Anyone Bent Their FEL Using a Snow Plow

[Hilbilly]

I am about to pull the trigger on a loader mounted snow plow but have some concerns so I'm looking for anyone that has personal experience with; 1) loader mounted snow plows and 2) a long rough gravel driveway.

My driveway is a mile long and all gravel with some spots where there are large nuggets protruding up. I've been using a rear blade and rear blower for the last 9 years and getting tired of trying to blow snow that has been packed down by continuously driving over it before the rear blade does its job. My tractor is a Massey 1547 with a 1530 ( I think) loader. The loader currently has a 72" bucket on it but I want to put a 96" snow plow on it with hydraulics to swing it. The loader I'm looking at is an HLA 2000 and it has a crossover relief valve on it and trip springs, which I hope will protect the loader from damage if I hit some of those nuggets or frozen snow along the edge of the driveway when trying to push the snow as wide as possible. I have the tires mounted to their max width or close to it. They are 72" outside to outside and the plow 96" plow would have a plowing width of 79" when fully tilted.

A third related question is; have any of the members damaged their loaders by using a loader mounted plow?

Edit; forgot to mention that the plow will not be mounted the bucket and will have its own SSQA mount.

 

[tcreeley]

I put my plow on mounted to the bucket. It was hinged and had chains/springs to the bucket hook. That absorbed the shock.

When I was concerned about hitting something, I just angled the blade (top forward) and it slid over frozen rocks that were poking up a bit.

I got tired of not having my bucket available, so I stopped using the plow and just use the bucket now.

Sounds like you have a nice setup planned there. Unless you are hitting frozen boulders- I wouldn't worry about bending your FEL.

 

[nybirdman]

I have been running an 8' Curtis converted truck plow for ten years with no problems.Trip springs and added a cross-over relief(a must).I plow about 2 miles of woods road and drive-ways all gravel.My plow floats on a chain,like a truck plow.

 

[George2615]

I have been running an 8' Curtis converted truck plow for ten years with no problems.Trip springs and added a cross-over relief(a must).I plow about 2 miles of woods road and drive-ways all gravel.My plow floats on a chain,like a truck plow.

X2 Truck plow, crossover relief, trip springs

 

[Hilbilly]

nybirdman, looks like your tractor is about the same size as mine. That gives me more comfort about getting the 8' blade. Thanks.

This blade wouldn't have a chain to produce float, like the truck plows so I guess I would use the loader float setting to let the plow follow the road profile.

Edit: birdman, I forgot to ask, do you run the edge of your plow against the frozen snow bank to try to get the road as wide as possible? My concern is more of an issue after there have been some freeze / thaw cycles and the banks become ice or very hard snow.

 

[Deerherd]

I had the HLA 2000 on a Kioti DK35 and now have the HLA 3000 on my LS.

Do NOT use the loader float function in plowing. Lower the blade until the skid shoes are riding on the drive and adjust your cut by curling the blade. It is great plow.



Edit. Lateral float is a feature of HLA blades, no chain needed.

 

[RNeumann]

I have a SSQA blade with hydraulic angle. I trip the springs on my blade regularly and have had no issues with damage and or wear to the FEL.

My blade didn’t come with a cross over relief valve but it has one now! I steered a 1” steel pin that held the cylinder- pin broke and cylinder was fine.

I have no idea what your tractor is or how much it weighs. It will be interesting to see if a blade that wide pushes it around. I tend to run mine with only enough angle to send the majority of the snow in the direction I want. If I max out the angle it can start to push the front end around. I run front v bar chains. I don’t run rear chains.

The guys that live in areas that stay frozen all winter tend to use the float on the FEL and just curl to adjust cut depth off the feet. Guys that live in areas that freeze thaw all winter have better luck using the chain type setup and no float feature. This keeps weight off the blade and prevents digging.

 

[Budweiser John]

I just switched from a rear mounted blower to a front mounted snow plow. Pardon the pun, but not looking back. I’m pushing a 7’ SSQA blade made by Quick Attach with hydraulic Angling with a NH TC45D tractor.
The driveway is a combination of agerate and black top. On the agerate I simply feather the cural cylinders downward a little more than on the blacktop portion and the blade rides over the irregular surface. In the event of an unknown obstruction the blade is spring trip protected.
B. John

 

[Hilbilly]

I have a SSQA blade with hydraulic angle. I trip the springs on my blade regularly and have had no issues with damage and or wear to the FEL.

My blade didn’t come with a cross over relief valve but it has one now! I steered a 1” steel pin that held the cylinder- pin broke and cylinder was fine.

I have no idea what your tractor is or how much it weighs. It will be interesting to see if a blade that wide pushes it around. I tend to run mine with only enough angle to send the majority of the snow in the direction I want. If I max out the angle it can start to push the front end around. I run front v bar chains. I don’t run rear chains.

The guys that live in areas that stay frozen all winter tend to use the float on the FEL and just curl to adjust cut depth off the feet. Guys that live in areas that freeze thaw all winter have better luck using the chain type setup and no float feature. This keeps weight off the blade and prevents digging.

My tractor weighs somewhere between 3400# and 4000# depending on what spec sheet you read.

Not sure that using the plow without the loader in float would work very well. My driveway is not smooth and there are little bumps and hollows everywhere. If I try to adjust the loader setting to get close to the surface It will be the wrong height most of the time. That is why I was planning to use the float mode. I do have problems with the loader in float mode while using the bucket as the leading edge will sometimes dig in and the loader will lift the front of the tractor up.

