First Use of FEL Snowplow

[5picker]

I dont understand why you need a chain at all as long as the loader arms are set to float.???

So only the weight of the plow blade is 'floating' on the plowing surface.
Using a chain and lowering the loader arms enough to have slack in the chain removes the floating weight of the loader arms, loader cylinders, etc.
On hard surfaces the additional weight of the loader isn't really a problem but on gravel, less weight = less work in the spring. (clean-up)

 

[radman1]

So only the weight of the plow blade is 'floating' on the plowing surface.
Using a chain and lowering the loader arms enough to have slack in the chain removes the floating weight of the loader arms, loader cylinders, etc.
On hard surfaces the additional weight of the loader isn't really a problem but on gravel, less weight = less work in the spring. (clean-up)

I am with you. I don't know why manufactures make most snow plows on the front ridgid mount to the loader arms. I have homemade snow blade made from a Meyer pickup snow plow and has a chain to lift the plow. Much nicer to use the just the weight of the blade. Follows the contour of the road better. With the FEL in float and rigid snow plow, the weight of the loader arms + the weight of the blade is just way too much for most conditions unless working on cement or asphalt. Even then if the surface is not smooth, with all that extra weight you catch a crack or uneven surface and have potential road damage.

Observe all the pickups iwth snow blades. Just the weight of the blade does the job. There is no down pressure.

 

[grsthegreat]

well i see your points here, and i have only limited experience with loader mounted plows.


I have used mine only 3 times on frozen gravel roads this season and found that they did not dig into the surface at all....as a matter of fact i left about 1" of snow by setting my shoes. Now i have 1-1/2 mils of gravel roads and there are no major whoop-de-dos to worry about so maybe thats the difference.

it didnt dig in or even try to dig in at all while on float mode.

 

[DK35vince]

I never use float with my loader mounted front blade.
I set the blade down till it touchs the ground and put a small amount of weight on the plow and go.
Follows the contour of the road just fine this way.
Float position never worked for me. I tryed using float in the past and it added to much weight to the plow causing it to dig in, and I lost too much steering control.

 

[grsthegreat]

I never use float with my loader mounted front blade.
I set the blade down till it touchs the ground and put a small amount of weight on the plow and go.
Follows the contour of the road just fine this way.
Float position never worked for me. I tryed using float in the past and it added to much weight to the plow causing it to dig in, and I lost too much steering control.

well i believe you, but i just wonder why you would lose steering control in float mode, but not with positive down pressure???

with mine, i had to apply down pressure a few times to dig thru some ice...and thats when i lost the steering control .

This was before i put on the front chains, so i don't know how it would work with chains. I know on float mode with chains i get absolutely no front steering issues at all.

 

[jdonovan]

well i believe you, but i just wonder why you would lose steering control in float mode, but not with positive down pressure???

with mine, i had to apply down pressure a few times to dig thru some ice...and thats when i lost the steering control .

In float mode when the loader is against a object that provides sufficent resistance the front wheels will lift. Now they don't have to come all the way off the ground to cause loss of steering, just get enough weight off them that they can't counter the side forces from plowing, and off to the side you'll get pushed.

This was before i put on the front chains, so i don't know how it would work with chains. I know on float mode with chains i get absolutely no front steering issues at all.

Chains add sufficient traction, that you're probably able to overcome the reduced front end weight.

 

[5picker]

@radman...

clip... Observe all the pickups iwth snow blades. Just the weight of the blade does the job. There is no down pressure.

Right. And you could certainly add down pressure if you want with a chain set up. Most folks I know have designed their FEL-to-plow frame adapter so that a cross bar or some other significant part of the FEL can contact the plow frame when down pressure is needed. (such as back-bladeing in front of a garage door, etc.)

Also, keep in mind the up/down pivot point for a FEL is much higher and way farther back. (usually just outboard from your hands on the steering wheel) I think this causes some problems as well when the plow is mounted rigid. Decades of trucks equipped with a plow frame pivot point low to the ground can't be a mistake.



@gsrthegreat...

