Cab, Side-Mount Blade Added To Deere Tractor

Cab, Side-Mount Blade Added To Deere Tractor TRACTORS Miscellaneous 34-2-17 "After I bought my 2005 Deere 2210 tractor, I made a cab for it that's 6 in. shorter than Deere's cab so I can fit the tractor into my garage. I also added a side-mounted blade to use with my loader bucket for plowing snow," says Dick Kast, Fairmont, Minn. Kast has a pellet-burning stove in his garage and wanted to use the tractor to haul wood pellets to it. However, the factory cab on the Deere tractor would've been too tall to fit under the garage door. "The Deere cab was 77 in. off the ground, whereas my cab is only 71 in.," he says. "I think my cab also looks better than the Deere cab because it's better proportioned." The cab is fitted with a heater, windshield wiper, radio, and interior lights. He used 18-ga. sheet metal to build the sides of the cab and then mounted a Cozy Cab roof on it. The door windows are made from Lexan plastic, while the windshield and back windows are made from safety glass. The cab bolts to the tractor's rollbar using existing holes in the tractor frame. Kast says the side-mounted blade works better than front or rear-mounted commercial blades because it catches any snow that comes off the side of the bucket. "Instead of making only a 50-in. pass with just the loader bucket, the blade can push the snow out another 50 in.," says Kast. The blade measure 18 in. high by 6 ft. long and is made from a piece of 3/16-in. thick steel. A local welding shop cut out the blade while the cutting edge came from a highway department maintenance shop. The front end of the blade pivots on the axle off an old Ford pickup that's inserted through a hole drilled into a steel tube. The front end of the blade is raised or lowered by a cable that runs over a pulley and attaches to a linear activator. The back end of the blade attaches to a telescoping metal tube that's connected to the tractor's 3-pt. hitch. The distance between the back end of the blade and the tractor can be adjusted by changing the position of a pin in the telescoping tube. "I'd prefer to have a hydraulic-operated telescoping tube but my tractor doesn't have any hydraulics," says Kast. "I can adjust the blade anywhere from 4 ft. out or flush with the tractor by simply moving the pin." A weight box on back of the tractor helps with traction and is made from 3/16-in. thick metal. It can handle up to 5 weights weighing 80 lbs. apiece. Kast says he spent about $500 on the cab and $100 on the blade and weight box. He says the tractor and blade are for sale. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dick Kast, 2109 95th St., Fairmont, Minn. 56031 (ph 507 235-6050; dixstir@bevcomm.net).

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