Is the digging in issue only when the ground is soft or does it also occur when there is a frozen base on the driveway. I sure don't want to spend all this money and find out I don't like the setup. Wish I knew someone with one of these so i could try it first.

 

[Rustyiron]

Just go slow until you build up your nice smooth snow pack.

 

[Hilbilly]

Deerherd, that's a real nice looking tractor. How wide is the plow on there?

 

[oldnslo]

If you push hard enough in float the front of the tractor will lift. How hard you have to push depends on loader geometry, and weight on front tires.

 

[Ford850]

Do some more reading on plows that float on a chain. After using one for over 10 years I couldn’t use a plow without it. My drive is long with twists and undulating areas. Mostly gravel. Keeping the FEL raised slightly lets the plow float and stay on the drive surface. That keeps the FEL weight on front wheels for traction. I use a Hiniker Big Ox but there are others. For flat driveways I could understand a plow that doesn’t float, but not for one with humps and dips.

 

[RNeumann]

My tractor weighs somewhere between 3400# and 4000# depending on what spec sheet you read.

Not sure that using the plow without the loader in float would work very well. My driveway is not smooth and there are little bumps and hollows everywhere. If I try to adjust the loader setting to get close to the surface It will be the wrong height most of the time. That is why I was planning to use the float mode. I do have problems with the loader in float mode while using the bucket as the leading edge will sometimes dig in and the loader will lift the front of the tractor up.

Is the digging in issue only when the ground is soft or does it also occur when there is a frozen base on the driveway. I sure don't want to spend all this money and find out I don't like the setup. Wish I knew someone with one of these so i could try it first.

See post two- I may not be explaining it too well. I stay frozen all winter and have a few inch layer of ice/snow that stays over the road base. In early or late season my blade with feet can dig so I end up using my box blade to push the snow with my box blade.

 

[Hilbilly]

Do some more reading on plows that float on a chain. After using one for over 10 years I couldn’t use a plow without it. My drive is long with twists and undulating areas. Mostly gravel. Keeping the FEL raised slightly lets the plow float and stay on the drive surface. That keeps the FEL weight on front wheels for traction. I use a Hiniker Big Ox but there are others. For flat driveways I could understand a plow that doesn’t float, but not for one with humps and dips.

Excellent point!!! Using my 7' rear blade with it swung to the side and angled as much as I can (which is necessary to get the snow to slide off the blade) the back end of the tractor gets pushed over, even with chains on. Not great chains though since most of the cross links fall between the treads. So if I use the loader in float mode, I will unload the front tires and loose traction. Maybe this is not going to happen tomorrow as planned.

Keep it coming though, while I do some reading on the chain setup.

 

[DK35vince]

Do NOT use the loader float function in plowing. Lower the blade until the skid shoes are riding on the drive and adjust your cut by curling the blade. It is great plow.

That's the same way I use mine.
I just set it down till the skid shoe touch and go.
Floating the FEL never works for me, tried it can't steer.
I'm running a 9' Western truck plow on the loader of my DK 35. (SSQA with hydraulic angle) Chains on all 4 tires.

 

[Hilbilly]

I found a couple of older threads that discussed the chain vs hydraulic float and it was apparent that the chain float was a hands down winner. This quote from Ford850 clearly stated what I needed to know "After using my Big Ox low for years now, there is no way I would use one without a blade float (not FEL float) and blade trip functions. Mine also floats/tilts left to right for contours which is helpful. But if I try to float my FEL it puts a great deal of stress on the arms, and the tractor steering. If I lift the FEL slightly and only let the blade float it plows effortlessly."

There were a few others after this that reaffirmed this. I also noted that there was only manufacturer of the chain float system. I think it was Meyers. Maybe I will just finish off this season the way I've been doing it for years. That will give me time to find something used that I can adapt.

I'm pretty sure you guys saved me from making a mistake. Thank you all very much.

If I do end up manufacturing or altering something I will be sure to post pics and report on the performance.

 

[Hilbilly]

That's the same way I use mine.
I just set it down till the skid shoe touch and go.
Floating the FEL never works for me, tried it can't steer.
I'm running a 9' Western truck plow on the loader of my DK 35. (SSQA with hydraulic angle) Chains on all 4 tires.

Thanks for posting this. I was still concerned about using an 8' blade but if your using a 9' one then I should be fine with the 8. Do you find the tractor gets pushed around with such a wide blade when it is angled?

 

[oldafretired]

Like Ford850 said get a blade that floats on the SSQA plate and also has lateral oscillation. You just set the height of the loader arm and let the blade float on its own. The lateral oscillation helps with leveling the blade when you angle it besides allowing it to follow the contour of the driveway better.

You can see how the blade can move both up and down and rotate on the SSQA plate:

I had a rubber edge on in this photo since the gravel wasn't frozen over yet and it folds over as you go forward and doesn't dig into the gravel.

 

[RNeumann]

We all intuitively know that weather and snow conditions vary by location and time of year. That combined with local conditions like road surface dictate what works best where. With that said their are no absolutes. Float the loader here, don’t float it there, chain type somewhere else. “We,” as the TBN community, are pretty good at problem solving and figuring out what’s best for the situation.