Walk-Behind Dozer Blade For Snow, Dirt

Walk-Behind Dozer Blade For Snow,Dirt MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT 21-6-27 Albert McWhorter wanted a utility blade that would be handier to use than a pickup or tractor-mounted blade. So the Taylorville, Ill., retired farmer came up with a small self-propelled, dozer-type push rig to remove snow and grade his 100-ft. driveway. "It's easy to handle and maneuver," McWhorter says. "Best of all, it cost practically nothing to build. Just $6 for the engine I got from the junk yard." He used the differential and 4-speed transmission out of an old garden tractor a friend gave him. He bolted together a 3-ft. long by 1 1/2-ft. wide frame for the machine built out of scrap sq. channel iron. The unit, which is equipped with original tires off the garden tractor, is powered by a 6 hp Briggs and Stratton engine. He mounted it toward the rear of the transmission to balance the rig perfectly so there's no weight on the lawn mower handlebars he uses to push it. McWhorter mounted a 3-ft. wide blade off an old garden tractor on front of the machine. To follow the contour of his driveway, the blade floats 1 ft. up and down on a pin underneath each side of the rear end and a chain in the center. Angle can be changed by changing position of a pin in factory bored holes in the back of the blade's mounting bracket. A 2-in. dia. horizontal pulley and home-built belt tightener clutch operate the gears from a cable on the handlebars. A muffler off a junked motorcycle mounts vertically on a rod on the left side of the machine. McWhorter removed the insides so it would let enough exhaust escape. "It does a beautiful job leveling the driveway," says McWhorter who built the machine last summer. "I haven't used it for snow yet, but it should handle at least 1 1/2-ft. drifts easily since that's how high the blade is." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Albert McWhorter, 1009 S. Shumway, Taylorville, Ill. 62568 (ph 217 287-7708).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.