D10 Dozer blade conversion

[Frank S]

Digging around in my archives reminiscing over some of the things I have built, seeing the pictures of how I converted a Caterpillar D10 dozer blade from a "U" shaped configuration to a straight blade style
In order to do this I first had to figure out the right places to cut it apart in order to salvage the parts I would need to make it look like a factory blade.
I may have been the first person to do this. I know that others have done it since because I taught the method to several welders over the years.
Here was how the blade started out before I began to transform it.
I did about 10 of these blades though out the years so not all photos are from the same blade however I did not deviate from my process through out all builds. All of the same cutting edges were reused by exchanging ones from the left to the right
Cutting the blade open is tricky, you first have to cut off the cheeks from both sides then you need a torch that is at least 4 ft long to reach far enough inside to cut the ribs where they weld to the face. You see a cat blade is made originally laying face down then a series of formed angles and U shaped pieces make up the ribs and the back of the blade After the cutting edge of teh mold board is welded back in place the face of the blade must be returned. This requires a broom handle to be clamped to the mig gun and the switch wired shut so you can reach the full depth to weld the face to the ribs If this is not done the first time the blade is used the face will peal off like removing the skin of an orange after all welding and grinding is done a good sand blast will prepare the blade for painting the final product should look exctly as if it were assembled in the factory For welding wire I used either Hobart Excell 550 or Tri-Mark 771 with CO2