# Back drag balde



## VThick (Nov 26, 2003)

People have been asking how I built my back-drag blade so I thought I share how I made it.
Here are some pics, and the list of materials with dimensions on how to build a back drag.

1 cutting edge.

2 pieces of 1/2 inch steel plate iron 6 inches in length.

2 pieces of 2x2 1/2 inch thick angle iron 10 inches in length.

Take the plate iron and the angle iron (see pics) mate them together with a pair of vice grips and drill a hole through the both of them, I think I used a 1/2 or 5/8 inch bolt. Use one with some beef to it.

Weld the plate iron to the plows mow board, and the angle iron to the back drag blade. See pics. The top of the plate iron should meet the the top of the angle iron welded to the cutting edge.

Bolt them together and theres your back-drag.

It took me about an hour and only costs about $120 to do.

Good luck,
Gary


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## cuttinggreen (Dec 3, 2003)

that is a slick setup......Do you have any support in the middle of the blade?
Do you find that it flexes at all when dragging?
Does it give a good clean drag?

I have been trying to design one similar and have had these questions as to how it would work.

Also, does it affect how the blade trips?

Thanks for your help and for the pics.


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## z71Worker (Nov 8, 2004)

looks like you did a real good job!! I have 2 ?'s for ya..

1- have you found it marks up pavement at all?

2 - when using the blade to push forward, have you found that the backdrag blade accumulates snow? i ask because of the spring placement..

Like i said before though, good job!!


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## TLS (Jan 31, 2000)

Real slick setup!

I heard that Fishers don't backdrag all that good due to the cutting edge angle.

Did you design this or did you see others with it?

You could easily patent this!


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## VThick (Nov 26, 2003)

*Back drag blade*

Wow thats a lot of good questions,

1- The Steel cutting is hard enough where it does'nt flex, it hits on the bottom of the spring assembly, which is spaced enough so it reinforces the back drag.

2- The back drag cleans better then the front blade, its good for the 2 to 3 inch storms we get. It cuts through packed snow and ice, does real good job for the picky customers with blacktop yards.

3- It is far enough back where it does'nt bother the trip edge.

4- I have never had any marks on blacktop, one minor adjustment I am going to make is to grind off the last inch of the angle iron that is welded to the cutting edge on a 45 degree angle.

5- as for dragging accumulated snow, the back drag swings backward when you are plowing forward. It may accumulate a small amount of snow but not enough to say so.

Hope this helps you all. If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask

Gary


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## Ken1zk (Dec 19, 2004)

Vthick, quick get to the patient office, go , now , do it!
Sell the idea to the manufacturer who bids the highest. payup 
Lots of good thought and fab work man.


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## cet (Oct 2, 2004)

VThick
That thing looks great. After you see one it never looks that hard but to come up with the first one and would through the little imperfections is time consuming.
I like your truck also. A short box is the perfect driveway machine.


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## Strongmd (Nov 30, 2000)

We have backrag blades on 11 plows and feel they're essential for residential work. Ours are adjustable to address wear and use clevis pins for quick removal in the event one breaks or isn't necessary in a small storm, to avoid chattering. see pic.


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## Runner (Jul 21, 2000)

I would love to build one like that with the cutting edge, but wouldn't it be more beneficial to have it on an angle rather than completely vertical? It seems that if it was configured like /( rather than l(, it would dig and stay down a little better.
On the one on the bottom (the ones with the clevis), does that just swing freely so when it is moving forward, it just drags lightly, but when it is pulled backwards it swings toward the plow and clinches at an angle? That is a pretty cool setup.


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## Pete7 (Jan 26, 2005)

Has anyone made one of these for a fisher ezv?
Pete


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## douglasl330 (Oct 4, 2005)

Nice set up--Ooh won't work on a Vee?


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## danno (Sep 16, 2004)

I just finished mine like VTHICK. The other thing I did was use 2 bolts on each side to attach the cutting edge, instead of welding. I can just remove the cutting edge.
Also I used 1/2 inch wider metal on all the pieces.
And cut off the entire angle thats facing back going up to the flat stock.

I also thought of putting more of a degree in a piece of angle iron, and welding the back edge to the bottom of the cutting edge. When you drag, the other part of the angle will "scrape up". Just a thought on that, though.


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## daninline (Nov 1, 2004)

how about putting 2 bump stops on this that a threded so you can ajust the angle of the back blade.
I think I'll work on this next week but I think I'll try it on the spare plow 1st


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## daninline (Nov 1, 2004)




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## daninline (Nov 1, 2004)

..........


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## danno (Sep 16, 2004)

What keeps the blade centered ? Seems its on a ball joint hinge.


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## Dirt_Werx (Nov 26, 2005)

they work great and are super easy to build, i just made one up for my boss's plow and it works great, a really cheap and simple build, i highly encourage anyone doing residentials to consider building one.


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## danno (Sep 16, 2004)

Just a reminder; be careful out there when backdragging. There is no "trip action" with them. Damage to the plow and also the driver, could happen. Know whats in the road before you reverse !


