Snow Cheap Snow Plow

[bubenberg]

During one of my barn cleaning jobs i had to remove a 48" Bolton snow plow. we cut all the parts which went over the mower lift device off, only the mechanical angling system and the skid shoes we kept intact. we than added 21 inches of diamond plated stock on either side to the original plow, but at an 15 degree angle, like all the modern big boy plows are configured.

we test drove the plow, first straight and than at an angle, what a joy that was. i plowed so nicely and that on a gravel driveway, again the result was just like the big boys do.

we are now challenged by what piston we can get that will respond quickly but will give us a travel distance of 12 plus inches. most pistons traveling distance for that gpm system are around 10 inches only.

also the plow is too harsh on the blacktop and picks up too much gravel for my taste. the cost for pt's rubber lip is too dear for me ($200.00 for a $450.00 plow) so i found this morning the following TBN entry:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/sho flat.pt?Cat=&Board=custom&Number=220388&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&fpart=1#Post220472

i am anticipating to pay $40.00 for welding, the material was laying around the shop. the piston will be around $75.00 and the two auxiliary hoses about another $34.00. with the above mentioned stable rubber mat the snow plow will have cost me around $200.00. sure i don' have the two wheels as the pt snow plow has. they alone are for forks 2x$49.00 and the pair pneumatic wheels around $59.00. also i m utilizing the not so quick attach plate from my trailer hitch get-up(described before).

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah, I read that horse stall mat post this morning. Sounds good.

 

[bubenberg]

Mr, M.R.do you have the expensive rubber lip installed on your blade? and if yes give me your 2 cents worth please!

thanks

hrl v b

 

[MossRoad]

No, I do not have the rubber lip. I have an asphalt driveway and have not had any wear or scrapes so it has not been a problem for me yet. I only put a few hours plowing on it last winter and only have 20 minutes this year, 10 of which was warm up time and 10 of which were actual plowing. It doesn't take long to plow a foot of snow off of an 80 foot asphalt drive with a Power Trac /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[bubenberg]

Thanks. i guess i have to ask Sedgwood after he is done digging himself out in NY State how the rubber lip does perform.

hrl

 

[Sedgewood]

bubenberg:<font color=red>Thanks. i guess i have to ask Sedgwood after he is done digging himself out in NY State how the rubber lip does perform.</font color=red>

Works great. We've had two rather serious snows, one at 10 inches or so of heavy wet stuff - then the biggy that we somehow got off easy on - only 14 inches of powder compared to the 20-30 many locales got. Between the two storms I've cleared maybe 8-9000 lineal feet of gravel road. Rubber lip glides over those frozen in rocks that can stop a hard edge right in its tracks - my major reason for putting the edge on. I didn't want any of those abrupt takeoffs! I find there is plenty of traction as you had assured me there would be - even enough to pull a coupla cocky SUV jockies out of the ditch. Impressed them greatly! (and me too). On a crowned road it does get rather crabby and heads for the ditch if I take too big a bite but with careful blade angling and practice I'm getting better at keeping it in line. It simply won't plow uphill though - just crabs right off the road. I have to drive up and plow down.

I'm not too happy with the caster wheels. They're too far back from the blade. It takes care and finesse to set the plow on the road just right so it neither digs in nor rides too high. Snow plow shoes up close to the blade I should think would work better so I could just drop and go instead of having to finesse each drop.

Today I was out pushing the banks back and cutting water escapes (they were this morning forecasting heavy rain for 1/1/03) and I buried the puppy right up to the door sills in a ditch that, surprise surprise, had no frost in the ground. Two right wheels in a foot of mud, two left wheels spinning free, belly pan solid on the ground, and two feet of heavy compacted snow packed in all around. I was about to start walking when I thought what the heck, I buried it in mud last summer and got out ok (with help from curling the bucket) so lets give it a try. About ten minutes of rocking & bucking & twisting & lifting the front with the plow, etc and out she came. If I ever manage to get this thing really and truly stuck there won't be much more than the ROPS sticking out of the ground!

 

[bubenberg]

Great report Dude. the 425 with the bucket does the same thing when i get in to a soggy area, fingers crossed so far this is the only piece of equipment i never got stuck ......YET!

what is your suggestion: wheels or no wheels to add to Cheap Plow?

 

[Sedgewood]

bubenberg:<font color=green>i never got stuck ......YET!</font color=green> YET! of course when you do you'll know it!

<font color=green>what is your suggestion: wheels or no wheels to add to Cheap Plow?</font color=green>
No wheels; not yet - first I'd try some of those round, free to rotate, snowplow pucks and send a report. Thats what I want to try next, but a report from your test bed might save me some trouble {{grin}}.

Wish I had thought of that horse padding idea a bit earlier - I have a couple of those lying about that I use for winter weight in my pickup I might have stolen a strip from. The belting PT supplies seems to wear very well and the horse pad may not on my gravel roads though. Another wish - I bought in my ignorance the 6 ft blade and I now think 7 ft would be better for winging back the banks, an advantage that might be outweighed by the need for more traction to push a bigger load however. Maybe I need both toys {grin & grunt}.

 

[bubenberg]

Thanks for the follow-up Sedgwood. the original Bolton plow has some skid shoes on. when they wear out i will replace them with the skid shoes, "pucks" as you called them, i saw 'em on the shelf at my kubota dealer, yesterday.

 

[MossRoad]

I take it by your "crabbing" that you are running towards the downslope only when the plow is pushing snow, otherwise it does OK? I've seen the same thing in my yard. Are you using turf tires as I am?