Mini Ex Dozer blade Extensions

[Wee Jim]

When I bought my first JCB the extensions were missing but I got them thrown in as I bought it from a dealer and the sales man said it should have them so they were thrown in! I can imagine they are not cheap but maybe cheaper to make something to fit rather than buy new ones. When I got my new ones there was an inch or so difference between new extensions and the worn blade!

[Muz]

When I got my new ones there was an inch or so difference between new extensions and the worn blade!

You mean on the depth of the cutting edge ?

[Drummournie]

Theres a smiddy down the road, i thought about making a template of the existing blade and asking him to fabricate a set , however the issue is he's an unhelpful bar steward at the best of times and a wee job like this is maybe destined to get on his bad side......

[Wee Jim]

You mean on the depth of the cutting edge ?

Aye there was like an inch or so difference due to wear

[Muz]

Aye there was like an inch or so difference due to wear

Wonder if they were the wrong ones then or the design was changed in the machine ? theres not normally more than half an inch to 3/4 of a cutting edge protrusion AFAIK .. and it would take a hoor of an amount of blade work to wear that off .. Not impossible right enough I remember a few of my older mini's with the front blade skin bulged out from muck getting packed between the face and the internals, as the cutting edge had worn right through. I dont think they used proper hard face on them.. pretty poor really, and they were Kubotas too

[Wee Jim]

When I bought the digger I have now there was hardly any cutting edge on the blade after 670 hours I reckon it had pushed a lot on tar etc and wore it down fast as the tracks were real worn too so I got them to put a whole brand new blade on it! Dundee council bought diggers and didn't want the blades so there was new one spare! In fact it's the new style blade where the extensions turn round into the blade and don't come off.

[Muz]

In fact it's the new style blade where the extensions turn round into the blade and don't come off.

Actually its quite an issue about how they get stowed .. Ive seen several designs. The old Volvo EC15 XTV's were not a good one as the extensions got pinned onto the dozer arms when not in use .. it wasn't good because inevitably the operator would get some shit on top of the blade .. small rocks or bricks .. would slew round with the blade behind and then lift it before moving off .. boom .. burst engine sump pan

(I will split this off Drummournie's thread eventually as its of interest)

Can you stick up pics of your set up Jim .. as I will do ?

Cheers

[245dlc]

I rented a Bobcat mini last year about 1.5 tonne or so and it had these slide on blade extensions that would have to be pinned in to place after you narrowed down the blade or widened it. But when I went to narrow it down so I could fit the machine through the yard gate the rail they slid on was bent and everything was packed with mud and gravel so I just removed them completely. I didn't use the blade much for that little job just some fine grading after I filled the trench in. Luckily the rental place was understanding when I told them I couldn't slide the extension on or off. I know on the bigger machines maybe about 3 tonne and up with Kubota at least you can get bolt on replaceable cutting edges for the dozer blades and their also selling some machines among the various brands with angle blades like on some dozers.

[Muz]

their also selling some machines among the various brands with angle blades like on some dozers.

Havent seen those yet .. I dont really use the blade much anyway. the arm lengths never seem to suit the undercarriage length and it makes it hard to control when pushing. Dragging on dry soil can be very useful though and can make an excellent job. Its mostly just a glorified stabiliser to me ?

Anyhoo heres the simplest ones I have on the 3/4 tonne micro's

IMG_3719.jpg

They tuck in quite nicely behind the blade when not in use, and only use a single pin to fit. They are a bit slack though, although you can just see a bolt adjuster to take that up

The biggest problem is the top and bottom plates splay appart a bit .. especially if the blade extension rests on a rock or something when its stowed and the blade is pushed down

[Wee Jim]

Here is mine on my JCB 8018

[Muz]

Here is mine on my JCB 8018

Do they just fold back round and pin behind the blade for storage Jim ?

[Wee Jim]

Do they just fold back round and pin behind the blade for storage Jim ?

Yeah exactly that! Just move the pin into another hole to hold them back. I rarely have my tracks in never mind the blade folded back.

[245dlc]

I found some pictures from a Terex 5 tonner of a 4 way angle blade I think Kubota had at least one maybe two models with an optional 6 way blade so you could dip either corner down like on some dozers.

[Muz]

Good find Bert .. Interesting For an angle blade .. I assume you would really need a lot of weight on the carrier to make it work ? .. depends on the material being dozed I suppose ..

[245dlc]

Well like Ian has said to me in the past the travel motors aren't really built for heavy dozing and he said a friend of his had a motor failure because of that fact. I usually use them as more of an outrigger especially with a smaller machine like the Micro's and 1.5 tonners. But sometimes after backfilling a trench or when needing to spread some finer material like topsoil, sand, or gravel or just pushing a small pile together I'll use the dozer blade. I think the angle blade on a larger machine would be nice for people that occasionally need to pad out a gravel drive and maybe a skid-steer or wheel loader isn't available, I tend to think of it as more of a cleanup tool at that point.