IMCO grader blade

[Dave in MS]

Need to know how to replace bearing in a vintage 3 point IMCO grader blade. At least remove the top cap from the spindle housing. Appreciate any help

 

[Charles in Aus.]

Look underneath the pivot area , there may be a very large bolt head , if it's there it will need to be loosened. I'm fairly sure it is similar to the early Ferguson blade,
the bolt threads into the cap , there may also be a huge lock nut under the cap, if so it will need to be freed

 

[Dave in MS]

No dice but thanks for responding. I will post a pic of it with the blade removed later today.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

No dice but thanks for responding. I will post a pic of it with the blade removed later today.

It would be interesting to see , glad you managed to free it .

 

[Dave in MS]

I half assed fixed it. It's not the kind of work that I'm used to doing but it'd done and it will have to do. I lent this thing to my bil over a year ago, then he lent it to someone else who broke it and welded it back crooked so that the index pin wouldn't fit through the holes. He must have welded it with the pin in the center hole cause I had a heck of a time getting it out. Many days of soaking with penetrant, and many cuss words before it came out. I was going to torch off the carppy welds and straighten out the spindle housing but discovered that my oxygen was empty Thus the hack job. I drilled each index hole so that the pin would go in. It looks ok, nobody will know but me and it indexes like it should. Besides I bought it used more than thirty years ago, and could count the times using it on one hand. Now I need it to backfill a trench I dug to bury a wire to my new shop.

 

[TomA in CA]

Those grader blades are a great tool. Even a beat up old worn out one can do good work. Can save a lot of hand work with a shovel.

 

[Dave in MS]

Did a great job in a lot less time than with a shovel and a rake. 150 foot trench took about ten minutes counting getting the tractor ready. this of course after removing and machining the index pin which had frozen in place again. Actually, when I tried it out the other day it hit a couble of roots and bent the plate that the index pin goes through and locked the pin in the hole. I didnt notice the bent plate until taking the blade off the mount so I could drive the pin out. The plate was only welded where they could get at it which let it bend up and bind the pin. I'd like to get my hands on the guy that thinks he had fixied it to begin with. I'll take a pic of the plate tomorrow, but I'm not going to spend more time on it. It's not right, but it works.

 

[47fivewindow]

If I am out of oxygen all of my equipment looses its fear of me and instantly quits.

 

[TomA in CA]

I have been suffering from oxygen deprivation here since 2023 when the wildfire went through and took out my shop. We were insured and spent months listing everything we lost. I had reported the loss of the cylinder to the store and stopped getting a bill for the rental. A while back I went in to get a replacement and the head lady started threatening me about $600 for the cylinder. If they had told me at the time I could have claimed it on the insurance. Now I am getting a bill again. I am going to have to go to some far away place to get oxygen.

 

[Dave in MS]

Nice friendly business.