Snow Equipment Buying/Pricing SSQA Front Blade

[MooseOnTheLoose]

Finalized a deal yesterday on a new Kubota MX5800 (58 HP 4wd HST utility tractor for the non-orange readers). I'm upgrading from an L3800 (38 HP compact).

Living in the front range of Colorado, our snow varies widely, but usually doesn't stick around all winter. I've plowed with a rear blade up to now, but its a literal pain in the neck, puts too much gravel in the grass, and is just slow. I like hyperdrive. So, I'm currently considering a front SSQA blade. Looking at the Land Pride STB15 - probably a 7'. New tractor has dual rear remotes, so I'm thinking of running hydraulic angling.

Posting in search of advice on brands and what to look for (If there is an opinion to stick with a rear blade, I'd be open to that - hopefully something with shoes).

FWIW, I've got about 1/4 mile in 3 different drives, a couple large areas, and a circle drive, so quite a variety of areas. All quite flat. I don't expect to be doing more than 12" very often at all. I've plowed with truck plow in the mountains before years ago and it certainly seemed nicer to be pushing instead of pulling snow up your back side.

 

[RNeumann]

I bought this one and had to add a second set of trip springs. I also added a cross over valve. And a part of the mount for the ram broke.
It is an Agri Ease. Did I mention I bought it new from the dealer it was a deal!?!?

Requirements-
Cross over valve
Trip springs/mechanism
Wider than machine when angled
Strong/reputable brand and design

 

[mddorange]

:welcome:
To the TBN forum Moose. You sure came to the right place as we love spending someone else's money. :laughing:

I am a little surprised that you are not getting a cab model if your going to be pushing much snow around.

 

[nybirdman]

I run an 8' converted truck plow on my L4240;you should be able to handle a 9' with 58 hp.Post #2 hit the nail on the head.

 

[FatTire]

Make sure the plow shoes extend down far enough so that they can be riding down in the gravel while keeping your blade edge up. Lateral float is a nice feature if you can get it, helps your blade follow the contours. HLA Snow | 2 SnowBlade

 

[MooseOnTheLoose]

Make sure the plow shoes extend down far enough so that they can be riding down in the gravel while keeping your blade edge up. Lateral float is a nice feature if you can get it, helps your blade follow the contours.

Good info on the crossover valves and the lateral float option was a new one to me, but certainly see the value there! Thanks guys.

FatTire - you are in Colorado - do you have a place to work with to get TLA plows? Network seems a little weird around here, but I've seen a few recommend them.

Anyone with experience with the land pride plows? I've generally like their stuff and then parts would be readily available.

 

[RNeumann]

Btw- if you have freeze/thaw of the driveway the SSQA blade will need to be a “proper” design. Typically in that situation simply putting the loader in float and using the curl and feet to keep from digging into a gravel drive will be tough- it works awesome in an area where the driveway stays frozen all winter.

If your drive doesn’t stay frozen the rear blade or a blade that in hinged to keep the loader weight off of it will work MUCH better! I have a hard time in the fall, before it fully freezes, with my SSQA blade. But once it freezes I’m in great shape. In the fall I have better luck with my box blade. But I’m just trying to make a nice “base” rather then remove everything down to the road base.

 

[majorwager]

A snow pusher less expensive, no need for hydraulics. Also I have a Agrital aftermarket all glass cab. A nice feature for the MX.

 

[msb1766]

Paul Short did a video about his Kubota tractor with a skid steer quick attach.
Take a look a this video:Viewer Question (Kubota Snow Plow) - YouTube

 

[RjCorazza]

I have an HLA 2000 series ssqa blade that I like. It’s built like a tank, and has 5 degree lateral oscillation.
I wouldn’t want to use it on gravel though.

 

[MooseOnTheLoose]

I have an HLA 2000 series ssqa blade that I like. It痴 built like a tank, and has 5 degree lateral oscillation.
I wouldn稚 want to use it on gravel though.

Corazza - would you not use the HLA on gravel or are you saying you wouldn't want any blade on gravel? Either way, why?

That home built of Paul's is beautiful work. Makes me want to start scouring craigslist for an orphaned blade. Didn't get a clear view of how much gusseting was done where the blade was attached at the plate. Definitely did it right by sliding it back on the mount.

 

[RjCorazza]

Corazza - would you not use the HLA on gravel or are you saying you wouldn't want any blade on gravel? Either way, why?

