Bucket snow removal fail

[MountainBuck]

The freak snowstorm left a few inches of snow on top of sleet on my gravel driveway.

Tried to use my 4500p with bucket to remove it and was very disappointed.

First put the bucket in float and with the bucket in several positions, mostly flat.

Some snow would ball up in front of the bucket but nothing really got inside.

Then I put some down pressure on the bucket but still nothing except lost steering traction.

Only thing I can think to blame it on other than operator error is that I have teeth on the bucket and at a high enough angle the teeth would keep the edge of the bucket from hitting the snow.

All I ended up doing was packing the snow down.

Any ideas?

 

[oosik]

I've found that using my bucket can be rather frustrating. The bucket has a semi-permanent Rankin tooth bar mounted on the lip. I've got a mile long gravel driveway. The bucket will bounce along the driveway but it doesn't really collect too much snow. Even when it's completely full - it's not really a whole lot of snow.

Also - if it's wet snow - - it's a tough job. Then - - My only vehicle is a 2018 Ram Power Wagon. Soo..... unless I have 8" on the ground and it's still snowing really hard - I don't worry about plowing. I plow with a very heavy Rhino 950 rear blade and my tractor weighs in at - 10,100#. Using my bucket with 8" of snow on my driveway would take all day. Actually - I'd push it around for an hour or so and then say - "To H*LL with it and go back in the house". View attachment 686879

 

[johara1]

All you do with a bucket is make more ice, you are SOL with ice on gravel.... I had it happen to me a long time ago and what ever you do you need to pile it where you can reclaim the gravel after it melts. run on the snow or you will just make mess. now if you had a set of chains on your tires that will ruff it ..... jim

 

[kenmbz]

use edge tamers on the bucket to at least get down to the last inch or so, tipping bucket front edge up might help too.

 

[johara1]

use edge tamers on the bucket to at least get down to the last inch or so, tipping bucket front edge up might help too.

I never heard of the term edge tamers, after running loader for over 50 years that term has me stumped..... jim

 

[MowMN]

use edge tamers on the bucket to at least get down to the last inch or so, tipping bucket front edge up might help too.

Edge Tamer - Move Snow With Your Tractor Loader Bucket – R2 Manufacturing

Agreed. I use them on my slip scoop to clear the driveway anytime we get more than 4+ inches at a time. Then go back over any remaining with the power broom. Works great and gets down to bare asphalt without any damage to the driveway.

 

[johara1]

never saw anything like that before, to stope the bucket from digging. That will sure make a lot of ice, sliding over the snow....but better than the whole bucket sliding over it..... jim

 

[johara1]

The freak snowstorm left a few inches of snow on top of sleet on my gravel driveway.

Tried to use my 4500p with bucket to remove it and was very disappointed.

First put the bucket in float and with the bucket in several positions, mostly flat.

Some snow would ball up in front of the bucket but nothing really got inside.

Then I put some down pressure on the bucket but still nothing except lost steering traction.

Only thing I can think to blame it on other than operator error is that I have teeth on the bucket and at a high enough angle the teeth would keep the edge of the bucket from hitting the snow.

All I ended up doing was packing the snow down.

Any ideas?

I have a set of those teeth from Ventrac and they are worthless at best till I welded on the tip of them and built it up to grind a sharp flat point on them and then they would dig. For what you want to do I would remove them. Then angle the bucket to kind of dig in to the sleet under the snow and Skid along not with the bottom down and making more ice.... jim

 

[North to Alaska]

use edge tamers on the bucket to at least get down to the last inch or so, tipping bucket front edge up might help too.

I have them and they work great. Keeps my bucket from scraping the gravel. We get about ten feet of snow each year here although this year has been an easy year for me.
I personally don’t see how they will work well on paved accept as someone else posted, they use a power broom afterwards. It will leave a little bit of snow behind.

 

[johara1]

I use a poly cutting edge on a blade and it doesn't mark it takes it right down to the asphalt. You don't need the feet like a steel cutting edge ...... jim

 

[HudsonValleyMo]

Would a snow blower do the job in a situation like this?

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have one of those bolt on tooth bars for my slip scoop. For my Steiner 430 with no breakout force to speak of, I found the teeth made a world of difference.

I have a V Blade and Blower, Both work very well in snow. I would never consider using the slip scoop, as it is too narrow and has no useable lift height. And no way to shake the bucket. Just thinking about even trying, makes me frustrated.

BOTH the front mounted blower and V Blade are a lot of fun to use! The way you can dance around and reposition yourself is impressive. Even with my stupid hand controls.

 

[MountainBuck]

Would a snow blower do the job in a situation like this?

Here in TN there just isn't enough snow to justify one. Besides that, I have a very long gravel drive which isn't ideal with a snow blower.

 

[Industrial Toys]

My thinking, better a blower on gravel than anything else.

 

[shooterdon]

Living in TN, I suspect most of your snow will be heavy wet stuff. If you have the space to push it somewhere, a blade is the best choice IMO. Blowers and wet snow do not play nice.

I have a gravel drive but live where i can establish a base layer so I am not digging up the gravel. I have used a heavy wall plastic pipe slit to fit over the blade bottom to plow when the gravel is loose. It is not perfect but helps a lot.

 

[fried1765]

use edge tamers on the bucket to at least get down to the last inch or so, tipping bucket front edge up might help too.

Edge Tamers are GREAT!
I have a shell driveway.
The Edge Tamers leave the shells ON the driveway, where they belong.

 

[johara1]

With a blade you have either feet or pucks behind the blade to set the cutting edge up off the surface and keep it from digging in. you still have to use some skill and you can't just run it in float. It gets easier after you plow it the first time and it freezes. In the spring reclaim the stone you pushed off..... jim

 

[LittleBill21]

i bought edge tamers. to be honest the bucket worked so well for me this winter over the atv, i stopped looking at snow blowers for the tractor simply not needed, i plowed up to 6 inches with the bucket with very little trouble, other then traction, where i then grooved the tires and that issue went away as well. i ran in float 99% of the time

 

[PILOON]

Edge tamers are a great device, they do a great job in most cases.

However the variables are, gravel base or pavement?
Frozen or not?
Then U have to consider the blade weight as well.

I have DIY tamers on my blade and on my snow blower as well.
Both always leave an inch or so but that's OK as it creates a good base.
The challenge is to guess the optimal tamer size to match the equipment weight so as to not create an unmanageable base build up.

Naturally once your base is well frozen tamers are no longer needed.

 

[johara1]

Edge tamers are a great device, they do a great job in most cases.

However the variables are, gravel base or pavement?
Frozen or not?
Then U have to consider the blade weight as well.

I have DIY tamers on my blade and on my snow blower as well.
Both always leave an inch or so but that's OK as it creates a good base.
The challenge is to guess the optimal tamer size to match the equipment weight so as to not create an unmanageable base build up.

Naturally once your base is well frozen tamers are no longer needed.

Yes, base is well frozen ice....... A little skill goes a long way when plowing snow on a gravel road..... jim