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Tutorial on Murf pipe needed

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2019-12-12          198886


Hey Murf, been meaning to ask for about 15 years (maybe longer now that I look at the calendar).

Just how do you cut a straight slot in a round pipe with common garage tools?

And then do you weld it in place? Or is there some sort of secret Canadian attachment protocol? And no hurry.... its not going to snow 'till Saturday.

And how ya been?

Mark.




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Tutorial on Murf pipe needed

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DennisCTB
Join Date: Nov 1998
Posts: 2707 NorthWest NJ
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2019-12-18          198892


Hi Mark,

You almost as slow to action as I am :-)

I moved this post to :

plowing snow with FEL (posted 2003)

Murf had quite a few posts on this and may have some new techniques 16 years later. ....


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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2019-12-18          198893


Thanks Dennis. I shoulda thought of that! ....


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DennisCTB
Join Date: Nov 1998
Posts: 2707 NorthWest NJ
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2019-12-18          198894


Mark too hard on yourself . I tried to search for that post through the site with no luck.

I had to use my database wizard skills to find it 130,000 messages ago.

Are you still in the same place ?

I would love to move someplace just a bit warmer, somewhere with less snow, but I cannot sell my house at ANY price here in my part of NJ. ....


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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2019-12-19          198899


Ahhh Grsshopper,

I mean Hi Mark. LOL

It's actually fiendishly easy to do.

Take the pipe you want to slit and a piece of 2" X 4" and clamp them together (the order depends on right or left-handed etc., you'll see why shortly) lengthwise in a vice with the 2" X 4" as high up as you can get it. Really snug it down too. Another clamp at each end of some form is good measure too. Now with a 4" angle grinder equipped with a thin cutting disc, and with the center hub of the grinder against the 2" X 4" as a guide start slitting the pipe.

As for fastening, I use a couple of nuts welded over drilled holes in the pipe then run bolts down into the bucket to clamp it in place. Have the bolts in the topside of the pipe inside the bucket.

Others have used nuts welded inside the pipe itself with bolts through the side of the bucket to lock it in place.

To each there own.


I've had a few setbacks, but as my (100+ year old at the time) grandfather used to say, "I'm still here to complain about so I guess it could be worse."

If you have a really nice smooth surface I've developed a second method, but not as nice as the pipe IMHO. Whistle if you want details.


Best of luck. ....


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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2019-12-19          198900


Murf... many thanks. I am thinking I want to adapt the concept to something a little more vertical like a snow pusher blade. Should work all the same I reckon. My gravel drive is so soft under the snow that even saucer sized skid shoes won't keep a blade from digging in.

Dennis, I know what you mean about the property stagnation. Here, we have a housing shortage as a holdover from the Obama doom and gloom era where all building came to a screaming halt. But the only housing selling here are the smallest possible properties and structures in the middle of the town. Houses on any appreciable plot of land sit on the market for months and years.

I think we are dealing with a sea change in the concept of what are desirable living conditions with this millennial generation coming up behind us. Large houses (large in their view) on plots of land are not even on the radar for them. Haven't seen any numbers, but I would not be surprised to learn the the market for our beloved little tractors has stalled too.

....


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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2019-12-20          198901


Mark, no worries, there's always 'Plan B'......

Make yourself a simple bucket angle indicator, two small rods stuck on with Vice Grips works fine, one vertically off the bucket, one horizontally off the FEL frame. When the tips meet the bucket is at the angle you want.

In use, set the bucket so that the cutting edge is an inch off the ground. The bucket in float mod will now run like a sled on the rear portion of the bucket bottom. This will clear all but the last inch of snow which will be well compacted and no issue. If you're a steady hand you can just lay the bucket down flat and eyeball rolling it back an inch.

This is how we clear turfed areas like our grass runways in early winter before the frost has frozen the surface.


Best of luck. ....


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Hogslayer
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 45 Northern michigan
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2019-12-30          198917


I'm an engineer at a Machine shop, so lots of equipment is available far beyond your home workshop.

I added the Murf pipe to my Polaris Sportsman quad a number of years ago. Thanks Murf!!!! It is a great improvement over a normal blade edge. However, you can't beat Mother Nature.

