Dr_Zinj
Veteran Member
Bobcat, CT230, 7ft 3pt backblade angled 30 degrees, 7TL FEL with standard bucket. R4 tires.
6:00 AM. Got up. Flipped the switch on the tractor block heater, made coffee and had breakfast. Shoveled off the porch (tractor doesn't climb stairs, too wide, the tractor, not the stairs.) Cleaned off the tractor and when I went back inside for an other cup of joe, there was an inch of snow on the porch already. Said, "That's nuts. No sense plowing until it's done snowing." Spent most of the day puttering around cleaning the house until the snow stopped falling.
2:30 PM. Cleaned off the porch, and the tractor, again. 12 inches of white stuff, about halfway between granular and powder.
Tractor will stall out going up a 15 degree grade with the FEL and backblade both plowing for and aft in mid-range and cranking around 1500 to 1800 rpm. Kick it up to 2000 rpm and raise the FEL, works fine. Putting it into low range could do both, but would be supper time before I was done plowing. Don't need the FEL as snow hasn't reached the axles and the rear blade picks up the wheel pack just fine.
No problem hooking the immovable boulders sticking up in the drive and coming to a screeching halt this time as I'm not grading soil, just cleaning the snow off.
Tried a pass using just the FEL and had steering problems. Front end is a bit light. Has a tendency to not steer side due to lack of traction. Add 800 pounds in the bucket for a test next time? No problem with power pushing the pile and almost no snow over the top of the bucket until I start pushing it into a bank.
Ground's not as froze up as it was for previous dustings this year. Had to set the rear blade around 6, barely touching the ground, or it would plane up a layer of the drive.
Tractor backs over the blade pile just fine. Pull the snow over, reverse over the pile, FEL the final 15 to 20 feet. Bucket level indicator works well, but getting the right angle to bite in float mode without digging into the dirt, or floating over the snow takes a bit of playing. Couple of times got too much bit and pitched up the front wheels a couple inches. Note to self: GO SLOW.
Total plowing time. About 90 minutes to clear 900 feet of 15 foot wide drive, walkway, two turnouts and in front of the garage.
Another $75 worth of tractor paid for.
6:00 AM. Got up. Flipped the switch on the tractor block heater, made coffee and had breakfast. Shoveled off the porch (tractor doesn't climb stairs, too wide, the tractor, not the stairs.) Cleaned off the tractor and when I went back inside for an other cup of joe, there was an inch of snow on the porch already. Said, "That's nuts. No sense plowing until it's done snowing." Spent most of the day puttering around cleaning the house until the snow stopped falling.
2:30 PM. Cleaned off the porch, and the tractor, again. 12 inches of white stuff, about halfway between granular and powder.
Tractor will stall out going up a 15 degree grade with the FEL and backblade both plowing for and aft in mid-range and cranking around 1500 to 1800 rpm. Kick it up to 2000 rpm and raise the FEL, works fine. Putting it into low range could do both, but would be supper time before I was done plowing. Don't need the FEL as snow hasn't reached the axles and the rear blade picks up the wheel pack just fine.
No problem hooking the immovable boulders sticking up in the drive and coming to a screeching halt this time as I'm not grading soil, just cleaning the snow off.
Tried a pass using just the FEL and had steering problems. Front end is a bit light. Has a tendency to not steer side due to lack of traction. Add 800 pounds in the bucket for a test next time? No problem with power pushing the pile and almost no snow over the top of the bucket until I start pushing it into a bank.
Ground's not as froze up as it was for previous dustings this year. Had to set the rear blade around 6, barely touching the ground, or it would plane up a layer of the drive.
Tractor backs over the blade pile just fine. Pull the snow over, reverse over the pile, FEL the final 15 to 20 feet. Bucket level indicator works well, but getting the right angle to bite in float mode without digging into the dirt, or floating over the snow takes a bit of playing. Couple of times got too much bit and pitched up the front wheels a couple inches. Note to self: GO SLOW.
Total plowing time. About 90 minutes to clear 900 feet of 15 foot wide drive, walkway, two turnouts and in front of the garage.
Another $75 worth of tractor paid for.
