Modernized Deere B Tractor Fitted With Snowplow

2010 - Volume #34, Issue #1, Page #28

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"I've used it to move hundreds of tons of snow during the past 30 years," says John Bipes, Mankato, Minn., about the 6-ft. snowplow he mounted on front of his old Deere B tractor.
    The snowplow was made by cutting apart an old water tank and adding a hardened steel edge off a road grader blade. The blade can be raised and lowered by activating a hydraulic pump that's belt-driven off the tractor's flywheel.
    Other changes that Bipes made to the tractor include the addition of amber/blue strobe lights, mounted front and rear, which increase the tractor's street visibility. He got tired of crank starting the tractor so he added the starter motor off a 1986 Toyota pickup. He also added an alternator and regulator to power a pair of headlamps.
    "I use it to clear a 150-ft. long, double-wide city driveway, as well as to clear snow from around my woodpile and paver-stone patio," says Bipes. "All the changes I made to the tractor were made in such a way as to preserve the tractor for possible restoration later, perhaps by some future owner. Everything I added can be unbolted and unbelted to return the tractor to its original condition."
    Bipes says that although his snowplow is basically a push plow, the blade is free to float at an angle from side to side. "If the blade accidentally hits a concrete curb, it tilts forward on a pair of 1/2-in. mild steel hinge bolts (which also act as shear pins) and is snapped back into plowing position by a pair of coil springs off a garage door. Large adjustment bolts with pin-handles welded to them allow me to manually adjust the attack angle at which the blade makes contact with the ground."
    The 250-lb. plow is lifted by a discarded Jeep single action cylinder and pump, which is belt-driven off the tractor flywheel. The pump and valve body are bolted to a bracket that bolts onto the tractor's left rear axle. The blade is raised by a pair of lift arms, which are welded to opposite ends of a 1-in. dia. length of Jeep axle that's free to rotate about 1/4 turn. Flat steel fulcrum plates, through which the axle shaft rotates, bolt onto the tractor's horizontal rails.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Bipes, 906 Adams St., Mankato, Minn. 56001 (ph 507 387-3840).

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Modernized Deere B Tractor Fitted With Snowplow SNOWBLOWERS Snowblowers 34-1-28 "I've used it to move hundreds of tons of snow during the past 30 years," says John Bipes, Mankato, Minn., about the 6-ft. snowplow he mounted on front of his old Deere B tractor. The snowplow was made by cutting apart an old water tank and adding a hardened steel edge off a road grader blade. The blade can be raised and lowered by activating a hydraulic pump that's belt-driven off the tractor's flywheel. Other changes that Bipes made to the tractor include the addition of amber/blue strobe lights, mounted front and rear, which increase the tractor's street visibility. He got tired of crank starting the tractor so he added the starter motor off a 1986 Toyota pickup. He also added an alternator and regulator to power a pair of headlamps. "I use it to clear a 150-ft. long, double-wide city driveway, as well as to clear snow from around my woodpile and paver-stone patio," says Bipes. "All the changes I made to the tractor were made in such a way as to preserve the tractor for possible restoration later, perhaps by some future owner. Everything I added can be unbolted and unbelted to return the tractor to its original condition." Bipes says that although his snowplow is basically a push plow, the blade is free to float at an angle from side to side. "If the blade accidentally hits a concrete curb, it tilts forward on a pair of 1/2-in. mild steel hinge bolts (which also act as shear pins) and is snapped back into plowing position by a pair of coil springs off a garage door. Large adjustment bolts with pin-handles welded to them allow me to manually adjust the attack angle at which the blade makes contact with the ground." The 250-lb. plow is lifted by a discarded Jeep single action cylinder and pump, which is belt-driven off the tractor flywheel. The pump and valve body are bolted to a bracket that bolts onto the tractor's left rear axle. The blade is raised by a pair of lift arms, which are welded to opposite ends of a 1-in. dia. length of Jeep axle that's free to rotate about 1/4 turn. Flat steel fulcrum plates, through which the axle shaft rotates, bolt onto the tractor's horizontal rails. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Bipes, 906 Adams St., Mankato, Minn. 56001 (ph 507 387-3840).

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