Anyone Bent Their FEL Using a Snow Plow

[Ford850]

The lack of down pressure is the one most people mention, but I have never had an issue. It would depend on the weight of the plow I guess. I can creep up to a garage door and back drag a paved are clean even scraping off the packed tire tracks and ice. But I know some others have had some issues.
The other isn’t all due to float, but many guys don’t like the long extension out front and would rather have the plow close to the quick attach plate. That depends on your use too. Although long and clumsy that length lets me push farther off an edge or ditch when dozing straight while still keeping my front wheels on safe ground.
There are a lot of good opinions for the different features on plows. There is no right or wrong, only what works best for you.

 

[Hilbilly]

Thanks Ford850,

This plow weighs 635 lbs and that might be heavy enough for the small amount of back dragging I would use it for, entry to house and basement. I'll try back dragging with the temporary lifting strap in place and see how that performs before coming up with a more permanent solution. Not sure this plow will be very good for back dragging though, as the cutting edge is on a very pronounced angle. It may just want to float on top of the snow. A more vertical cutting edge would be better for back dragging.

 

[Ford850]

I dump my blade down quite a bit for dragging. That means raising the FEL to let the blade drop. It helps change the edge angle.

 

[Hilbilly]

I dump my blade down quite a bit for dragging. That means raising the FEL to let the blade drop. It helps change the edge angle.

I should have thought of that. As soon as I looked at the plow it was obvious. I'm going to give it try after it warms up a bit. Woke up to -25C. Brrrrrrrrrrrr.

 

[Hilbilly]

I was moving some snow around getting the feel of the plow and broke my temporary float strap so back into the shop for the fix. I came up with a chain float that also allows me to put down pressure on the plow and not interfere with the original mount. Now I have a 3 function plow fixed or float and down pressure float. I just need to get some more time with it to figure out the best length of chain to use and then I will cut off the extra links. Not sure the link at the plow cross member will hold up but if not I will come up with something stronger.

 

[Fallon]

I built my first SSQA plow from a small manual jeep plow, a SSQA plate & a 3pt QH. It had plenty of float, probably to much as I could flip it over backwards if I tried. It ran off with my old L3200 it was matched with. It was lighter so didn't dig hard. But that was rarely a problem. The ground here freezes & thaws a lot, so you can't rely on a frozen base.

I picked up a new hydraulic angle SSQA stainless steel plow from SnowDawg to go with my new L4060. It doesn't have any float provisions with the SSQA, think the truck frames might have. I've only had 1 chance to use it in the 2 years I've owned it (thanks climate change... unfortunately it also means things are to dry as well).

After running the new plow, I'm contemplating putting a joint in the frame so it can flex vertically & maybe even laterally. Directions to my neighborhood involve "turn off the paved road" & I plow some friends driveways as well as a some side work. So lots of varied rough gravel, dirt & occasionally concrete or pavement.

My fixed plow got the job done, but it was a handful to manage without float & I pushed more dirt/rock than I cared to. My old floating plow definitely got dirt & rock at times, but not as much.

My take is SSQA plow tend to be used by skid steers in flat parking lots so they skimp on float. Pure SSQA plows tend to be shorter & have a double acting cylinder. Truck plows are longer & tend to have a pair of single acting cylinders. I'm not a fan of how far both of my plows stick out. The farther out they stick the more leverage they have to prevent steering. I might try & shorten mine up if I get around to rebuilding it with float. A frame mount would be the best, but SSQA is so much cheaper & trivial to mount or unmount I see no reason to ditch SSQA.

 

[Coyote machine]

Congrats on your successful results! Glad to see you were able to get the basic design to work without too much butchery to the original HLA rig. Could you have them make up their standard 'float' design to fit your model plow? Basically down size the float section to fit your 2000 series, for reasonable money?

I'm looking for my hat to eat, but for some reason it's missing?!:confused3:

BTW, I get it that spending huge $ to fix the driveway to accommodate your tool- the HLA plow, might not suit your methods, budget, or any logic one might apply.

Do you plan to use the modified Frankenplow on your SS too?
I like the simplicity of your design, did you just have a spare SSQA plate to use for the Frankenplow trial runs?
Nice work.:thumbsup:

 

[Hilbilly]

Coyote,

Before I undertook these changes I talked to HLA and asked if they would make a 2000 with a float for me. The answer was NO. I guess they are a big operation and one offs just interfere with production. I was originally going to cut off the SSQA portion of the HLA 2000 but that would have been a lot of work and certainly be a butchering. This plan was simple and doesn't interfere with the original mounting system. If I want, I could remove the second SSQA plate and use the plow with the original mount, as a fixed plow. That way if I sell it, the purchaser has the option of using it either way.

I might use this on the SS too but I have that setup with the big snow bucket and that works great around the buildings. Although I did discover something I today, that I wasn't expecting. With the plow I can pile the snow much higher and much faster than with a bucket. The SS has faster cycle times and it might be even better than the tractor for moving snow around the buildings. It will take some time to get used to the plow and figure out where the best uses are. The main reason for getting the plow is for the long driveway but it might prove to be more useful around the buildings than I was thinking. Time and experimenting will tell.

I bought the SSQA plate from my dealer. I was going to make one but I didn't want to spend the extra time and it was cheap enough at $150. I figured if it didn't work out I would use it for some other things I want to make, like converting the snow blower to hydraulic and running it on the SS or making a 3PTH plate so I can mount tractor implements on the SS.

After some your later comments I didn't think I would see you back on this thread. Seemed like you were pretty PO'd. Maybe just a bad day, lol. In any case I'm glad you responded and it's good to know there are no hard feelings. I'm sure I will have more questions in the future and who knows ............. maybe some day I'll even have some suggestions for something you need help with.

 

[grsthegreat]

i dont understand all the negative talk about front loader quick attach plows. ive used mine since 2011 i on 2-1/2 miles of gravel roads and have never had any issues. i think ive flipped the spring release maybe a half dozen times since it was new. the trick for me was the addition of chains on all 4 tires. solved my steering and sliding issues. i generally only use the plow on light 2-3" snow falls and anytime before the roads freeze over. on deep snows AFTER THE ROADS HAVE FROZEN i generally use the blower. the plow is way faster but i hate the berms it creates. the blower launches it 30+ feet away so it doesnt get wind blown back onto road.

the spring release protects the loader arms. i dont use any plastic pipe on edge, but do use shoes. sometimes i dig up a little gravel, but i just regrade come spring. the blower also occasionally blows gravel far onto the side lawns, and that sucks to clean come spring. at least the plow keeps the gravel along the side of the road.

personally im tired of winter this year.....come on springtime. it was 50 here last week. it was -6.7 this morning. sucks