3030 and Plowing

Hoosier3030 · Dec 7, 2005

o.k., I just purchased my 3030 this fall with the 60" FEL and also purchased a 60" box grader. I need to effectively plow my drive which is 16' wide and 3/8 mile long. I currently have an 82' 4 x 4 chevy truck with blade and would like to just sell it! But, It makes short work of the drive when plowing. I would like to do the same with my tractor. I have played, oops-plowed a little with it around the house and pushing with the rear box and FEL seemed to work good in this area with about 3" of snow. But I am not sure how effective it will be heading down a driveway when you need to divert the snow off to the side, similiar to a truck w/ blade. Has anyone mounted a mowboard to the front of their loader? What is the most effective way to accomplish this task? I will be building a canopy with removable sides and a heater to conquer that harsh wind but need suggestions in the best snow diversion process.

Toolguy · Dec 7, 2005

I have a B3030 and have plowed snow with it a few times so far this winter. I have not used the FEL, just the Rear Blade. We have not had enough snow to give it a real test but so far it does a fine job. I have a 5' RB but just arranged to trade it back to my dealer for a 6'. That way I will not have to drive on the snow bank from the previous plowing in order to plow to the edge of the driveway. Also I will be able to do my 9' wide concrete driveway in 2 passes, down and back. I would suggest that a rear blade that can be angled will work better for snow than your box blade. In my opinion, a front blade will work even better. I have an old Meyers plow that I am going to mount on the front of my tractor someday. They can also be mounted to the FEL but I like it mounted to the tractor better myself. Your truck and plow will be hard to beat for your long and wide driveway when the snow is deep and drifted. Good luck.

BandDcabinet · Dec 8, 2005

I have a B3030 with a 6ft Curtis PA plow FEL mounted using Kubota QA and a rear remote for the power angle. I plowed about 6inches of wet snow on Thanksgiving up my neighbor's drive which is about a 10%+ grade (60 to 70 ft rise in about 600 ft). I had no problems pushing up hill. R4 tires w/BH75 mounted. It was not alot of snow but it was heavy and slick.

I believe Ron Hall has a 2910 with a 6.5 ft. Curtis. He has some pics on this site. Sounds like he has had good experience with his machine. Ron's plow

mace17 · Dec 8, 2005

hi guys. i have a 3030 and a 6 ft rear blade as well. seems to be good. i plan to use it tomorrow as we are suppose to get 6 inches tonight. my choice however would be a front blade for the 3030. i checked on the kubota front blade. 900 for the subframe and 1200 for the blade. the snowblower was 4000, or 3100 if you already have the subframe. i guess for now the 400 rear blade looks good, but watch out if i get some extra money. it would be awesome to get that front blade.

JayT · Dec 9, 2005

I have a 2710 with a 6' Curtis that worked fine.
I widened it to 8' and mounted it to the undercarriage,
and it woked better and a lot faster. A foot of wet snow
can make the first pass a little slow. R 4 tires w/ chains

mace17 · Dec 10, 2005

Update: we did get about 8 inches on Thursday night. I used the 3030 with 6ft-land pride rear blade and I admit that I am slightly disappointed in the performance. The tractor with the r-4's was not able to pull the snow either down my 200' gravel driveway or my parents 200' asphalt driveway. I turned the blade around and had no troubles, but I don't care for going in reverse. My tires are filled, but I do have the loader off, as it is easier to maneuver around the house. Last year I hit my parent’s house with my dad’s loader on his 1428v massy, that sucked. At some point I would like to get the front blade. That reminds me, I noticed JD does not offer a frame-mounted blade for it 3120 model and Kubota does. Does anyone know why? JD offers a blade that fits on the loader similar to the Curtis. Are those blades better than the frame mount?

simonmeridew · Dec 10, 2005

In the For What It's Worth category I plowed my driveway for 27 years with my ford 8N, 2WD tractor, with a 6' scraper blade, normally pushing backwards but some areas I turned it around and pulled snow. That was something of a nuisance at times if there was say more than 12-14 inches of snow because besides casting off snow to both sides the snow built up between the blade and the back of the tractor and rear wheels, then because of limitations in the hydraulic lift 3pth mechanism I couldn't raise the blade high enough to clear the pile of snow and ended up spreading it around.
If you are talking about traction issues, somewhere down the line I bought a set of double ring chains for the rears which really helped, especially on ice.
My Kubota L4400 loader works easier, so far no need of chains
simonmeridew

plaindave · Dec 10, 2005

Standard practice where I grew up was plowing in reverse with a rear blade angled to the side. As previously mentioned when you get enough snow it will collect between the blade and tires. If you get enough snow there with poor traction the blade will cause the tractor to slide sideways. I've known more than one to go in a ditch because of this.

I plow 400' of driveway in reverse. I use check chains to control the lower limit of the blade and go slow. Same setup my dad taught me years ago. Snowblower would be great, but this has handled 8-10" of snow with no problem.