Anyone Bent Their FEL Using a Snow Plow

[Hilbilly]

For those telling you to fix "your" drive way;what about other people's drives that you may plow?A lot easier to float your plow blade and make it more useful.

Cheaper too.

I only use my equipment for my needs and for my daughter that lives down the street from us. Everyone else around here has their own equipment for their needs.

After talking to the HLA tech I feel pretty confident this change will make a significant improvement. But I've been wrong before. I might get it done tomorrow if all goes well. In any case I will report back with pics when done and I've had a chance to use it.

 

[TSO]

It's your money... But i don't think throwing more money at that plow is gonna make you happy.

You can buy a front 3pt mount with hydraulic motor for your skid steer... Attach the snowblower you already have to the front like any other quick attach piece. Then you can drive forward with the skid steer and snowblower. I think those 3pt quick attach plates with hydraulic motor go for around $1200-2000.

 

[Ford850]

It seems odd that the plow maker HLA tells you that most of the larger plows they sell are with the floating blade, and yet they don't offer that option in the smaller blades. You'll see from comments on here that the vast majority of people who have used a floating blade say it is the better option. Most of those who say float isn't needed have either never tried one, or have relatively flat or paved drives.

 

[Hilbilly]

It's your money... But i don't think throwing more money at that plow is gonna make you happy.

You can buy a front 3pt mount with hydraulic motor for your skid steer... Attach the snowblower you already have to the front like any other quick attach piece. Then you can drive forward with the skid steer and snowblower. I think those 3pt quick attach plates with hydraulic motor go for around $1200-2000.

I plan to convert my snow blower to hydraulic and mount it on the SS. That is Part 2 of getting a better snow setup. Part one is a plow. I've never heard of a hydraulic 3pth setup with motor. Can you provide a link or company name. I've done some research and think I can do the conversion for around $600, excluding the SSQA mount. I will make one of those with the materials I have on hand.

It seems odd that the plow maker HLA tells you that most of the larger plows they sell are with the floating blade, and yet they don't offer that option in the smaller blades. You'll see from comments on here that the vast majority of people who have used a floating blade say it is the better option. Most of those who say float isn't needed have either never tried one, or have relatively flat or paved drives.

I keep coming back to the fact that my SIL's truck plow has a float and it works great on my driveway. No fiddling involved. Why? The differences I see are; 1) the truck is heavier, 2) the plow has a float and 3) the angle of attack on his plow is more vertical and therefore scrapes rather slices but that may not be an issue when he is using his skid shoes. I mentioned 3) to the HLA tech and he says their plow design allows it scrape packed snow better than a blade that scrapes. Makes sense to me. If I have to constantly struggle to get the plow to do the job I want, then it is either the wrong to tool for my application or the wrong tool for me. Either way i will find out soon and report back, good or bad.

I thank everyone for all the input and don't feel your comments have been ignored if I am not following your advise. They have all been considered.

 

[Coyote machine]

It seems odd that the plow maker HLA tells you that most of the larger plows they sell are with the floating blade, and yet they don't offer that option in the smaller blades. You'll see from comments on here that the vast majority of people who have used a floating blade say it is the better option. Most of those who say float isn't needed have either never tried one, or have relatively flat or paved drives.

I've never tried a floating snow blade on my tractor FEL. I suppose I could go to the 3000 series and put a floating blade on my 40 HP diesel tractor, or I could buy a huge dozer and plow my relatively flat gravel drive with it, but just like I don't need a dozer to do the job, the 1000 and 2000 series plow blades don't need float built into the blade, otherwise HLA would already include it. The 3,4,5, and 6000 series likely could use the extra help and that's why HLA included it where it was needed.
Here are the relevant specs: HLA 7' 2000 series blades are 610#s, with 24" mouldboards, max operating wt: 5K #'s, no blade float, except lateral float. 3000 series start at 1010#s with 30" high mouldboards, and come with blade float, which can be locked off as needed, and more expensive same length blade as the 2000 series 7' blade.

Anyone whose read through this entire thread and made useful comments along the way will hopefully realize that the OP is stubborn in his belief that float will cure all, when in fact fixing his driveway would be the best long term solution to his problems. His choice, his money, his frustration of a 'drive'.

He doesn't want to spend the long dollar investment, his choice; but the plow manufacturers are not at fault for not having what he wants, just because his drive is a one off poorly designed and non-functional mile or so long run through the woods he chooses to call a driveway. I'd call it a back road, not a driveway.