I have used mine only 3 times on frozen gravel roads this season and found that they did not dig into the surface at all....as a matter of fact i left about 1" of snow by setting my shoes. Now i have 1-1/2 mils of gravel roads and there are no major whoop-de-dos to worry about so maybe thats the difference.
it didnt dig in or even try to dig in at all while on float mode.

The key word here is frozen. Unless your plow shoes are HUGE they WILL dig in on gravel. That's why most folks leave a skim coat on a gravel surface to run in/freeze and harden up so the shoes won't dig in.



@jdonovan...

In float mode when the loader is against a object that provides sufficent resistance the front wheels will lift.

I don't understand this statement? If you are truly in 'float mode' it should not lift your front wheels. And yes, I understand in sub-zero weather there could be enough hydraulic resistance from cold fluid to make things a little stiff but still... I can't imagine it lifting the wheels. Mine doesn't when in float.

 

[jdonovan]

@jdonovan...

I don't understand this statement? If you are truly in 'float mode' it should not lift your front wheels. And yes, I understand in sub-zero weather there could be enough hydraulic resistance from cold fluid to make things a little stiff but still... I can't imagine it lifting the wheels. Mine doesn't when in float.

In float mode the loader lift arms are free to move up and down.

If the plow is against something that is fairly solid, and the rear wheels have traction the rear wheels will continue to move forward. If the plow has more load than the front end of the tractor has weight then the front wheels will lift, as the rear wheels and the plow get 'closer' together.

 

[slowzuki]

Yup, if you float the loader and it digs, the tractor will climb and lift the front tires. Its self sustaining as when the front end lifts it makes the cutting edge steeper and it will grab harder.

This is a big reason why I dislike plowing with the bucket.

 

[RoyJackson]

Yup, if you float the loader and it digs, the tractor will climb and lift the front tires. Its self sustaining as when the front end lifts it makes the cutting edge steeper and it will grab harder.

This is a big reason why I dislike plowing with the bucket.

Yeah, it can dig in...if you curl the bucket back a bit (cutting edge 1-2 inches off the ground), it won't dig in.

 

[Gizmo2]

In float mode the loader lift arms are free to move up and down.

If the plow is against something that is fairly solid, and the rear wheels have traction the rear wheels will continue to move forward. If the plow has more load than the front end of the tractor has weight then the front wheels will lift, as the rear wheels and the plow get 'closer' together.

Yup, if you float the loader and it digs, the tractor will climb and lift the front tires. Its self sustaining as when the front end lifts it makes the cutting edge steeper and it will grab harder.

This is a big reason why I dislike plowing with the bucket.

Makes snow plowing real work doesn't it? Went down this road 23 years ago.

 

[grsthegreat]

Well here in N Idaho all we have are gravel roads fo the most parts on the association roads and driveways that i do. No one plows the roads the first 1-2 snows, and we just mush it down to make a nice smooth packed surface that generally (cept for this year) freezes and stays that way for the entire season. All ive ever run are shoes on my blowers in the past and they never generally dig into the hard pack.

If the ground wasnt frozen, this could be a problem i guess, but then that just hasnt been an issue with me in 16 years of messing with the snow.

 

[slowzuki]

Ha, maybe if you have a round back bucket. Mine grabs harder if the rear edge catches as the angle is steeper to the loader pivot. The bottom of my bucket has a good reverse/upward bow to it from catching/hitting stuff with the front cutting edge raised.

Yeah, it can dig in...if you curl the bucket back a bit (cutting edge 1-2 inches off the ground), it won't dig in.

 

[5picker]

In float mode the loader lift arms are free to move up and down.

If the plow is against something that is fairly solid, and the rear wheels have traction the rear wheels will continue to move forward. If the plow has more load than the front end of the tractor has weight then the front wheels will lift, as the rear wheels and the plow get 'closer' together.

Oh... OK. I understand what you meant now. I thought you were talking about up/down resistance of the plow/loader on it's pivot point.

Sure if you 'push' a huge pile or dig the plow/bucket into something (and have traction) it will lift.

