Advice needed please Converting a Curtis snow plow pin frame to a quick attach

[joesco]

Folks, I've search the various forums and could not find anyone who has converted a pin frame of a snow plow to a quick attach plate.

I'm converting my Kubota L2900 to Quick Attach and need some advice on the proper way to attach the plow frame to the QA plate.

Thoughts, use steel channel, 4" tubing, bolt the steel stock to the plate or weld?

Any help is greatly appreciated and pictures will be very helpful.

Thanks very much!

Joe S.

 

[George2615]

Some people weld plow pin mounts to the QA plate and a grab hook at the top for the lift chain so the plow can hang on the QA just like it would on a truck.
Mine is welded to the QA plate and I use the loader arms to set it level on the ground. The angle on mine is controlled from hoses off the rear remotes. The plow has a built in trip edge.

 

[nybirdman]

Here's how I did mine.4"tube steel across the adapter plate,4" vertical for the chain.Pivots on the lower connection so the "plow"floats ,not the FEL.Better for uneven surfaces.My vertical piece is extra long(doesn't need it for the plow),I was going to use it for a boom pole.

 

[George2615]

Just an FYI to the OP. This summer I'm going to redo my plow similar to birdman's.
I don't use the loader float mode because the weight of the loader arms and plow blade are too heavy.
As mine is now (fixed) I lower the loader arms until the blade touches ground then bump it up an inch or so to plow. My current configuration would work fine on a paved driveway but not good for a gravel drive. I'm going to do mine so just the blade floats. That is the way it would be on a truck plow and IMO should be that way for a tractor.

 

[RNeumann]

I have feet on my blade and find floating the FEL works very well. I can make easy micro adjustments with curl. I had this discussion in a previous post. No feet and floating the FEL would be tough- especially on gravel.

 

[nybirdman]

Those with a solid hook-up(float the FEL) ,I would think would be o.k. on hard surfaces(asphalt/concrete) but for dirt and gravel,like I have ,floating the plow works much better.I.M.H.O.
Either way it's a lot better than a shovel!

Only thing I should have done different is shorten it up some and may do it yet.Even at 7,000 lbs.and R1 tires it can push the back around under some conditions.

 

[George2615]

I had some spare time today and no major snow in the forecast so I decided to start the conversion of my plow from fixed blade to floating blade. I got my welds cut off to separate the QA plate and used the grinder to clean it up the remaining welds. Man, that 1/2" thick QA plate is heavy. Tomorrow I have to buy some hardware and build or buy a new pair of saw horses. The weight of the plate broke my cheapie HF ones. They are supposed to hold 200 lbs. but I found they wouldn't even hold my 150 lb. plate. I made some 1/2" thick brackets that will slide in the plow as shown and be bolted in place (the original eyes were cut off).

 

[JCByrd24]

An advantage of the floating plow vice loader frame setup that has not been mentioned is steerability/traction on the front tires. Floating the loader takes it's weight off the front tires and therefore they lose traction and push sideways instead of steering, a common issue with tractor mounted plows. Removing that weight from the cutting edge and/or plow shoes also reduces the chance of damage to the surface.

 

[LD1]

As mentioned.....the "better" way to mount in my opinion is to float the plow and not make it a rigid SSQA setup.

Tractors dont like going forward with the loader in float. Have you ever tried it with just the loader bucket? Tractor tries to drive up over the loader and you end up with the front wheels in the air.

Too retain plow lift, just weld on some tabs and make it a pin on connection. the a post up top for the chain drop

 

[nybirdman]

I watched a video of the "guru"of fabrication ,snow plowing with a fixed plow 4 Shorts.Not knocking him at all,he is very talented.What I noticed with his fixed plow he was constantly adjusting up/down to keep the front wheels down,he plows on concrete or asphalt almost exclusively.Again not criticizing ,just more ways than one way to skin a cat.

 

[Fallon]

My first plow mounted to a 3pt Quick Hitch welded to a SSQA plate. Toplink was chain for float & worked well. I had planned a similar setup, but ended up buying a factory SSQA plow for my new L4060 after the old plow ran off with the old tractor.

Not enough snow to use the dam plow this year yet, but I'm concerned about the loader + plow weight. I suspect I'll be putting a hinge on the bottom of my SSQA plate to get plow float rather than using loader float. Generally more weight on your wheels means better traction & steering. More weight on your blade means less traction & steering.