The OP is determined to do things his way- my concern is he's barking up the wrong tree. I'm NOT saying his way can't succeed, just that it's less likely to succeed than what most likely really needs to be done- FIXING his drive, not cobbing a Frankenplow!:2cents:

BTW, if his Franken plow solves his problems I'll burn my non-existent, 'Make America Great Again' hat for Canadian ingenuity!:drink:

 

[Hilbilly]

I don't believe I am stubborn in my beliefs. I started this thread looking for opinions and there are a lot. I was on a fact finding mission. I gathered all the information I could from those that posted, watching youtube videos and talked to the manufacturer of this plow. Based on all that input I made a decision and am now pursuing that decision. My driveway is not flat or anywhere near flat. To make it flat would cost a ton of money, it is over 5000' long. Likely cost to make it flat would exceed $30K maybe $50K. Seems to backward thinking. Spend $50k to make a driveway suite the tool. I suggest the driveway just needs or tool suited to it. Much cheaper and way faster. I just need to find what that tool is. Maybe it will be the float and maybe not. Time will tell.

The HLA tech told me they make these plows without floats because their typical user in plowing paved roads, parking lots or other flat areas. I described my situation and the difficulties I am having using this plow. I asked if he thought adding a float to this plow would help and he said that would be a very good idea, given my situation.

 

[Ford850]

Stay the course.

 

[Rustyiron]

Hilbilly I was going to suggest your alterations (pin on with lifting chain & another ssqa plate) but I didn't get the feeling you were the fabricator type. The only downfall I see is that it will push your plow out another 6-8"? and loader mounting imho is already pushing the limits for decent steering.
Start a thread with pics on your mods.:thumbsup:

 

[TSO]

I plan to convert my snow blower to hydraulic and mount it on the SS. That is Part 2 of getting a better snow setup. Part one is a plow. I've never heard of a hydraulic 3pth setup with motor. Can you provide a link or company name. I've done some research and think I can do the conversion for around $600, excluding the SSQA mount. I will make one of those with the materials I have on hand.



I keep coming back to the fact that my SIL's truck plow has a float and it works great on my driveway. No fiddling involved. Why? The differences I see are; 1) the truck is heavier, 2) the plow has a float and 3) the angle of attack on his plow is more vertical and therefore scrapes rather slices but that may not be an issue when he is using his skid shoes. I mentioned 3) to the HLA tech and he says their plow design allows it scrape packed snow better than a blade that scrapes. Makes sense to me. If I have to constantly struggle to get the plow to do the job I want, then it is either the wrong to tool for my application or the wrong tool for me. Either way i will find out soon and report back, good or bad.

I thank everyone for all the input and don't feel your comments have been ignored if I am not following your advise. They have all been considered.

Skid Steer Motorized 3-Point Adapter - Select a Motor | eBay

I've seen others like this that are more simple and cheaper, but this is the idea.

 

[Hilbilly]

TSO, thanks for that link. I've never heard of such a thing. Strange my dealer never mentioned there was such a thing. I'm pretty sure I can convert my blower for a lot less money and that will be another project.

Ford850, you previously suggested I check out the old threads about float vs solid and that lead me in this direction. Watching Youtube videos seem to confirm what you were pointing to. I guess I will have some very personal experience to add to the mix after I get this initial trial done.

Rustyiron, I'm not really a fabricator guy, just a hick with a welder, that "can do" attitude, the desire to learn new things and a cheap SOB. I'd rather spend $1,000 on tools and equipment that I will have for future projects than to use the same $1,000 just buy some implement. A few years ago I decided I absolutely had to have a grapple (darn grapple thread). So I did a bunch of research to figure out how to get hydraulics to the front of my tractor, what type and size of grapple would likely be the best for my uses and produced a paper design for the one I eventually built. It was the first time I did any hydraulic work and the first time I fabricated anything. I was driven and absolutely enjoyed the experience. I will see if I can find the thread of my build and provide the link later.

I started working on the float system alteration today but did not get very far and ran into some unexpected issues. The HLA SSQA side plates are not perpendicular to the face, or the bottom / top cross members. The sides are skewed front to back and up and down. At first I was going to just weld some tabs to the side plates but realized that with things not being square, the hinges would bind. Probably not a big deal but I figured I should try to get it right. Took a while to figure out what the angles were and how to match those with the tabs. Got underway and then I ran into another issue. So I decided to quit for the day. Now having an adult beverage and thinking about what to do next. If I was really a fabricator type, this would have been done and the results posted. Hoping to get back to it tomorrow. I should have plowed today but wanted to wait until I had this mod done.