Adapted a Meyer snow plow to a JD 4300...

swa240z · Jan 30, 2005

Hey all,

I am finally getting around to posting some pictures of my most recent project. I purchased a very sad Meyer C-8 snow plow at an auction about two months ago for $50. The skin of the plow was full of holes, some of the ribs had cracks in them, but everything else looked useable - including both angle cylinders.

I totally disassembled the plow, cut the old skin off of it, and cut 3" off each end of the blade to make it a 7.5' blade. I had a local sheet metal shop cut and bend a sheet of 1/8" steel for the new skin ($150). After welding it on, I slapped some yellow paint on it and moved on to the adapter.

After several email exchanges with TBN regular Beenthere, I figured out what I needed to do to make this adapter work. I pretty much stuck with Beenthere's original design, but wanted to be able to apply some down pressure if needed, since I also planned to used the blade for light grading and stone spreading.

The day after getting everything put together I was able to put the plow to the test - we got 18" of snow - which was about all the tractor could handle. Amazingly, everything worked perfectly. As you can see from the pictures, I still have a little painting left to do, but that's going to have to wait for warmer weather. Total cost of the project was about $450.

I put a 2x6 treated wood cutting edge on to keep from scratching up the neighbors' driveways (I could care less about mine). So far, it has held up pretty well - a LOT cheaper than one of those poly cutting edges. I also have a new steel cutting edge should I need it.

Thanks goes out to Beenthere for helping me out with this project! Now on to my next project - a 4 in 1 bucket for the loader. Anyone built one???

Here are the links to the pics:

Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 2

Steve

kennyd · Jan 30, 2005

Very nice job! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

GaryE · Jan 31, 2005

Steve,

Nice work!

I have the same plow on my F-250. I use it hard and I am sure I put it through much more abuse than your JD 4300 can dish out. So take what I am going to say with a grain of salt!!!!

I find when I am plowing heavy deep snow, 2 feet or more or if I hit a chunk of ice or a rock, the plow will role. Once the springs start to stretch you need to stop or raise the plow to get it to snap back. What I have found is a piece of chain to limit the role to about 3 – 4 inches will help. The plow then just hops over or goes through what ever caused it to roll. It will then bounce and return to "normal".

I am sure this is not easy on the plow, the truck or my teeth, but after several years of this, they have yet give up.

Gary

PineRidge · Jan 31, 2005

Steve nice looking addition to your John Deere.

Bowhunter · Jan 31, 2005

Great looking job Steve. What part of southern IN are you in?

botaman2 · Feb 26, 2005

Very nice job! Hope you enjoy your new setup as much as I enjoy plowing with my L3010 and Meyers plow.

thefarm · Feb 27, 2005

When I was using a plow on my tractor,I used a recap of from a big truck tire.I bolted it on with a piece of narrow metal on the tire size and off I went.I left about 2 inches below the metal plow.Worked out real well.Kept the plow from tripping on all of the rocks.Was using it for the woods road too.Find these beside the road often.

KennedyDiesel · Mar 4, 2005

Looks like you should have AWESOME down pressure with that setup. That and quick rise.

daveman · Mar 8, 2005

Nice clean looking job. Looks like it was made for the JD. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

cmhyland · Mar 8, 2005

Steve,
That is really nice work. I'm looking at doing the exact same thing on a Kubota 2910... Can we get some more detail photos of the mount on the tractor frame with the plow removed.

And does your loader clear this lift or do you have to remove it to put the loader on....

When I do mine I want the loader to be able to clear the lift frame.

Thanks,
Crhis

cmhyland · Mar 16, 2005

OK Guys,
I have a Kubota B2910 and want to do the same thing as Steve. I have a line on a Meyers plow I can get. It is 7' but I'll cut it down to 6' because I can get it cheap.

Here is a pic of the front of the machine. I'm interested in ideas on building the mount.

Thanks,
Chris

cmhyland · Mar 16, 2005

If you look at the pic I'm wondering if that mower mount is strong enough to use as a mounting point as well as the front of the frame.

Regards,
Chris

ELMO67 · Mar 17, 2005

CMHYLAND, do a search for Myers plow meets Kubota 3010 by BOTAMAN2 a couple of months ago- it had some really great shots of his entire set- up, including subframe and hydraulics- I think it is EXACTLY what you're looking for /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

swa240z · Mar 18, 2005

Hey all -

Thanks for the kind words but all the credit goes to Beenthere. He pretty much figured out the basic mount and then I modified it for my blade and my desire to have some down pressure on the blade. Since the 18" of snow we got the day after I finished putting this setup together, it hasn't snowed enough since to use it. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Its now starting to warm up so maybe I can get a good coat of paint on it before I put it away for the summer.

Chris - I do have to take everything off for the loader to go back on, but it only takes a few minutes to remove the blade setup from the tractor.

Steve

ruglad03835 · Nov 3, 2005

Steve, nice pictures. They show good detail of the mount bolted to the tractor. I had the Deere plow for my 1050 and could plow circles around a truck especially in a tight driveway. The downpressure cylinder arrangement is nice especially when back dragging the snow away from a garage door.The only complaint I had with the 1050 setup was the time and effort to remove the loader and then installing the blade setup .

Thanks

Rick

adamshatch · Jan 18, 2006

Steve,

As others have said, nice looking rig! I am about to do a similar setup and have discussed it with others here already. I am wondering if you shortened the A-frame on the plow prior to painting and attachment - it looks shorter than the one on the old meyer plow I bought? Also, at how many different points does your mount actually attach to your frame, and how is it attached (ie. bolts, pins, etc)? Thanks for your time.

John

swa240z · Jan 18, 2006

Hey John - Thanks for the nice comments. I did not shorten the A frame but there may have been some modifications done to it before I bought it. The closer the blade is to the tractor, the better. Just be sure to leave enough room to fully angle the blade without hitting the front tires.

There are four actual mounting points, but the two lower mounting points take the vast majority of the load. The two lower points are exactly where a mid-mount mower deck would mount. The brackets I used are a copy of the JD MMM bracket. The brackets are 1/2" plate steel. I used 3/4" grade 8 bolts on the lower points but at some point I plan to switch to pins to speed up installation and removal.

The top two mounting points basically just keep the tractor adaptor bracket from rolling down when I raise the plow. I used a couple of 5/8" grade 8 bolts to hold things in place. The plate on the adaptor bracket is bolted to the weight plate on the front of the tractor.

Let me know if you have more questions or need a couple of pics of my setup. I got my idea from forum member beenthere. He had a couple of good pictures of his bracket posted on the site. Let me know if you can't find them and I can email them to you. Good luck with your project!

Steve