Blade on concrete/blacktop

   / Blade on concrete/blacktop #1  

greif

Silver Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2014
Messages
129
Location
kaukauna,wi
Tractor
Yanmar sx3100
I finally concreted and blacktopped my driveway this year. Should I change out the steel wear blade on my plow for a plastic edge? If so what variety of plastic?
Thx
 
   / Blade on concrete/blacktop #2  
I dont see any reason , you may get scratches from metal but thats about all
 
   / Blade on concrete/blacktop #3  
I flip the blade backwards (curve away from the tractor) and crank my top link in and use it for snow that way and it does not seem to scratch anything up much at all.
 
   / Blade on concrete/blacktop #4  
I flip the blade backwards (curve away from the tractor) and crank my top link in and use it for snow that way and it does not seem to scratch anything up much at all.

I run my blade backwards for driveways with the crappy latex sealant. Also backwards for finding the edges, and pushing snow off the driveway onto the grass.
OP -
Concrete doesn't fair as well as blacktop when it comes to cosmetic scratches. Poly edges do not scrape as well as steel, and are pricey. Pick your poison.
 
   / Blade on concrete/blacktop #5  
We bolt a piece of treated 2x4, to the bottom edge of my dad's bucket for the winter.

It lasts all winter, and then some.

Could work just as well on a plow, and it's cheap.
 
   / Blade on concrete/blacktop #6  
If there are no uneven cracks or lips to catch, just run the blade in the normal manner. I have a blacktop drive. Blade or no blade, drive gets sealed every few years anyway, and sealer isn't that expensive. Bout $1 per yard for it to be professionally done around here.

Nothing scrapes the hard pack, like where tires run, or when it warms just enough to class over, like the steel edge of the blade.

Some use a slit piece of pipe, some run blade backwards, some use a poly or rubber edge. But nothing will do better and last longer than running the blade with a steel edge forward.

As with anything, there are trade offs. So you have to decide what is most important to you....a clean drive that might have some scratches. Or a unscratched drive that you can stretch another year out before resealing, but not as clean in winter.
 
   / Blade on concrete/blacktop #7  
I've used my Kubota M6040 with Land Pride RB3596(rear blade) on the neighbors asphalt driveway and the concrete parking pad. Doesn't seem to bother either than much. I particularly checked the parking pad and any damage that has been caused is by his winter studded tires and his desires to spin his tires. He actually called me over to check out the damage to the concrete. Tried to say it was from my snow removal. After measuring the width between the "spin marks" and the width of the rear tire track on his car - he didn't have much to say. Needless to say, he has done his own dam snow removal ever since. Its kind of difficult for me to imagine that he thought the "spin marks" were from plowing snow................. Unfortunately, it takes all kinds.

Bottom line - I wouldn't worry about a rear blade causing damage to either asphalt or concrete.
 
   / Blade on concrete/blacktop #8  
I have a 5 foot backblade that I use for light snow removal and have a blacktop driveway, I rounded off the corners of the blade so when it is angled
the sharp corner does not dig into the asphalt.
 
   / Blade on concrete/blacktop #10  
Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMW PE, or often just UHMW) is the most abrasion resistant plastic available, super strong, it actually wears better than steel in may applications, has a low coefficient of friction approaching Teflon. I'm using it on my front mount snowblower skids as well as the scraper blade. Doesn't mark, incredibly wear resistant, but is more expensive than many plastics. Snow doesn't stick to it, so I lined by blower housing and chute too.

 
 
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