetrating bead.
Next, lift the entire assembly and slide it
onto the horizontal pivot shaft, and lock it
in place with a flat washer and a cotter pin.
(This washer, as well as the one you'll later
use on the vertical shaft, can be made from
1/4" plate and center-bored with a 1-1/2"
metal-cutting hole saw.)
Now, you're ready to finish up the hori-
zontal swivel bracket by fastening the back
and the top pieces to the 1/2" X 4" X 6"
component, thereby forming a housing
around the horizontal pivot plate. That
semicircular unit can then be drilled—using
the holes already in the bracket as a guide—
allowing the blade to be set at a number of
horizontal angles. (Start by making the ini-
tial 1/2" hole that will position the scraper
at dead level . . . then, to the right and left
of that, make two more receivers 3/4 inch
away, and drill the last two openings at
points 3/16 inch from the second two.)
The vertical swivel bracket is made in
much the same way. First, bore a 1-1/2"
opening in the center of your last 8 "-diam-
eter disk, then weld the 1-1/2" X 7" pipe
over that hole. Slide this collar-and-plate
assembly onto the vertical pivot shaft, and
hold it with the flat washer and a cotter pin,
as before.
THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS"
 With that done, form the curved part of
the vertical bracket from a 1/2" X 1" X 8"
flat plate (which should match the contour
of an 8"-diameter circle), and weld it to
both the crescent-shaped piece you cut ear-
lier and the 1/2" X 8"-round vertical brack-
et component already fastened to the collar
. . . with the 1/2" X 8" vertical pivot plate
between. Once more, drill a series of 1/2"
holes through the pivot plate so that the
blade can be angled . . . but this time repeat
the set, positioning these end series directly
opposite your first group so that the scrap-
TRACTOR SCRAPE BLADE
N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 1983
er can be completely turned around if the pattern to 1/4" plate steel, and cut out
necessary. the parts. Weld them between the collar
To attach the blade to the frame, you'll and the upper half of the blade . . . and your
first have to hitch that carriage to the rear of implement is complete!
your tractor, using the side pins and the top Of course, you'll need to make two lock-
link as you would normally. Level the ing pins from 1/2" X 2" bolts (bent sections
frame, then lay the blade in position against of 1/4" rod welded to the heads make nice
the vertical pivot collar with the bottom handles), and you'll probably want to paint
edge forward of the top one (assuming, nat- the blade and frame. Other than that,
urally, that the concave surface is toward though, the only addition you might consid-
the front). Now, make a cardboard template er is a 1/4" X 2" X 48" face bar, to save the
of the two blade-fastening gussets to make water tank skin's cutting edge from exces-
sure that the contours are correct, transfer sive wear under rough conditions. S
[1] The homebuilt blade can be used to push—
or draw—with equal ease. [2] A vertical pivot
allows a full range of scrape angles for such
tasks as grading and smoothing. Note the rein-
forcing framework at the blade's edges, [3] A
horizontal pivot enables the cutter to be used
jor shallow ditching and crowning.
159