Really Struggling With A Front-End Snow Blade

   / Really Struggling With A Front-End Snow Blade #1  

Snakebit12

Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2012
Messages
36
Location
Raphine VA
Tractor
Kubota G1800 Kubota BX2360 Kubota M7040
Hi all,

Looking for some advice.

Have a 7' Diamond Hydraulic front-end blade quick-connected to my Kubota 7040 for plowing snow and two font-end hydraulic remotes. The blade is heavy - 900 lbs - and has two mushroom skids (maybe 6" diameter). I have read posts on here about how to use these things and have seen the recommendations to put the blade in "float". On my M7040, you set in float by pushing the joystick all the way forward and locked.

Tried that today and dug up about 3" of gravel. So, with a big snow coming overnight, I am resigned to using my old method - trying to keep the blade fixed a few inches above the gravel - someone called that the bulldozer method. That process isn't easy given that there is literally no 5' section of my 3/4 mile long driveway that is flat. I am constantly rasing/lowering the blade depending on whether I am going uphill or downhill.

Is there a chance that the "float" isn't working? That blade sure as **** did not float on top of the driveway (fairly well-packed crush and run). Can the downward pressure on float be adjusted?

I have alot of rock rake work to do this spring.

Bummed in Virgina
 
   / Really Struggling With A Front-End Snow Blade #2  
I plow a few miles of super hilly gravel road with my Bobcat SS and an 8' plow blade. I have found that I get much better results by manually feathering the blade height/pitch as I go than by trusting float.
 
   / Really Struggling With A Front-End Snow Blade #3  
I also feather my blade which is a bit of a pain for a long driveway. Float puts to much weight on the blade so it digs in. Another option might be to place a piece of slotted metal pipe over the blade cutting edge so it floats more or make much larger skid shoes. I have not tried that but other TBN members have had luck with those methods.
 
   / Really Struggling With A Front-End Snow Blade #4  
Set the skid shoes down as far as they go and see if it makes a difference. My plow is a Meyers ST90, weighs around 700 lbs. However, it is fixed on a pivot with a lift chain, so the plow can float without the loader weight on it. Even so, for early winter snows (before the ground is frozen) I have to set the skid shoes down quite a bit to keep it from digging in.
 
   / Really Struggling With A Front-End Snow Blade #5  
I don't bother with skid shoes. Rapid changes in grade depend on the operator to make a clean scrape happen without gouging. If the surface is mostly flat then I think you can get away with skid shoes or float. In fact, I argue that this is one of the things that makes plowing with a SS superior to truck plows on gravel roads with lots of serious changes in grade. Tough to beat the finish you get by going a little slower and manually feathering.
 
   / Really Struggling With A Front-End Snow Blade #6  
Your "float"is working alright but it sounds like you don't have any "plow" float.To do this the plow has to have a pivot point and usually a chain lift.This allows the plow to float independent of the FEL.
If you have a solid connection;you have the weight of the plow and FEL pushing down.
I have a eight ft.Curtis which is quite heavy with a chain lift and have no problems digging in.Of course our ground right now is like concrete.
A pipe on the cutting edge should correct your problem or convert to "plow" float.
 
   / Really Struggling With A Front-End Snow Blade
  • Thread Starter
#7  
The shoes are as low as possible. During my little "test" today (when I dug up the gravel), the tops were covered in gravel.

I think that a 900 lb blade plus the weight of the loader (1,500 lb) is simply too much weight on two 6" skids. The combined weight drives the shoes into the ground like a hammer drives a nail (assuming that I really am in float).

I like the idea of a pipe running the length of the blade - sort of like a 7' shoe. The best approach may be to weld a 3" or 4" split pipe to the blade. But I am thinking of starting with a 7' piece of Sch 40 pvc - minimize the investment until the process is proven. No doubt I will destroy the PVC in time (just not sure how long) but it seems like a good test to confirm if the concept works. If it does, I can move up the $ chain and use steel pipe.

Anyone have a suggestion on splitting a 7' piece of PVC pipe? :)

Saw-zall?
 
   / Really Struggling With A Front-End Snow Blade #8  
Any pictures of your setup?

IF you attach the plow in the same manner it would be attached to a truck, with a chain lift, there is no need to have the weight of the loader on the plow to attain float
 
   / Really Struggling With A Front-End Snow Blade #9  
I used a pipe on a bucket for one season before I got the snowplow. I used a 3" pipe, but I didn't bother splitting it, I just welded 2 thick tabs on it (one on each end). It worked great. However, the force on a plow would be a little different, so you might need more than just 2 tabs.
 
   / Really Struggling With A Front-End Snow Blade #10  
I tried ABS (black plastic) and it lasted 5 minutes, if that. Most plows pivot at the attachment point & have a chain to lift. That prevents the weight from the loader resting on the blade.

Mine isn't that compact or fancy, but works.
IMG_20150117_153817.jpg
 
 
 
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