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## daninline (Nov 1, 2004)

it's being pulled from both sides so has no way of moving from side to side.
It would take a hard hit to move it over if possable plus the angle of the mounts on the top is too close to the sides to swing side to side.
Well Hapy New Year everyone.


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## murphyslaw (Oct 2, 2005)

here is a few pics of mine that i built a few years ago. i just used an old cutting edge and some scrap laying around the shop.


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## daninline (Nov 1, 2004)

well I got to try it out last night and it worked great 1 drag and it was clean.
The only problem I do need to fix is the bolt came loose so I'm going to use nylon lock nuts.
Danno it only swung side to side about 1/2 in but went right back to center.


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## Dirt_Werx (Nov 26, 2005)

id just weld it up where its coming loose.


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## 7tcutty (Oct 10, 2005)

those are all very slick set up for the purpose

daninline 
where did you get those heim joints thingys at 

i like your set up as its adjustable and would like to do the same on me fisher

thanks
kjw


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## Stark_Enterprises (Mar 6, 2004)

Those are alll pretty Sick.....Let me know if anyone comes up with something for a V plow


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## daninline (Nov 1, 2004)

7tcutty said:


> those are all very slick set up for the purpose
> 
> daninline
> where did you get those heim joints thingys at
> ...


I picked them up at a local race shop I bet you could find cheaper ones if you looked around.
Dubois Motorsports 
21 South Sturbridge Road, Charlton, MA 01507 
(508) 248-7018

They are also alunmim as I want them to break not the plow then ends are on the heap side like 6 bucks each.

I also turned the blade around so the tappered edge is facing the back so it will ride over any edges the it could get hung up on.

I was trying to keep it simple and easy to do so anyone could make this up.

Do you have a photo of the back of a V plow so we all can tink of ways of making one up.

I'll try to take a photo with it in action tonight.


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## danno (Sep 16, 2004)

daninline said:


> how about putting 2 bump stops on this that a threded so you can ajust the angle of the back blade.
> I think I'll work on this next week but I think I'll try it on the spare plow 1st


That`s a good idea, also !


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## daninline (Nov 1, 2004)

Ok here are some photos of the back drag in action.

























Now this was about 8" of heavy wet snow and i dragged about 4 feet back as you can see it did a great job with only one drag.

What I also like is you can angle the blade to kick the snow off to one side and it will still back drag good and it will help it from hanging up on any thing.


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## danno (Sep 16, 2004)

Thanks for the pics! As with mine, I don`t know how anybody who has to "pull away" any amount of snow, be without one !


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## 7tcutty (Oct 10, 2005)

ditto thanks for the pics daninline what are those things called i cant for the life of me think of what there called i want to say turnbuckle but that doesnt sound right..

all i need is those and a used blade and im in buiziness

thanks again

kjw


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## AC2717 (Jun 20, 2009)

How do you get it to swing freely? I mean with the bolts when you bolt the backdrag to the plow so it swings free?


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## AC2717 (Jun 20, 2009)

VThick

I used your idea today, and needed to give you credit, my father-in-law and I cut it up and Fabricated and added it on. Mig welded the backdrag, then had to stick weld the brackets to the plow, wanted to mig it, but could not get the two close enough to each other (mig welder and plow)

Only modifications I used: 3.5" high x1/2" thick by 7.6' feet log for the back drag edge (cut down on weight dut to being put on a plow on a 1/2 ton
Then used 3"x3" angle iron and cut them at 11 inches, so when it wears down I can drill another hole in the angle iron and just drop it down further (should take a long time before that is needed though), left the bottom part of the angle iron on and just grinded the corner that sticks out towards the truck off so it would not cut into pavement.
Then had to add an inch to the 2" x1/2" steel coming off the outer frame parts of the plow. so they were 7" due to the 3" angle iron, used Grade 8 1" and 1/2" bolts with washer on the outside, washer inbetween the angle iron and steel bracket, then washer before the nut. Very light 

Took about 2 hours and 20 minutes start to finsh, then I went out back in the parking lot and draged it all around to take the edge off the steel, it was scraping it a litte, but it was uneven very old cracked pavement street material, not driveway material, once edge taken off, was great.

Overall Great Design, and thank you for the measurements. I will be taking photos soon, might take them tomorrow and then start to prime it so I can paint it.

By the way anyone in MA/NH looking for a set up, let me know and I can ask my father-in-law how much, also with this design we were thinking that you should be able to bolt it to the outer frames of the moldboards, so it could be fabricated and then bolted on after pick up

Thank you again!!!


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## Dissociative (Feb 28, 2007)

heres some more pics for you guys.....my stuff..






i pinned mine as well....but only so i can drop it off and flip the wheels down to roll the plow around.....it actually hangs ona bracket on the top rear of the mold board when i don't have it on plow....


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## Dissociative (Feb 28, 2007)




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## Dissociative (Feb 28, 2007)

remember to clip the outside corner so when you angle the plow and it folds back the corner doesn;t dig into the curb your trying to clean......clip it at like 15*


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