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"Built To Last" 3-Pt. Blade
Brandon Janssen made his first 3-pt. blade out of oil well pipe when he was 15 years old. A neighbor is still using it 27 years later, and Janssen is still building them as heavy as he can make them with full hydraulic control. He did go from a single cylinder to full hydraulic angle and offset control with double cyli
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ęBuilt To Last" 3-Pt. Blade MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 34-2-11 Brandon Janssen made his first 3-pt. blade out of oil well pipe when he was 15 years old. A neighbor is still using it 27 years later, and Janssen is still building them as heavy as he can make them with full hydraulic control. He did go from a single cylinder to full hydraulic angle and offset control with double cylinders for on-the-go control. However, he kept the same built-to-last fabrication technique he used in that first blade.
"My dad had a blade made for him, but it was built too light and didn't work well," recalls Janssen. "I was learning to weld, so I cut one out of 36-in. dia. oil field tubing. That first one doesn't look as good as the ones I make now, but it still works fine."
Janssen still makes blades out of 3/8 or 1/2-in., 36-in. dia. oil field pipe. The blades are higher than most, running 29 in. on the larger models. On 140 hp and above rated blades, the main frame is made out of 3/8-in. thick, 10-in. dia. pipe. Blade width goes up with horsepower rating. The 140 and above is 10 ft. wide, while the 150 and above is 12 ft. The rear turret bushing is 8-in. dia., 3/4-in. steel. All cylinder and 3-pt. mounts are 3/4-in., QT-100 steel (tempered, carbon steel plate). The front hinge is 6-in. dia., 1/2-in. wall pipe. Cylinders on these large blades have 5-in. bores.
"I make them heavy enough that you can use them like a dozer blade, but on your 3-pt.," says Janssen. "That way, if you change tractors, they will still fit. They're a cost effective alternative to a front mount blade."
Janssen's smallest blade is a Category 1, 6-ft. wide blade for 25 to 45 hp tractors. It has 8-in. by 2 1/2-in. cylinders and a 20-in. blade. Mounts are made with 3/8-in. QT-100 plate. The frame is made with pipe ranging from 2 3/8 in. to 4 in.
"Only the Category 1 blade is thinner than 3/8-in.," says Janssen. "The blades built for 150 hp and bigger tractors use 1/2-in. steel. All blades have replaceable cutting edges, and even the Category 1 blade is construction-duty rated."
Prices on these rugged blades range from $3,500 for the Category 1 blade to about $7,000 for the 10-ft. Category 2 blade. All prices are in Canadian dollars. Hydraulic tilt is also available, but at an added cost.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tubalcain Technologies, P.O. Box 75, Vega, Alta., T0G 2H0 Canada (ph 780 674-5920; www.tubalcaintechnologies.com).
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