Curtis Plow Adjustment

[lloyd123]

I had the 72" Curtis plow installed on my RTV900. It has two skid shoes on the bottom. Right now they come no where near touching the ground when the scrapper blade (listed as cutting edge in manual) is resting on the ground. Is the object to adjust the shoes so the scrapper blade is just off the ground? Or is it best to have the scrapper blade actually contact the ground? I'll be mainly plowing on asphalt. I assume if you're plowing on gravel then you'd want to adjust the shoes so there is more clearance between the ground and the scrapper blade.

Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[bczoom]

lloyd123

I've seen it done both ways. The primary difference being how flat their driveway is. For those with somewhat uneven or crowned drives, they lift the blade some so it doesn't scrape heavily on any high spots and damage the asphalt and sealant.
For flat drives, many lay the blade directly on.
If this is the first winter you're going to use this type of plow setup, I'd raise it onto the shoes. If you leave a little on a nice black surface, the sun will normally take care of the rest.

Also, if you're not big on re-sealing every couple years, I'd keep it up. The blade in direct contact will scrape off more sealant than the shoes will.

 

[lloyd123]

bczoom

Thanks for the infomation - it's just what I was looking for. I can't believe that Curtis (or Kubota) doesn't even mention the shoe set up in the installation and owner's manual for the plow.

 

[Junkman]

I leave the shoes in contact with the pavement until the hard frost is in the ground. Then I remove the shoes and plow with the blade in contact with the asphalt. The reason being that once it gets cold enough, the asphalt will be firm and hard and I can get the drive cleaned well. Also check to see if there are any pine trees that cast shadows on your driveway. If they do, this is an area that will require extra care to remove all snow. It won't get much sun and ice will build up in these locations during the thaw and refreeze cycle of day and night.

 

[lloyd123]

That sounds logical,

I found this web site that has suggestions:

http://www.bossplow.com/plow_tips/practices.asp

I think I'll do a combination of all suggestions and run without the shoes once the ground is frozen as long as my drivway isn't crowned - which I don't believe it is.

Another suggestion I keep getting is to plow a much wider path than needed so I'll have a place to put the snow for future storms.