 

[DavidVT]

My Fisher connects via a QA plate to the FEL. I use the chain method to allow the blade to follow the ground. I have no method to create down pressure when plowing. (when stuck I can lift the FEL high and tip the plow down via the QA plate to push myself out in reverse but that is not plowing down pressure)

I try to keep the attachment point at about the same height as the truck mounts.
The weight of the FEL, the QA system and most of the plow frame remains on the tractor's front tires when I tip the snowboard to the ground. Naturally the snowboard is resting on the ground.

I don't mount this FEL plow until the drives are well frozen down. I use the scraper blade in reverse in the early part of the season. This season I have not even looked at mounting the Fisher thus far.... I did look at the mower deck yesterday but decided against it.

 

[DK35vince]

well i believe you, but i just wonder why you would lose steering control in float mode, but not with positive down pressure???

I don't put positive down pressure on the plow.
I put the plow down till it touchs and put a small amount of weight on it (approx. the weight of the plow and stop it at that) then I plow.
With the loader in float mode all the weight of the plow and the loader arms puts to much weight on the plow and takes to much weight off the front wheels.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

My Bobcat FEL has a bucket level indicator that lets me adjust the angle of attack on the bucket lip.

I have the rear 3pt plow set with the top link as short as possible so it doesn't dig in. And that plow angled and lowered to just above the ground so it wings back what the bucket misses.

Bunch of folks here claim to have done that with good results. :thumbsup:

We'll see how that set up works for me, assuming we actually get any measurable snow this winter.

 

[CJBOTA]

We finally got some snow so I gave it another try. Mixed results. My FEL plow work best when I back dragged. I am having difficulty understanding the whole chain thing. There must be something to it because I've noticed most truck plows have a chain. I'll get thru this year but I need to have this figured out by next year. My blade digs in float mode. Roy, your suggestion of tilting back helps some. I have an MX5100 and the lower arms come real close to the ground if I tilt it back to much. Also I have read on the forum where some people attach a round metal tube to the bottom of the blade or use a piece of a rubber stall matt curled under the blade. Either of these things would probably help alot. If anyone has any pics of the chain mounts I would appreciate knowing what to hook them to. It seems to me when you lower the arms the dang thing is going to come down chains or not. Especially when you say the chains will slacken. I just can't visulize the concept. I had a frame mounted blade on my BX2350 and B2920 which worked great. I think part of the problem is the blade is so far out in front of you. If I have to back drag I may as well get a back blade.

 

[KubotainNH]

CJBOTA, can you post a picture of your setup? The deal with the chain setup is if the blade hit a hump it will raise only the plow (slackening the chain) and not the lift arms. Having a plow locked into your lift arms means the arms weight needs to be lifted too. As for rubber on the blade edge, I bolted a tire tread to a 4 wheeler blade, it helped quite a bit.

 

[zzvyb6]

This setup is much more efficient, takes little time to hook up and go, floats on the plow skids, and trips if you hit something. Its 2 bolts and nuts, 4 hose connections and a pin on the lift cylinder. And, it works and drives like its on rails even in 24" drifts. I can run the tractor in high range(3) (9th gear) while doing my entire 1 mile long dirt road, both directions, 20 mph. When the snow is deep and heavy, you need to run a high angle so the snow flys off the blade. Otherwise it will spill over the top. I have full up/down and angle left/right from the loader ports. Plus, the length of the whole rig is just about the length of the tractor. This allows much better maneuverability for turning tight corners and when backing up. I want down pressure to break up occasional ice tracks from where the cars park outside the garage. I use this especially while in reverse.

What helps the winter plow blues is to run the plow over the gravel slowly when its warm outside. This allows you to shave the driveway surface to the plow contour (flat or triangular) instead of rounded crown.

If we would get some decent snow here in Eastern Michigan, I will run a video of how well this rig works. Its just an old truck plow mounted on 2 tractor frame extension pickup points. Same 1 way cylinders. The skids are adjusted to put the blade about 1 inch above the roadway.