First I removed the blade edge. We made a replacement flat stock piece and copied the hole pattern, complete with square holes. We cut a slit in the pipe of the same width as the flat bar for the same length as the plow's width. We did this with a waterjet cutting machine. We turned down the water pressure and cut out a styrofoam chunk to fit in the pipe bore. This diffuses the water stream so it doesn't cut thru both sides. We lightly assembled the flat stock and pipe and tack welded it while in place. Afterward we removed the sub assembly and finished welding it. Alternating the welds front to back and moved slowly controlling heat. It's crucial, otherwise the flat piece bows from heat. We welded half ball end caps to the ends. That way it doesn't "dig in" when turning while plowing. When I say we, it was the guys in the shop doing all the work. It is a professional looking modification with semi-gloss paint.

The problem is weather in Michigan. We get wet snow frequently and often before a good, hard frost. The snow then insulates the driveway and it doesn't freeze hard all winter. As you push the snow, it's weight picks up stones along the way even with a curved pipe. If the quad spins at all and you go over the previously plowed area, some stones are stuck in the snow.

I plow my daughter's driveway out in the country. She lives on the old farm homestead with open fields surrounding her for 360 degrees. Open fields are flat for atleast 1 mile in all directions. Lots of snow drifts! I also put down too small of a stone mix which picks up easily.

Her double driveway is a "U" shape with one side longer than the other. The main driveway is about 100 yards long, the utility driveway is about 200 yards long and the section joining them next to the road is another 50 yards.

She frequently gets a snow drift about 3 feet deep that goes for about 25 yards and tapers off from there for another 25 to 50 yards. Drifts are a hard dense snowpack. The county snowplow then goes thru and puts a 3 foot pile the length of the 50 foot bottom section. This is hardpack snow and ice.

The utility driveway is somewhat protected with a line of trees, but the going is deep and long.

The quad is a backup for the tractor with FEL. The third line of action is a large walk behind snowblower.

I mostly use the tractor with bucket as Murf described in another post. I have a bucket level indicator that is a 1/4" rod moving inside of a pipe. I used a paint pen and put a painted ring around the rod where the bucket is level. Like Murf said. Tilt the bucket so the front edge is about 1 inch" from digging in. The heel of the bucket makes contact.

It drifts allot at my daughter's place, so I push it back quite a ways allowing for snow to pile up. The utility drive drifts with snow rapidly. Sometimes in a couple of hours. I've had snow piles 13 feet high at times. That is the height of FEL reach.

In the Spring I use a small Stihl tiller that has removable tines and put on rubber flappers. It's kinda like a power broom without brushes but with flaps. This is used to thatch the stones out of the grass.

The rear blade doesn't work good at all. The depth of snow and blade curvature gives too much down draft. I've bent the mushroom shaped shoes from the pressure. You have to plow backwards which isn't easy nor comfortable. If you attempt to plow forward, you can't drive in 3 feet of snow. The tractor weight compresses the stones into the snow.

I can remove the pipe section with a few bolts when using the standard cutting edge on dirt and stone. It is very sturdy.

Our water jets can cut steel up to 8" thick for a length of 10 feet. We can cut steel, ceramics, granite and Corean with intricate shapes and lots more. ....


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JustOK
Join Date: Dec 2022
Posts: 1 Michigan
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster

2022-12-01          201409


Hogslayer, interested in the loader pipe edge for snow removal on gravel driveays. Wow you have alot of stuff, I have nothing. Are you making any of these for sale? I think it might be what I need for my long gravel drive. ....


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Hogslayer
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 45 Northern michigan
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2022-12-02          201410


We can build just about anything at the shop. No, we haven't sold any of these. It is Murf's idea. I just use the tractor with FEL with the bucket tilted having the front edge about 1
inch above ground. The quad with plow is backup. Where in Michigan do you live? If you want something built, we cand do it, but first must find out Murf's royality. ....


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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2022-12-13          201415


"...but first must find out Murf's royality. ...."

Well I'm glad to hear there's still loyalty amongst tractor nuts... LOL

I come here to share ideas and knowledge, the same way I learned growing up on the farm. Both are free to use and pass around as desired.


Best of luck. ....


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minimac
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 103
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2022-12-25          201419


Murf thanks for all your creative, pragmatic and thoughtful ideas you have posted on TP. ....


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