That home built of Paul's is beautiful work. Makes me want to start scouring craigslist for an orphaned blade. Didn't get a clear view of how much gusseting was done where the blade was attached at the plate. Definitely did it right by sliding it back on the mount.

I have limited experience on gravel. I used a rear blade for several years before paving my 500’ driveway, and did fine with it.
I don’t live in an area where you would build a base over gravel, then plow down to the base for most of the winter. A non-floating ssqa blade would not be my first choice on loose gravel.

The ssqa blade I have now only floats with the loader arms, so it’s very easy to dig into soft material. I don’t float the loader arms when plowing pavement and feather the loader arms to keep just the weight of the blade itself on the pavement (there is a little bit of vertical slop in the center pin and/or mount).

 

[Fallon]

I got my 8' Snow Dawg in Denver, some place off Santa Fe. Pretty decent price, I want to say $3k or so. It is a typical SSQA blade, so doesnt have float. I was planning on using it & seeing if I'd need to reengineer float into the SSQA frame & the blade frame. It's been 2 winters now & I havent been motivated enough to try & figure out how I'd do it, much less do it. The past 2 winters have been pretty dry though. The small truck plow I built for my old L3200 had vertical float & 15-20 degrees of rotational float. So I know the value of having or not having it. All things considered I prefer float, but not enough to rebuild for it... yet.

I got it for the 2' forecast around Thanksgiving 2 years ago. Spent a good evening assembling it in 5-10 degree weather (need a torpedo heater to get the plastic bit ontop to expand so the holes line up). They only had a 8' in stock instead of the 7 I wanted. Again, I was figuring I could cut 6" off either side if needed. It might be a bit much for my L4060 in heavy snow, but hasn't been a problem yet. Oh, and after freezing my *** off getting it assembled, we only got 3".

All things considered, get one that's more compact. The farther out the plow is in front, the worse steering & stuff is.

Just a few opinions & experiences from down here in Parker.

 

[joeyd]

I got my SSQA blade last fall and have had one winter to get used to it. When just doing my road it is so much easier than the back blade it gets trickier in my driveway and parking areas as the are sloped and meet at compound angles. That takes a little more finesse on the controls then just floating it down the road. In combination with a snowblower it makes the snow seem like so much less work.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Seven foot seems too small when angled. I use a couple of eights to do my parking lot. Wider would be nicer, but then they are a hassle to park indoors.

 

[MooseOnTheLoose]

Fallon - stainless steel looks interesting on that snow dogg. What made you decide on that one (other than a panic no-show-snow :laughing: - I've learned that the more hype the less snow around here).

I can see where the float on the plow instead of the boom is better just for less "floating" weight. Still love to hear from anyone that might have bought the Land Pride STB15.

I think the 8' sounds like the ticket considering width loss at angle.

Just need to get rid of the ol' L3800 so I have some seed money for all the accessories. Took a pick with them sitting together... L is sitting forward more and with the canopy you don't appreciate the size difference!

 

[Fallon]

It was a better price than other new ones I could find & I like the idea of the stainless not rusting. It was actually competitive with finding a nicer used truck plow in good shape. Used plows around here seem to be nearly new pricing (often unrelated to condition), and/or the plow is beat to heck.

There are some cheap import blades around that are really compact. They have 1 double acting cylinder for single instead of 2 single acting. It would be harder to retrofit blade float into that style & they are built a lot lighter. So I stuck with a truck style blade & frame with a SSQA mount.

 

[bridge4]

Who makes a SSQA that floats? That seems like a good solution, along with maybe some pipe/horse mat along the edge for the gravel driveways. I have two driveways, and two 60ish car parking lots to clear that are gravel, looking for good solutions for early and late winter when the blower won't be needed.

 

[ovrszd]

I converted a meyer truck front blade to fit SSQA. As mentioned earlier, the float function bears a lot of weight on the blade. Need large shoes.

I later added 3pt brackets and now use it on the rear of my 3o10. Floats a lot better but is a pain having to push backwards.

I think the answer is to build the float function into the mount as a Meyer blade is originally.

 

[fruitcakesa]

From Jenkins Steel, I got an 8 ft SSQA snowplow. Basically a Bobcat clone
All pivots are greasable with a center pivot so the blade will oscillate.
900 lbs and $2300 delivered, it is a quality setup.