Snow Attachments Snow removal over gravel?

[DaveOmak]

Dusty, Here's some pictures of my solution to plowing snow on gravel.
The idea was born from having to re-gravel my drive my first spring here.
I set the initial height of the blade to 1/4" or so using the wear bolts.
After that, the blade height is adjustable by lengthening or shortening the top link. Whether in reverse or foreward you will need to readjust the top link for the direction you are going. Set the blade "HIGH" until the ground freezes and sets the gravel. Then you can lower the blade to skim the ice.
I had my local machine shop bend new 3/8 shoes after I wore out 1/8 shoes in 2 winters. The shoes really help for leveling dirt, gravel etc.
The shoes attach using the wear plate bolt. The piece of flat bar welded to the back of the blade helps from tearing the shoes off when hitting something that wont move. The shoes are turned up on both ends for pushing or pulling.
I put wings on the blade to keep the snow from sliding off the blade. Really helps a lot.
Hope that gives you some ideas to work with. Dave

 

[Mcourchesne]

Thanks LQPAPPY

Someone last summer suggested the PVC, and inspite of a lot of doubter here on TBN, I went ahead and put on my blade. I gotta say, it has a lot of tension on it and I am hoping it stays put as you say yours does.

What a fantastic idea!

I have a 1/4 mile stone driveway to plow with my GC2400 this year and hated cleaning up in the spring from my last plow guy. This is definitely a concern of mine headed into my first winter and trying to use my MF 66" blade (yea, I know smaller than many blades but the GC hasn't failed me yet). I do have the adjustable shoes on the bottom and that should save me some time this winter....and spring. :n )

Thanks for all the ideas.

 

[CowwFace]

Hey Dusty and List,

I like the shoes on the rear blade. I may try that for grading also. I just made an "attachment" for the FEL out of a piece of 3" steel pipe, just for plowing our gravel (now re-claimed asphalt) road. I tested it in the yard .. set the bucket slightly nose down (maybe 3-5 degrees) and then used the float function on the FEL and it did not dig up the grass.

Here is Link to that thread:http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/1817538-post1.html

I just welded some tangs on the pipe while I had the bucket sitting on a section of 2x4 on each end to assure it was level with pipe sitting on garage floor. Total cost of steel was about $10.00, and hopefully it will last a few years.

Phill

 

[adirondacktrac]

I like the idea, It might also be readily adaptable to the problem of backblade plowing as well. Not being a welder, I am going to try the PVC pipe approach on both the BB and my FEL as soon as the snow finally arrives. It has been very slow coming to the Adirondacks this year. Probably just as well as I have not finished installing my block heater in the frost plug, ah but that is another story all together. Thanks for the photos, nice work.

 

[Harvest Moon]

Here's a thread about using a landscape rake. Seems to work well for some over gravel.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/132261-anyone-move-snow-landscape-rake-2.html

 

[Dusty1]

Wow, all the great ideas working together is really helpful in choosing the best option for me, and I think you all have answered my question. Since Southern Ohio gets more slush than snow, the best option for me is a couple of suggestions.
If I already have the loader and bolt on a 3" pipe to aid in removing a majority of snow (and I have the perfect steel pipe laying around that can serve double duty in being my breaker bar when working on the tractor) , and then follow it up using a landscape rake with the tines covered revealing 1" to let gravel through it would be perfect. I could remove almost all the snow, and leave enough gravel to get my Civic up the hill in the winter! You guys have been extremely helpful in explaining things, and thanks for uploading the pics. You have saved me quite a bit of money and frustration to say the least!

-Dusty

 

[Mcourchesne]

Wow, all the great ideas working together is really helpful in choosing the best option for me, and I think you all have answered my question. Since Southern Ohio gets more slush than snow, the best option for me is a couple of suggestions.
If I already have the loader and bolt on a 3" pipe to aid in removing a majority of snow (and I have the perfect steel pipe laying around that can serve double duty in being my breaker bar when working on the tractor) , and then follow it up using a landscape rake with the tines covered revealing 1" to let gravel through it would be perfect. I could remove almost all the snow, and leave enough gravel to get my Civic up the hill in the winter! You guys have been extremely helpful in explaining things, and thanks for uploading the pics. You have saved me quite a bit of money and frustration to say the least!

-Dusty

Completely Agree!

Does anyone have photos of this and their results?

 

[adirondacktrac]

I wanted to give another member's initial impression of the PVC pipe soltuion to the backblade/gravel driveway problem. While we did not have much snow in the Adirondacks as yet to work with, I opted to pick up an 10' piece 1-1/2" pipe, slit it on the table saw and installed it on the back blade. As an earlier poster suggested, a small sledge was nesessary to work it across the BB. Once installed, I did a test run on the little bit of snow on unfrozen ground which we had available. It worked wonderfully, even over grassy surfaces. There seemed no issue of the pipe rolling off the blade. The pressure of the PVC alone seemed plenty. I had about 4' left over which I tried on the small FEL which I have on my JD 855. That worked remarkably well also. The PVC mounted with a little more pursuasion from the sledge, but again performed well without tearing up the driveway or the adjacent grassy area where I was doing my "tests". All said and done, thanks again for the practical wisdom coming from this forum. You guys are great. I'll post a photo from the install and test later.

 

[bp fick]

Last summer, I read about using PVC. I had a scrap of 1 1/2 and ran it through my table saw. Wouldn't go on. Ran it through again, just side stepping the first cut by the width of the blade. Perfect. Beat it on with a sledge.

Plowed yesterday in my drive and neighbors. Each 125 ft drives. Low, rather slow. Not a bit of a difficulty.

Today following 5 more inches, plowed both drives again. No problem.
Then the neighbor on the other side asked me to plow their private road. It is 1/4 mile. That's too long for low, so I plowed it in high. By about the third or fourth pass, I hit a rock or larger stone and that PVC shattered.

Moral of the story? Low and slow in your own drive? Probably last a month. Fast and hard? Not so much.

Got another piece of 3" scrap in the shop and will cut that tonight. 12" predicted for Wednesday night.

 

[adirondacktrac]

Guys, Here are some photos of the 1-1/2 inch PVC installed on a 6' KK backblade. I started at one end of the blade and used the sledge to persuade it into position over the full length. Seemed to work well, but performance when it gets below zero remains to be seen. Shatter of the pipe may be an issue, less so perhaps with a larger diameter pipe.