my bucket snow plow

[mrfu]

I've been looking for a plow for a while now, they are fairly rare in northern California or when they do pop up and are a good price I can't spare any extra money. This one popped up on craigslist in southern california. I had the money I was taking my son to college in LA and the guy was about an hour from my folks. It all worked out great, spent about a $100 on steel and spray paint to make the mount. I used trailer spring mounts from TSC welded to a piece of 3/8" steel and I bolted this into the bucket.
I bolted it in because I want to eventually make dedicated mount that will fit in place of the bucket but want to use the plow first and figure out how well it works and how it handles before making a bunch of changes.
Tom

 

[CowwFace]

That looks great! Do you think an electric actuator would work for the angle function? That would sure be easier than running hydraulics up there?

Tractor on.

 

[ray66v]

I have wondered for some time if an average electric actuator is going to be able to take the forces that will be applied to it by a plow. The plow will work as a lever against the actuator. That leverage will be amplifying the forces from hitting things like frozen piles of snow, and curbs.

If someone has done this, and can show a cost effective way to do it that works, I would be interested. In the meantime, I will angle my plow manually.

 

[mrfu]

These guys sell one for their plow at $750 it is probably real close to the cost of a couple of cylinders and all the parts needed to get hydraulics to the front of the loader.
Compact Tractor Snow Plow fits: Kubota, John Deere and | eBay
Using a back blade I can do my road ithout having to pivot the blade so I think it wiil be similar with a front blade.
Tom

 

[zozep]

this is exactly what i'll be doing this year. Whats the advantage of welding the eyes on a bar inside the bucket like that instead of near the lip. Also whats the advantage of creating bar that bolts in like that instead of just welding the eyes right on the bucket?

 

[mrfu]

I wanted to make the mount in the bucket removable that's the main reason to weld them to a bar, plus I wasn't totally sure what I wanted to do would work and wanted some flexibility.
Most of what I have read on here recommends that the plow not stick out too far in front of the tractor so that is why the mount is in the back of the bucket. Another couple of reasons I had for doing it this way were that when I make a dedicated mount the plow will be in about the same place so I can see if I want to modify anything and also right below where the bar is on the backside of the bucket is a piece of angle iron that factory used to reinforce the bucket and I wanted to take advantage of that.
Tom

 

[ray66v]

These guys sell one for their plow at $750 it is probably real close to the cost of a couple of cylinders and all the parts needed to get hydraulics to the front of the loader.
Compact Tractor Snow Plow fits: Kubota, John Deere and | eBay
Using a back blade I can do my road ithout having to pivot the blade so I think it wiil be similar with a front blade.
Tom

They say that unit is electric/hydraulic, which would allow the blade to give without breaking any gearing.

 

[cmhyland]

Tom,

The plow looks good, and the price was right... I had a plow like this and fashoned a clamp-on bucket mount... It worked ok. But what I did find is a couple of things.

1) With the plow mounted in the bucket it's pretty far out there in font and the "Swing" to turn ended up for me to be way to big.

2) With the plow so far out on the turn it multiplies the lattteral or sideways forces on an angled plow and it would push the tractor sideways and not the increasingly large amounts of snow. Your tractor is bigger than mine so it may not be a problem for you.

I have a quick detach loader and it takes a minute to remove. I found welding up a mount that bolted to the tractor frame was pretty basic and allowed me to use the loader valve for lift and angle. I can switch out from loader to plow in 3 to 5 minutes and visa versa...

Like they say your milage may vary... but this was my experience.

 

[mrfu]

I've thought about front mounting it and it remains an option for all the reasons you stated. That's why I didn't invest a lot of time in this mount since I know from past experiance that I will come up a better idea once I start using it.
Tom

 

[foggy1111]

Great Ingenuity....and looks like you will get 'er done...without spending an arm and a leg! :thumbsup: