Snow Horst HLA 3000 84" Snow Blade on JDx320

[CinderSchnauzer]

Horst HLA 3000 84" Snow Blade on JD 3x20

I'm considering a FEL mounted power angle snow blade for my JD 3320 300cx. I've found a 2006 slightly used Horst HLA SB300007 84" with the JD QA mount. MFG specs show it at 900 #'s

The HLA 2000 series is 535 #'s and would likely be more than adequate for my needs, however, I can get the used blade for less $$$ than the new series. With recent price changes, I suspect either would be less $$ than the 72" or 84" JD Frontier blade.

Anyone had any experience with the HLA 3000 series blade or HLA 2000 series with the 3x20 series tractor?

 

[kennyd]

My opinion of FEL mounted blade is very poor after having one-I have written about this before and YES I am biased against them. Some love'm, and some hate'm...

BUT:
I do think that blade would be to much for your machine, both in weight and width.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

My opinion of FEL mounted blade is very poor after having one-I have written about this before and YES I am biased against them. Some love'm, and some hate'm...

BUT:
I do think that blade would be to much for your machine, both in weight and width.

Kenny....I think if you would use a Straight FEL Blade like the one I made, you might soften your position on FEL Blades.
That being said, I agree with you on the Angle FEL blades....tried one out on a buddies machine I wouldnt wish it upon my worst enemy...

 

[kennyd]

Kenny....I think if you would use a Straight FEL Blade like the one I made, you might soften your position on FEL Blades.
That being said, I agree with you on the Angle FEL blades....tried one out on a buddies machine I wouldnt wish it upon my worst enemy...

Possibly, but I have no desire to try. Life is good with a frame mounted blade

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

Thanks, having read quite a few of the archived posts it does seem to be one of those love it / hate it situations. If I recall a number of the negative reactions were to the JD Frontier blade, whereas others with Curtis or SOB seemed to have better luck.

Kenny Dave - Is it just deep / wet snow that causes the problems? We don't get deep / wet all that often. Most snow comes 2" - 3" - 4" - 6" at a time. Actually my little Honda with the 60" frame mounted blade will handle most of the snowfall we get and if it can't I just use the bucket on the JD - maybe 3 times last year.

Was thinking of selling the Honda and replacing with a FEL blade on the JD. Going with Blower or rear blade are not options of great interest.

 

[Killer_B]

Cinder,

The loader mounted blade is not the most elegant solution. But it's not exactly useless either. Getting one (or any implement) used at a decent price changes the whole equation. If it truly is a good deal, I say give it a shot. If you don't like it, then you can always peddle it.

KB

 

[orlo]

Cinder: Why is a Rear blade not an option? With only 6" max you can use it going forward. I've cleared maybe 8-10" of soft stuff with my 2305 with a 72" RB. I had a 3320 (3720 now) and You could handle a rear blade for those depths and you have the ground clearance to clear going forward.

Just curious.

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

Orlo, I use the power angle on my Honda blade all the time, so my thinking on the rear blade was I wouldn't want a manual adjust. Sometimes the snow is deep enough it goes over the blade on my Honda, but it's still not so heavy I can't push it. From a concept view, Ijust didn't think driving through the snow first was the best way to go. My son has a manual rear blade on his 790 and between that and the loader he gets the job done - on a smaller area than I have, but he is 100% enthused with the set up.

To be honest, I never bothered pricing a Rear Blade with hydraulics, so maybe I should do that before totally rejecting the idea.

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

KB, do you have the 72" or the 84" Frontier?

 

[jk96]

You guys have all got me nervous now. Got tired of going in reverse with a rear blade and trying to use my regular bucket on my large parking lot. I just purchased an 84" Q/A blade for my tractor. I haven't got to use it yet and all I keep reading in different post is how bad they are.

 

[Killer_B]

KB, do you have the 72" or the 84" Frontier?

I have the 72".

 

[Killer_B]

You guys have all got me nervous now. Got tired of going in reverse with a rear blade and trying to use my regular bucket on my large parking lot. I just purchased an 84" Q/A blade for my tractor. I haven't got to use it yet and all I keep reading in different post is how bad they are.

JK,

In my experience these things DO work as advertised. The catch is that they require an expert touch to work properly. With the frame mounted units you just drop and go. With these things you need to keep a constant hand on the rudder, so to speak. Consider it a challenge. The payoff is that they are much simpler to put on and off, and a lot less expensive.

KB

 

[kennyd]

Kenny Dave - Is it just deep / wet snow that causes the problems? We don't get deep / wet all that often. Most snow comes 2" - 3" - 4" - 6" at a time. Actually my little Honda with the 60" frame mounted blade will handle most of the snowfall we get and if it can't I just use the bucket on the JD - maybe 3 times last year.

Didn't matter for me. It was just a constant battle to keep it adjusted so the front wheels did not lift up.

Basically, when the blade meets resistance-and the rear wheels keep pushing the front gets light. So then you raise the blade a little to put weight back on the front-but now your not plowing all the snow!

In my experience these things DO work as advertised. The catch is that they require an expert touch to work properly. With the frame mounted units you just drop and go. With these things you need to keep a constant hand on the rudder, so to speak. Consider it a challenge.

Exactly!

You guys have all got me nervous now. Got tired of going in reverse with a rear blade and trying to use my regular bucket on my large parking lot. I just purchased an 84" Q/A blade for my tractor. I haven't got to use it yet and all I keep reading in different post is how bad they are.

JK,
I don't mean to scare you or anybody else, I am just posting my experience, on my tractor (smaller than others), with my blade (that I built) and trying to describe WHY there is problems. YMMV

This is definitely something you need to try for yourself-but you probably can't get a money back guaranty!

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Didn't matter for me. It was just a constant battle to keep it adjusted so the front wheels did not lift up.

Basically, when the blade meets resistance-and the rear wheels keep pushing the front gets light. So then you raise the blade a little to put weight back on the front-but now your not plowing all the snow!

Kenny has a point there, I think alot of it has to do with how its setup and how its used. Mine & My Dads are just plain straight blades, no angle...so I can adjust the angle and which the blade is tilting (foward or backward) to adjust how the front wheels react...much like how you adjust your bucket when/if you float it. Not only that, but I think that by putting the blade as absouletly close to the pivot pin as possible, it reduces the tendency of the front end being light. The Angle plows mounted on the FEL stick out what...2-3 feet from the the Pivot pin? Thats that much more leverage acting AGAINST you. Push hard enough with a frame mounted plow and you can make the front end light just the same.

The second part is HOW you use it. The blade for me is merely a "clean up" tool....I got a rear mount blower and use that to actually move snow. I use the blade mainly to scrape snow away from the buildings to the point where I can "grab" it with the blower, because of that, 95% of the useage of my blade is back blading.

One thing I like about my plow setup is I can bank snow to the moon...

 

[Nuru]

I thought about a rear blade, but I just don't wanna have to go in reverse. I used both a FEL mounted boom blade and Frame mounted blade in the past and for me, the Frame mounted blade was the best.