Tractor impaired

[hazmat]

Dave,

You can plow snow in any combination, plow forwards or backwards, tractor forwards or backwards. You need to experiment to see what works best on your driveway.

Skid shoes are supposed to help keep you floating above gravel & minimize the amount of scratches on pavement. Also, your toplink can be adjusted to alter the "angle of attack".

There is much info here on plowing snow, just do a search. Topic is sure to come up again once the white gold starts hitting the ground.

[BigDave]

Fly Rodr & Hazmat,

Thanks for clearing that up, but now what does a skid shoe look like? A small ski? Does it lift the blade off of the surface? I live on a large hill with a paved drive that has concave & convex(?) sections; Do I need to continually adjust the blade to prevent tearing up the pavement? Sorry, I'm curious and can't help but asking snow questions in August. [img]/w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[hazmat]

Dave,

check out <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.landpride.com/cgi-bin/byteserver/manuals/lp/pdf/301-143p.pdf> Landpride parts manual </A> This is a .pdf file, Go to page 33 you will see a picture of a typical skid shoe. They can be adjusted to lift the blade off the ground.

With skid shoes, you should be able to drop the blade down &amp; plow away just like a guy in a pick up. The skid shoes aren't necessary, but should be friendlier to your driveway. Some have suggested getting a blade with a tilt feature &amp; pulling the tilt pin to let the blade follow the driveway better.

Any way you slice it, you should have an easier time with the blacktop than I do with my gravel drive (also on a hill).

[cj7]

Big Dave

I think the answer had been posted.

[cj7]

Do you have a neighbor or friend that has purchased tractors before? As far as age goes I am talking about tractors from the late 60's up. Is there a dealer around that you can trust? I do understand your thinking. I am thinking that if you are using it that little then you are not running up the hours fast peryear and IF something was to happen then you have time to get it fixed.

I realize it is sometimes hardt determine good from bad. However, take a look around. Your dealers should have some fine used tractors. I know my New Holland dealer takes in nice ones on trade and they go over them before they sell.

I have had all used tractors although my L2500 only had 50hrs on it. I have been happy with all of them. I only sold my Ford 8N because it did not have live hydraulics. The IH 574 I had was a great tractor. I pulled a 7' rotery with it to mow the field. What happed is I built a new garage. So there is additional landscaping work to do. I thought about just getting a loader for the IH but there were some tight areas I could not get it into and it would be too heavy for my trailer. So the L2500 was a good deal for me.

I hope I did not rattle on too long. I guess I am just trying to say stay open minded if you can. A new tractor is nice to have. Good luck with whatever you buy.

[Soundguy]

I understand live pto, independent pto, 2-stage clutch etc. But for hydraulics, If I am interpreting it right, if they aren't live, the tractor has to be in gear and moving to have 3pt action?

Soundguy

<font color=red> have had all used tractors although my L2500 only had 50hrs on it. I have been happy with all of them. I only sold my Ford 8N because it did not have live hydraulics.

[RichZ]

Soundguy, for non-live hydraulics, the tractor has to either be in gear or in neutral for the 3ph to move.

[BigDave]

Hazmat,

Thanks for the info. It's not what I pictured, but what do I know? I guess a little more each day. [img]/w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif[/img]