Made a score today! JD 54/56 Blade

Kenny, not sure if you know it or not, the way JD has the blade set is the pin goes through all the holes to lock it for down force. The other set of holes is where you put the pin through over the step in the mounting bracket. That allows the side plates to pivot and gives you a float feature. Some of the tractors this blade can fit on didn't have a float feature in the hydraulic controls.
I thought is was for pushing below grade. At least that is what the manual eluded to!
 
When mounted on Deere tractors and the pin being"locked" in, the blade will push below grade, my 54 blade on my 420 will lift the front of the tractor up about 4 to 6 inches. When I use it to push snow I move the pin to the front hole to allow the blade to ride over rocks or irregularities in the driveway.
 
When mounted on Deere tractors and the pin being"locked" in, the blade will push below grade, my 54 blade on my 420 will lift the front of the tractor up about 4 to 6 inches. When I use it to push snow I move the pin to the front hole to allow the blade to ride over rocks or irregularities in the driveway.
I'm not a fan of built-in float. I have operated all types of equipment for over 40 years and know when to adjust the hydraulics. I hate when I have to add weight to an implement to get it to 'dig'. Float sucks most of the time!
 
Depending on what you put it on, you may be surprised how fast that blade digs in. I've used mine for both, snow and gravel pushing. Sometimes I've found hydraulics weren't fast enough. Granted, most of the time I use float is doing snow removal.
 
I got the blade up on sawhorses and made a mark for the cut line to even up the bottom edge. I have to add in a section for a cutting edge to bolt to. This one is worn off past those holes.
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In this pic, you can see the top edge of the previous holes:
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Got the cutting wheel out and went to work.
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Once I had things trimmed, I made a groove/bevel to weld the blade front to the understructure. Clamped that together and put a bead along that joint.
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Got things smoothed back down.

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Today, I will be fitting the new metal/cutting egde.
 
It was too wet to work on it. Got more rain coming this morning, so I doubt I'll get much done again.
 
I got to work on this some today. I tacked the new parts on. I may be a couple degrees off.
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But I went ahead and welded the back solid. Flipped it and welded the seam in front up.
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A little massaging with the grinder and flap disc and it's done.
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Too damp here to clean any more for paint prep!
 
No pics, but yesterday I used a flap disc on the front side to clean most of the rust off and gave it a coat of Rust Reformer. About ready to put it together and figure out the mount for the lift cylinder. I'll bring my new trailer up to set the tractor and plow on for mocking that all up. There will be pics for all that.
 
Going to upgrade to a two or three spool?
I have a 3-spool, but cannot install it in place of the original. Steering column is in the way.

I used the new trailer for a good flat surface to finish up the blade lift. Worked real good.
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Allowed me to get things going in the right direction.
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Found the measurements I needed and got the lift cylinder mounted. I have 7.5" of lift.
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Here's the upper mount.
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Took me a couple of years to get my 54 blade setup for my 420, started out with a 300 series mount and only the lift cylinder, then a piece here, a piece there.
 
Started applying some finish paint to things the last couple days. I got the back side of the blade in primer.
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Got some other parts done up.
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And the first coat on the back side.
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Gotta flip it over and prime then paint the front side. When it's dry enough, I'll flip it and finish the back side. This sucker is heavy!
 
Here's more on the painting. Front side:
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Got it flipped over and another coat on the back:
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Saved a couple decals, including this one:
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Couldn't save the 2-legged deere, though.
 
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