Snow snow removal

[BeauT]

I just purchased a B6000 4 x4. It has a grader blade that I can spin and plow backwards and leave the FEL attached. Does anyone make a blower that will work off the PTO? Any better way to clear snow? This is my first compact and I have a lot to learn.

 

[KubotaSam]

Many companies make 3 point hitch blowers. They work fine. I think you will have a problem with the rotation direction of your pto. B6000 tractors turn their pto in the opposite direction from most other tractors. Your blower would be turning in the wrong direction. You might be able to find a PTO reverser but they are expensive.

 

[easygo]

Save your $$$ and give it a try with the grader blade and FEL. As KubotaSam mentioned it there are many companies that make snowblowers, but you may not need it. I have an FEL and rear blade and was able to clear snow just fine. We had near record amounts last year and it was an easy and fun task. Get chains for the tires and have fun.

 

[smfcpacfp]

Save your $$$ and give it a try with the grader blade and FEL. As KubotaSam mentioned it there are many companies that make snowblowers, but you may not need it. I have an FEL and rear blade and was able to clear snow just fine. We had near record amounts last year and it was an easy and fun task. Get chains for the tires and have fun.

I think it would depend upon how much snow you get and how much time you have on your hands, as to whether your strategy would work well.

I would think it would be terribly slow using a FEL and you would have the a problem with where to put all of the snow, unless you get snow very sporatically and it melts between snowfalls.

 

[amigauser]

I also live in Connecticut and we don't get a huge amount of snow here. It also tends to melt between storms (at least for the last few years anyway).

I think your idea of using the rear blade and FEL should work fine. Some TBN folks spin the rear blades around backwards and run them in reverse, others drive over the snow and pull the blade forward. I think either method would probably work as long as you have a place to dump the snow.

I use a front blade and it works very well. I had considered the snowblower option myself but for the amount of snow we get here the blade is faster. I also have a place were I can pile snow, if I did not I would probably have gotten the blower.

 

[Dyer retired]

I just purchased a B6000 4 x4. It has a grader blade that I can spin and plow backwards and leave the FEL attached. Does anyone make a blower that will work off the PTO? Any better way to clear snow? This is my first compact and I have a lot to learn.

BeauT,

Welcome to the forum! I push snow with a rear blade turned around facing backwards all the time. In the early part of the winter when the ground is softer and the snowfall is light, I'll push the blade backwards with the blade facing forward, so that the weight of the blade is pushing the snow and not digging into the ground.

I would go slow pushing the blade like a plow in reverse....I hit a frozen snowbank last winter and bent one of my drag links (lower lift arms.) 3RRL suggested a reinforcement for the lift arms that I went with and have not any problems since. You can search for 3RRL's thread on the topic, but don't be surprised if you get sidetracked reading any of his other threads...very creative and interesting stuff. If you decide that you are going to be pushing the blade backwards a lot, I wouldn't wait for the links to bend, they are amazingly hard to straighten in a ill-equiped home shop, ha! I've included pictures of the link reinforcement I added on the bottom of the drag links. Have fun with the new rig and keep us up to date on what you settle on for snow removal. Dyer, retired

 

[peterc38]

Save your $$$ and give it a try with the grader blade and FEL. As KubotaSam mentioned it there are many companies that make snowblowers, but you may not need it. I have an FEL and rear blade and was able to clear snow just fine. We had near record amounts last year and it was an easy and fun task. Get chains for the tires and have fun.

Since you already have the rear blade, I second at least trying it as Easygo suggests. I moved a lot of snow last year w/ FEL/Rear blade.

 

[savageactor7]

Peter I have a 6ft rhino blade we use for grading and wanted to use it for plowing but I was wondering how it would work cause the blade doesn't have shoes and we have a gravel driveway....with an elevated 20* slope at the exit.

Any advice on plowing techniques or adding some kind of field expedient blade shoes welcome...thanks.

Kubota B1750

edit...whoops I just reread 'Dyer, retired' about pushing the snow backwards so it doesn't dig into the gravel...but your 3ph arms are way more built up than mine. Don't know for sure but I'm thinking the snow may push up the blade or bend my simple turnbuckles. hummmm I dunno

 

[peterc38]

Peter I have a 6ft rhino blade we use for grading and wanted to use it for plowing but I was wondering how it would work cause the blade doesn't have shoes and we have a gravel driveway....with an elevated 20* slope at the exit.

Any advice on plowing techniques or adding some kind of field expedient blade shoes welcome...thanks.

Kubota B1750

My driveway is paved so I have no first hand experience with using a rear blade for snow removal on a gravel driveway. I have heard others state that they have have success on gravel driveways by turning the blade backwards so that it does not dig in. Others have also purchased or fabricated skid shoes.

 

[savageactor7]

Quick comeback...thanks peter. Let me ask you...in your experience using the blade is it possible to pull the snow forward successfully just 2" over the driveway.