I suspect skid steers plows are really only meant for paved parking lots, hence the lack of float. I hear & will hopefully soon confirm myself they don't work as well on tractors & gravel.

You can see photos of my old yellow plow & new stainless one at Plow - Google Photos

 

[RNeumann]

I have a gravel drive and once I learned how to use the blade with shoes floating the FEL has been great. Zero issues with the front lifting or Un-weighting the front tires. It's floating not pushing down and lifting the tires! The constant adjustment of curl gives very accurate adjustment. In the fall curl back so you make a nice base. Curl down to cut a little ice or clean things up. I get the drop and go approach but if you have FEL float why not take advantage left and right movement of the joystick?

 

[Fallon]

I have a gravel drive and once I learned how to use the blade with shoes floating the FEL has been great. Zero issues with the front lifting or Un-weighting the front tires. It's floating not pushing down and lifting the tires! The constant adjustment of curl gives very accurate adjustment. In the fall curl back so you make a nice base. Curl down to cut a little ice or clean things up. I get the drop and go approach but if you have FEL float why not take advantage left and right movement of the joystick?

Do you want half the weight of your loader putting weight/traction on your front tires & the other half making your plow dig in harder? Or do you want most of your loader weight & possibly even a little plow weight putting weight & traction on the front tires?

Colorado will be 10 degrees one day & 40+ the next. Makes for a lot of plowing on less than frozen solid ground. Even with skid shoes you plow a lot of gravel. More blade weight is not your friend there. Less of a problem with pavement or permafrost that some of you guys get to deal with.

 

[joesco]

Thanks for the advise and pictures. My Curtis plow frame have four pin locations, two for the loader arms (lift) and two for the pistons (curl). Should I just have a set of "pin tabs" fabricated similar to the ones I am cutting off my loader bucket and weld those to a 5/16ths solid adapter plate to mount the plow to the quick attach?

 

[George2615]

Can you attach a pic of your plow frame and loader?
You should not have to cut anything off the loader bucket.
If your loader does not have QA for attachments then you have a lot more work to do than I.
Not sure but I think Everything Attachments and maybe Titan Attachments have kits to make your loader QA.

 

[RNeumann]

I think one of these adapters is what you are after. As stated above attach some pics if you are looking for something else.

Universal Skid Steer Quick Attach Accessories, Hitches, Adapters

 

[joesco]

Can you attach a pic of your plow frame and loader?
You should not have to cut anything off the loader bucket.
If your loader does not have QA for attachments then you have a lot more work to do than I.
Not sure but I think Everything Attachments and maybe Titan Attachments have kits to make your loader QA.

Thanks, will post some pics tomorrow.

 

[George2615]

Finished up my snow plow mods. In my original design the plow was fixed (welded to QA plate). Now the plow hangs on pins under plate and chain lift on top just like a regular truck plow and will float.
First pic shows tabs welded to bottom of QA plate.
Pic 2 is a piece of channel welded to top of plate with slot cut for chain.
Pic 3 shows A-frame with new cross brace welded in, holes drilled and brackets bolted in.
Pic 4,5,6,7 test fit hanging A-frame to bottom of plate and remount cushion relief valve.
Pic 8 ready to test on next snowfall.

 

[Fallon]

Finished up my snow plow mods. In my original design the plow was fixed (welded to QA plate). Now the plow hangs on pins under plate and chain lift on top just like a regular truck plow and will float.
First pic shows tabs welded to bottom of QA plate.
Pic 2 is a piece of channel welded to top of plate with slot cut for chain.
Pic 3 shows A-frame with new cross brace welded in, holes drilled and brackets bolted in.
Pic 4,5,6,7 test fit hanging A-frame to bottom of plate and remount cushion relief valve.
Pic 8 ready to test on next snowfall.

Thats basically how my old plow was mounted & it worked well.

My new plow has as solid mount... for now. I'm likely to unbolt the A frame from the SSQA & put a hindge on the bottom & chain or telescoping rod ontop to flex. Need to run it stock through at least one snow before I start modding.

 

[nybirdman]

George2615:Looks good;it will be interesting how you find it works for you.A direct comparison using the same tractor and plow.Let us know.
I am in Northern NY,St.Lawrence co. and have plowed exactly one time this year.Unreal year so far,plenty of rain lately and above freezing temps.My friends in Washington State are getting "our" normal winter.