Lifting capacity of a 420's 62 blade

[Paul Buhler]

One thing about a 63 blade is that it lends itself very well to making home made attachments. All you need to do is pull the two telescoping link out of the main frame and you can make about anything you want to go back in there.
Lavoy

Having seen this comment, I was wondering if my 420 with a 62 blade would handle forks and a load so I could move around palletized firewood - approx. 1/4 cord loads. Thanks

[gregjo1948]

Hi Paul,
I would say it should easily lift your firewood. I think I,d build straps fastened to the forks that you can drive under with the blade. With the forks flat on the ground, the blade down to the ground, straps up the front of the blade-over the top of the blade-down the back of the blade. Like hooks. Lift the blade and drive away without touching any pins or anything. It should lift plenty high enough to carry a pallet of wood.You could even easily change the width or use just one if desired. gregjo1948

[notmeu]

Hello Paul, I recently took a look at the packing inside my original cylinders that were on my 420. My cylinders only had a O-ring where the pressure was applied to move the piston inside the cylinder, the cylinders that are used today have a cup that expands against the cylinder to better seal the pressures. I personally would not trust the old style cylinder for holding any weight. That being said, that is why I switched to new tie-rod cylinders. The blade doesn't move up and down at all while pushing.

[Lavoy]

Something is odd, 62 blade uses to cup type leather seals on the piston, if you had one with anything other than that, it has been changed from factory.
Blade should lift a ton or so. I know I have carried the butt end of more than a few crawlers around over the years. Always thought about doing exactly what you are talking about, but I was going to make arms that telescope into the blade frame with the blade removed. I would not hook anything to the blade to do it, the parts on the back of the blade that connect the blade to the arms are pricey or non-existent, I would never run the risk of breaking them. It is not hard to take the blade arms out, just pull the pins and back away.
Lavoy

[JimAnderson]

Paul,
The blade on the 62 is heavy.You shouldn't have any problem lifting
a quarter of a cord of fire wood.One way to see what it will lift is
to chain a log to the blade.In my opinion I'd go for it.Luck,JimAnderson

[notmeu]

Something is odd, 62 blade uses to cup type leather seals on the piston, if you had one with anything other than that, it has been changed from factory.

Lavoy, I wouldn't think that the cylinders would be different but I have a Greenville Railcar Bull Blade. It's hard to say what happened to my crawler before I got it!!

[Paul Buhler]

Thanks for all the suggestions and thoughts. We use hook-over forks on snow cats to move dumpsters around the mountain, and that's what got me thinking. I was wondering if the 420's hydraulics could handle the load and what impacts there might be on the crawler overall with a leveraged load out front. I like Lavoy's suggestion - some rectangular stock welded to some forks that replace the blade may work well. Keeps the load closer and doesn't compromise the blade parts. It should not be a big deal to figure out a blocking system to take the blade on and off quickly. My winch will act as a counterweight to some extent, and with the blade weight removed the wood load should be manageable. Now to find some inexpensive forks. I'll keep you posted.

128 cubic feet times 40 pounds per cubic foot (a conservative number for green oak a dense wood) = 5120 pounds
So I may be asking the dozer to lift and carry up to 1280 lbs. (.25 x 5120)
my wood is usually maple, beech, birch - somewhat lighter/less dense.

[Tigerhaze]

Hi Paul-

FYI a couple of my estimating resources indicate that maple ranges between 32 and 47 pcf, beech between 32 and 56 pcf, and birch around 41 to 42 pcf depending on species. Oak is shown as ranging between 37 and 60 pcf again depending on species. I didn't know how conservative you want to make your design so thought I would mention that.

[Paul Buhler]

Tigerhaze:
I found similar numbers, so chose to use a "reasonable" number. A dozer with a heavy weight on the nose puts unusual persistent strain on the front idlers and rolls. Similar, but less than what a backhoe puts on the finals of a bladed dozer. So I want to feel assured that what I am considering is worth doing. A simple skid on each pallet might lighten the load without tearing up the yard too much. Thanks for your research. Paul