Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Snow clearing

[Conservation]

I think I have figured out that the rears are considerably wider than the originals. Wide is generally bad in the snow in my experience. No liquid yet, but I am considering it. The thing that concerns me with filling is that I mow a lot of hills in the summer. I am afraid that the extra 800#'s will mean that I don't have enough power on the hills to go up in the gear I am used to. These are big long hills and it is rough mowing, so the engine is working full tilt anyhow. I really need to do better in the snow, but don't want to ruin it for the summer. I could get a set of winter tires that were narrower, and fill them. I would love to add weight somehow, but the factory wheel weights are outragous, and I haven't figured out how to mount the lead pigs I have availible to me. I use the rear blade, so I can't do anything that limits its use. My lane is poorly designed, and I think this spring I will change it for the better. It is all in a valley, and I don't have anywhere to put the snow. A blower would be a great answer, but I can't afford new right now, and haven't been able to find a good used yet. I'm still looking at front chains, but need more help from the rear too. I would love other idea for adding weight, or even using the lead that I have. These things are just so compact, it is hard to find a good place to add the weight. My bucket is narrow, and I run over snow with the rear as soon as I start. One big problem I have is when the rear blade is angled, the back of the tractor just scoots over as soon as the blade hits any deep snow. No rear traction. The chains helped a little. Please keep the thoughts coming. I appreciate all of them!

 

[ChuckinNH]

"I don't know how to check for that yet."

Stand off to the side, and keep your face away, and then just depress the tire valve a bit. If the tires are filled, fluid will come out.

 

[yankeerider]

Don't recall yet seeing anyone suggest adding weight to your rear blade. On a tractor like yours, that rear blade doesn't provide a whole lot of ballast against the FEL. If you add weight to the blade, it won't be there for your summer mowing.

 

[Conservation]

That is a valid suggestion. My only concern is that I use the rear blade a lot for clearing snow. When the blade is down, so is the weight. If it could be mounted up by the tractor side of the three point, it would always have the weight on the tractor. Hmm.

 

[wolc123]

My experience has been that a tractor with all three of the following will do a good job with a snowplow: 4wd, R1 tires, Liquid filled tires. If you are lacking any one of them, you are asking for trouble. Chains can make up for the lack of any one of the three but they will damage blacktop if you have it. A blower is another good option if you are lacking one of the three as this implement depends far less on traction force.

 

[Oldchuck]

My experience has been that a tractor with all three of the following will do a good job with a snowplow: 4wd, R1 tires, Liquid filled tires. If you are lacking any one of them, you are asking for trouble. Chains can make up for the lack of any one of the three but they will damage blacktop if you have it. A blower is another good option if you are lacking one of the three as this implement depends far less on traction force.

I have 4wd, R1 liquid filled tires on a Kubota L4400. Plenty of power to go through just about any amount of snow but hit a patch of ice going uphill with a blade full of snow and she just spins. I'm expecting a set of chains any day now. That should do it. Also, I do not find the loader-back blade combo to be very satisfactory. It will do for now but a front plow with hydro angle is on my wish list. We got 14" on Sunday on top of more than a foot earlier. Snowing now.

 

[Conservation]

The more I use the tractor, the more I agree with the last two posts. I am pricing some rears for the tractor and looking at filling them also. I can change when I start mowing to the turf tires.
I have had lousy luck with the narrow bucket I have and the rear blade. But like Chuck said, it will have to do for now. I really like the plow setups I have seen. May have to do some fab work when I get my shop together.

 

[wolc123]

A rear blade works real good for me. I did a few things to make it work better. First, I have it facing backwards so I dont have to drive over the snow first. Hopefully you all are already doing this. Second, I made it about 10" higher by bolting a piece of 3x3 angle iron across the top edge and attaching a 10" wide piece of 3/4" marine plywood to that. That extra 10" height lets me push much more snow without spilling over the top. Third, I added around 400 lbs of steel weight to the frame which really lets it scrape good and provides additional traction. The blade also has some nice shoes which prevent it from digging in before the ground is froze up good over stone sections. I use it on a 43 hp 4wd with loaded R1's, no chains and I have never lost traction although I do not have hills. This tractor pushes much better than the old 2wd I used previously which had loaded R1's and chains. I also no longer need to reseal my blacktop driveways each year because of chain damage.

 

[jmfox]

Does anyone who is plowing with a dirt bucket worry about scratching blacktop or concrete driveways?

jmf

 

[amigauser]

Does anyone who is plowing with a dirt bucket worry about scratching blacktop or concrete driveways?

jmf

Yes, I do worry a little about that. One TBN fix I have seen mentioned is putting a piece of PVC pipe on the bucket edge. That way the pipe rides on the asphalt and not the metal bucket edge. I have not tried that yet.