I'd rather pull with the blade angled to the right ...I just don't want to dig up my gravel.

edit I have an old tire I was going to sawzall and cobble on some 2" boots on each side of the blade.

 

[AndyMA]

Quick comeback...thanks peter. Let me ask you...in your experience using the blade is it possible to pull the snow forward successfully just 2" over the driveway.

I'd rather pull with the blade angled to the right ...I just don't want to dig up my gravel.

edit I have an old tire I was going to sawzall and cobble on some 2" boots on each side of the blade.

Sure it's possible to pull the snow forward. It's just a real pain to deal with the hardened ridges the tire tracks leave. They tend to turn to ice.

I've used loader mound plows, frame mount plows, blowers, rear blades, and box blades over the 40 plus years I've moved snow in Conn and Mass.

While in some areas of Conn and Mass we may not have gotten much snow in the last couple of years, there have been many times when we have had well over 24 inches of heavy wet snow. (and in the Blizzard of 78, well over 7 feet) A bucket works great to move that and allows you to pile it high (on a decent size tractor you can keep pushing up the pile and make piles over 20 feet high with ease). The biggest problem with using a FEL is bucket size and the angle you keep the bucket at. Small buckets don't work very well as they tend to fill quickly and dump snow over the top and around the sides. A loader mounted plow works better than a frame mounted plow in my opinion as you can also push the snow up into high piles and not run the risk of getting the plow hung up on piles of snow (the Jeep syndrome).
Have fun, I love plowing snow. Started doing it to make money on a Ford 8N to make money in 1960 at age 10. Still have the same Dearborn plow which ahs been lengthened 2 feet and is now used on my TN and Ford 2120. Maybe someday I even add hydraulic rotation

Andy

 

[bx24d]

I cut a 3" pvc pipe length wise and slide it over the cutting edge of my six foot woods 3pt rear blade. This saves the gravel work come spring. I back up or drive forward but it makes for a neater job backing up but my neck gets sore.

 

[Bedlam]

I like the Pvc idea I used a steel one for mine does the plastic wear fast??

 

[savageactor7]

Well fry my hide bx24d that's pretty clever...

...and it stays on the blade with no fasteners? Well that's what I'm going to do then...I can't tell you how grateful I am to learn that fix. thanks again.

 

[peterc38]

I cut a 3" pvc pipe length wise and slide it over the cutting edge of my six foot woods 3pt rear blade. This saves the gravel work come spring. I back up or drive forward but it makes for a neater job backing up but my neck gets sore.

You haven't had any problems w/ pvc cracking in the cold weather?

I remember my son going through multiple pvc hockey nets that would crack easily in the cold but maybe it wasn't the same grade.

 

[LBrown59]

Well fry my hide bx24d that's pretty clever...

...and it stays on the blade with no fasteners? Well that's what I'm going to do then...I can't tell you how grateful I am to learn that fix. thanks again.

I tried it with a piece of plastic pipe.
Worked ok going forward.
but
1t pulled right off as soon as i backed up.
So I just installed skid shoes on the blade.

 

[Bedlam]

I used the black pipe schedule 40. ran a slice down it lengthwise with a metal cutting wheel on a circular saw.Then used a chisel to open the slot some and then set over the lip, and hammered it onto the blade, That made for a real tight fit, then a few tack welds down the edges
It seemed to work well, but was some work to cut it and separate etc.

 

[bx24d]

First I used a 4" diameter but found it to be easier to get on but also easier to pop off. For my size RB cutting edge, a 3 inch diameter pipe worked best. 2" would have been impossible to separate and get around the cutting edge because 3" was hard enough. I cracked one on a large rock but made it thru the rest of last Winter with the replacement without a problem. I do go pretty slow after that cracked pipe incident. I'm still thinking of ways to improve the stability as there is some shifting going from forward to reverse (but is hasn't popped off yet). Wear has not been a problem. I'm in connecticut and we got fairly frequent storms last year. My driveway is 300ft gravel and another 75 feet paved at the top and bottom.

 

[Bedlam]

So doesn't sound like to bad a history for it. Its fairly cheap to replace.(pvc one) I wonder if you could drill some holes and use some cords or bail wire to secure it upward to the plow.
I have used a grader blade backwards for years, and slow is what its about.It gets done and without breakage. Sometime if its deep ill run it a few inches off the ground, and cut a first pass and then drop down and finish it up.Its not much slower all in all.
Al

 

[easygo]

savageactor7,
You could just try to work with the blade now while the gravel is relatively loose to see how it does. Go forward, back up turn it both ways. You will get a good sense of how it works when there is snow on the ground. Be careful though when backing up especially when the blade is turned around. It is bound to help some to decide what you want to do and you could play a little in areas where your driveway may not bee as smooth as you would want it.