Slopeboard mounting

Claim 1

In an earth moving vehicle having a main bulldozer blade carried by a vehicle frame, the improvement comprising: a slopeboard disposed in cantilevered fashion to one side of said main bulldozer blade and constructed with a forwardly opening trough shaped panel reinforced from the rear by a generally triangular channel that narrows near a cantilevered end thereof, a transverse mounting beam secured across the front of said vehicle frame and attached to the back side of said main bulldozer blade at transversely separated rigid connections, a reinforcing gusset plate fastened to the back side of said main bulldozer blade at at least one of said mounting beam connections, a slopeboard support connected to and extending rearwardly and outwardly from said gusset plate relative to said vehicle frame, a horizontal mounting connection which includes a reinforcing anchor fastened to the back side of said main bulldozer blade outwardly from said reinforcing gusset plate, relative to said vehicle frame, an axle rod rigidly secured to said anchor and extending rearwardly therefrom and rigidly secured to a rearward and outward extremity of said slopeboard support, a sleeve secured to said slopeboard and disposed about said axle rod, and bushings interposed between said sleeve and said axle rod at opposite ends thereof, an actuating hinge connection located on said slopeboard support and inwardly relative to said vehicle frame from said horizontal mounting connection and parallel thereto, and a pressurized fluid actuating cylinder rotatably connected both to said actuating hinge connection and to said slopeboard at an attachment remote from said actuating hinge connection, whereby said slopeboard is rotatably connected to said horizontal mounting connection to thereby rotate thereabout to a selected disposition relative to said main bulldozer blade.