Anyone Bent Their FEL Using a Snow Plow

[grsthegreat]

grsthegreat, I see your signature says you have an 84" snow blade and your quote says 8 ft (96"). Did you get a bigger blade or is one of these numbers wrong. I'm not nit picking, only wanting to make sure of the size. My dealer only has 2sizes in stock the 84" and the 96". I'm concerned that 84" might not be wide enough when rounding tight corners and I have a few but also concerned that 96" might be too wide and put a lot of strain on the loader when the blade is angled. I keep going back and forth with the loader mounted plow and I'm not sure where I will end up. I know it would have been really nice to have a front mounted plow yesterday when I was blowing snow. After getting to the bottom of the driveway I could have turned around, put the plow down and pushed the left over snow to the edge.

I'm going to check the Quick Attach brand out.

hmmm.... good eye. ill have to go measure it. i have been thinking it was 8 feet.
i went out and checked and it is 84"...... even when fully angled i does a great job moving snow. it also has 2 side gates if i want to push snow straight.

 

[Hilbilly]

Rustyiron, you've got some real nice fabricating skills. That is a great and sturdy looking mounting system. I too am curious as to how you control what appears to be 3 functions.

grsthegreat, thanks for that.

 

[nybirdman]

I had a factory sub-frame mount on my L3130 with a six ft. snow-plow;currently have a 8ft.FEL mounted on my L4240 and much prefer the later.To install the sub-frame the FEL must be removed and the plow is limited in stacking height.
To change to my bucket if needed is just a few minutes;not so easy with a sub-frame mount.Sub-frame is stronger no doubt but haven't hurt anything in ten years with the FEL mount.

 

[Hilbilly]

I still had some cleanup to do on the driveway after blowing snow yesterday. So I decided to play it safe and leave my poor, frail tractor in the barn and use the skidsteer. I put chains on the SS for the first time and that made a huge difference, especially with the ice that's under the snow. I could run along the edges and scoop up the snow the blower didn't get and spin on a dime and dump it over the bank. Worked great going down but not as well coming back up. The driveway is relatively flat for the top several hundred feet then an average of about 10% for about 3/4 mile and the bottom several hundred feet is about 15%. I still think the tractor is the better machine for this but I did give some thought to using the SS with a plow on it to skim off the tops of the banks and push them over the edge, since the SS is narrower than the tractor, it would take a bigger bite. May have to give that some more thought.

Also used the SS to move a bunch of snow away from the house. The piles are starting to get big.

 

[Rustyiron]

RustyIron, very nice frame mount. How are you controlling your blade doesn't it take two controls for the v and one for the lift?
That is a much sturdier mount then hanging off the front end loader. Also with the lower positioning of the push points I believe it would be easier on the tractor.

Lou I have the 3rd function for the loader, that's the single 5th line in the pic that operates the s/a lift cyl. I put the left wing on the bucket motion (L- back / R- forward) and the right wing on the boom (up - forward / down - back) and the elec 2 button control on the joy stick for the blade lift cyl. I'm very happy with this set up except now I want one of those XV-2 fancy tall "flared" Vee!

 

[Hilbilly]

Lou I have the 3rd function for the loader, that's the single 5th line in the pic that operates the s/a lift cyl. I put the left wing on the bucket motion (L- back / R- forward) and the right wing on the boom (up - forward / down - back) and the elec 2 button control on the joy stick for the blade lift cyl. I'm very happy with this set up except now I want one of those XV-2 fancy tall "flared" Vee!
View attachment 539151

I want one too!!! :drool:

 

[DK35vince]

DK35Vince,
Do you have any pictures of your plow mounting system with the angle cylinders underneath. I like the idea of having the plow as close as possible to tractor. Thanks

This is all I have.
Not pretty but it works. I put skid shoes under the A frame to prevent the cylinders from dragging.

 

[Coyote machine]

You've got some things to consider:
1. Move South
2. Get a grader
3. Check the specs sheets for HLA Plow size to tractor HP, online or by phone, or here: http://www.hlasnow.com/pdf/snow_brochure.pdf
4. Get a V-plow for either the SS or your tractor.

Note, the HLA 2000 loses 1.5' when fully angled, FWIW. Personally, I'd ask HLA if your HP tractor could use a 96" blade in the 2000 series or if you should go with the 84" like I have.

DK35 Vince,
I have no doubt the rig you have works well, and you designed it's frame to overcome a lot of the inherent flaws of a truck plow retrofit to a tractor loader, BUT Kioti DK-35's and 40's have strong loaders, as you know. I can't speak to what other tractors loader capacities are, and thus some may have issues with the extra framework weight of a properly retrofit truck plow. And not everyone is an expert welder or has someone to do the frame rework for them. If money isn't the overarching concern a HLA plow gets the job done once and done with easy access to parts, etc.

Hillbilly has some big needs for a specific setup, which is not easily found; but between his SS and tractor and some serious thought he should be able to find the right combo and reduce his huge amount of plow time significantly.

 

[Hilbilly]

Coyote,

Excellent point about contacting HLA, which I did and they suggested a 96" would be fine. Your suggestion also prompted me to send an email to Massey Ferguson and ask them what max width the recommend for my tractor / loader combo. I noted on their website they only list dozer blades with a max width of 84" but that is likely due to the heavier loads that would be imposed by pushing dirt / gravel, etc. They also show the dozer blade mounted to the frame. I'll see what they come back with.

I noticed the HLA3000 has a floating blade and I asked the HLA rep if they would make a 2000 with the float and he said no. He suggested there is enough slop in the mounting system and loader pins, etc. to provide some float anyways.

Thinking this over some more I'm beginning to think the idea of going fast to throw the snow is not going to work all that well since there are a lot of sections of the driveway where I couldn't go fast anyways. I'm probably going to be stuck with a combo of plowing and blowing. So maybe I need a better plow and a way to avoid having to turn my neck back for those extended times. The cheapest solution might be to use a backup camera, if I can locate the camera and viewer in locations where they will not get hit with the overspray. This may not be possible with an open platform tractor. But with all the shaking and vibrations going on when using the blower, it may be difficult to see what is going on in the viewer. Maybe a front mount blower for the SS.

With this season nearing an end I will at least have plenty of time to think about it.

 

[Rustyiron]

I did give some thought to using the SS with a plow on it to skim off the tops of the banks and push them over the edge, since the SS is narrower than the tractor, it would take a bigger bite. May have to give that some more thought.

Also used the SS to move a bunch of snow away from the house. The piles are starting to get big.

I also use a SS for my snow. It's great for pushing the banks back as it "reaches" out about 4' in front of the machine (unlike a bucket) and you can stay on the road with the machine. I have several open areas and a "pusher box" is amazing for that, much better than even a V blade. The blade pictured is a (8'6") "Snow Wolf" brand and the wings are removable for conventional plowing.

If you were to get a plow with the SS mount you'd have 2 machines it could be used on for different situations. There also a few plow companies that make a quick attaching "box" attachment Snow Removal Equipment | Snow Plowing Products | Kage Innovation and FastTach | SnowWolf Plows removal of my wings is a 45 minute job so I have another normal plow for the SS.
I have a long road also and with the pusher box there are areas that there just is no room to put it and I'll carry it a 100 feet or so with the pusher to a wider spot.
I think I understand your situation not wanting to blow an 1800' road every storm, blowers do a nice but very slow job and then there's your neck! Short of a 100+ HP tractor and a "pull" blower along with a huge pricetag, I think your multi machine approach is the next best thing.