- Joined
- Nov 25, 2016
- Messages
- 175
I initially purchased a 10 year old MF TLB to clean up a bunch of microburst and snow-destruction to a wooded area on the back of my property. I'd been using a Sears 1000 for snow removal for at least 15 years and had come to loathe the change-over to/from snow mode on that. Quite possibly the most ill-conceived designed thing in my life to date. In pursuit of a better snow experience, I did the following:
The lighting was added shortly thereafter since the machine was actually useful now Two forward and two reverse 1800 lumen LED heads were added up high and provide great lighting in the snow but also when using the backhoe at the end of the day into full darkness. More than enough. The two incandescent lights that came with it weren't wasted and light your 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock positions. I'll probably replace those with two more LED heads at some point. The part of this add that made it work though was the mount. For the design height I wanted, it would not fit into the tractor barn which went up after the lights were added. The solution was to add a heavy duty hinge just below the desired height on the angle-iron support and use a cam-over locking lever to secure it in place. You need to pay attention to the mating of the two halves (maximize contact area) so they don't vibrate loose. Used a light bar controller for emergency vehicles to control the front/rear/side lighting. Worked great.. pix here though it appears I never took any of the articulating part: https://www.flickr.com/photos/147353812@N04/sets/72157680203590645/
Busted my neck twice and my back twice enjoying life and don't turn great anymore. Added a cheapo backup cam which I do believe saved a family member's butt who thought it brilliant to approach a working tractor from it's blind side:
Finally, as I did not want to go broke buying shear bolts, I added a scheme to elevate/terrain-follow the blower above the trap rock that constitutes a large area (shed.. tractor barn.. two trailers.. path). I spent a full summer thinking out options and after becoming unfixated on an approach based on skis, I settled on wheels. Initially pneumatic (SUCKS trying to get it back on the rim in 0-deg air and inflate it) and then solid... Harbor Freight. The wheels move up and down in a mount that allows for 1/2" resolution (two holes 0.5" apart on the other bar and 1" on the inner). Provides good buoyancy on unfrozen track rock and perfect on frozen (duh. I will eventually sister up a second wheel on each side to double the contact area but it's not urgent. Pix: https://www.flickr.com/photos/147353812@N04/sets/72157676659483614/
- Added the user-hostile factory snow blower
- Made the user-hostile factory blower more friendly
- Added significant fore/aft/side lighting
- Added a backup cam
- Added a scheme to float the blower above the large tracts of trap rock I have connecting the shed/tractor "barn"/front/back.
The lighting was added shortly thereafter since the machine was actually useful now Two forward and two reverse 1800 lumen LED heads were added up high and provide great lighting in the snow but also when using the backhoe at the end of the day into full darkness. More than enough. The two incandescent lights that came with it weren't wasted and light your 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock positions. I'll probably replace those with two more LED heads at some point. The part of this add that made it work though was the mount. For the design height I wanted, it would not fit into the tractor barn which went up after the lights were added. The solution was to add a heavy duty hinge just below the desired height on the angle-iron support and use a cam-over locking lever to secure it in place. You need to pay attention to the mating of the two halves (maximize contact area) so they don't vibrate loose. Used a light bar controller for emergency vehicles to control the front/rear/side lighting. Worked great.. pix here though it appears I never took any of the articulating part: https://www.flickr.com/photos/147353812@N04/sets/72157680203590645/
Busted my neck twice and my back twice enjoying life and don't turn great anymore. Added a cheapo backup cam which I do believe saved a family member's butt who thought it brilliant to approach a working tractor from it's blind side:
Finally, as I did not want to go broke buying shear bolts, I added a scheme to elevate/terrain-follow the blower above the trap rock that constitutes a large area (shed.. tractor barn.. two trailers.. path). I spent a full summer thinking out options and after becoming unfixated on an approach based on skis, I settled on wheels. Initially pneumatic (SUCKS trying to get it back on the rim in 0-deg air and inflate it) and then solid... Harbor Freight. The wheels move up and down in a mount that allows for 1/2" resolution (two holes 0.5" apart on the other bar and 1" on the inner). Provides good buoyancy on unfrozen track rock and perfect on frozen (duh. I will eventually sister up a second wheel on each side to double the contact area but it's not urgent. Pix: https://www.flickr.com/photos/147353812@N04/sets/72157676659483614/