I have the HLA 2000 snowplow on my Kioti DK-40 HP Kioti. No Cab, open station. I have either a 1000#+ hoe on rear as ballast, or my BB with two filled with sand 55 gallon plastic barrels.
I use Aquiline rear chains only. I let the first few storms lay down a compacted base on my 2 gravel drives and gravel areas around my barn and other out buildings.
My main drive is over 400'. I have other large areas that need plowing to allow entry to 11 garage bays between my main house and barn, and flip house next door.
Most of the drive areas are sloped, curved and ditched on one side.
At 1400' above sea level we get lots of wind driven drifts, etc.
I plow quickly as possible, often at dusk or thereabout, and it gets real cold when the sun starts dropping like a rock from the sky.
I really like my HLA 2000 plow and see no need to add anything like a chain to lift it like a truck plow. I can push snow into very high piles over my main ditch and let it melt in springtime through the ditch stone - done!
Yes, if angled sharply the plow can push the tractor sideways, mostly if plowing down the drive. This is easily mitigated by slowing down or by decreasing angle of attack.
If you look at what HLA designs and produces for plows, they go from small to monster road plows.
In my opinion truck retrofit plows are NOT designed for tractor loader use. They serve a specific purpose well- being attached to the frame of a truck. Most truck plows I've seen have SSQA plates and then a lengthy arm and dual piston truck plow arm, then the blade. The extra distance of the blade being far out in front of the mounting plate makes the loader arms more vulnerable to twisting and racking damage from forces exerted on the blade. Those forces are transferred back to the loader arms, which are far more likely to sustain damage than the same plow mounted to a truck's frame, where the forces are diminished by the truck's ladder frame design.
Think about it. The tractor loader has two main supports, where the arms attach to the upright near the dash of the tractor. There is also a torsion tube between the loader arms fairly close to where the SSQA plate attaches. That's it. Tractor loaders are essentially designed to push a bucket or blade straight ahead, with no blade angling or lateral forces being exerted during pushing of dirt, manure or sand, etc. Tractor loaders are NOT dozers with angle blade functions built in.
The forces the loader is designed to handle are meant to push back evenly or close to even at the SSQA plate surface of the loader bucket or blade. Extending that exertion point out several feet by attaching a truck plow changes the exertion point and consequently can and often will damage the loader arms.
The lateral float built into the HLA plows allows the blade to pivot to driveway contours, and the crossover valve allows shock to be reduced to tractor loader arms; probably the most critical safety mechanism for one's loader arms not getting racked by the forces that would otherwise damage them. And there are 4 trip springs that drop the blade to allow for contact with immovable objects, for obvious reasons. These combined features with a single 3" diameter hydraulic cylinder do an excellent job of protecting the loader in all situations encountered when plowing.
As others have stated, allow the plow feet to rest on the surface and adjust loader arms to optimal position and plow away. No need to duplicate the float of the plow with loader float.
I've used my HLA 2000 for a number of years and it is the best plow I've ever used. It has the ability to push snow high into banks that the tractor, with loader arm assistance, can do with ease. No truck with a frame mounted plow could come close to what the tractor can do. A truck plow mounted on a FEL could do high banking, but again it had better approach it straight on to reduce the chance of FEL damage....
JMHO from nearly 40 years of plowing with trucks and tractors.....
