Grading Deere 2210 up thru 4115, Front Blade for Plowing

[JD2210MAN]

Who here has been plowing snow with their John Deere front blade and Front Quick Hitch?
I was plowing our road and driveway during the 1st big storm this year (yeah, I know it is March).
Wouldn't you know it but the hydraulic fitting on the "angle cylinder" snapped in two. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Why? Well, it appears to be a big design flaw, for those of us who don't park in a heated garage. When I back drag snow, the snow builds up in the Quick Hitch (right where the Angle Cylinder fits in the Quick Hitch) and when angled to the left it packs it in real hard. As time goes on the snow is packed into a real hard ice, which broke the fitting. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif It also gets in there when the snow falls over the blade (when ramming a snow bank) and backing out.
Now that I bumped my wife's car outside of the garage, the tractor is warm and the snow does not build up there for long. We all know that you can't make your wife park outside while the tractors in the garage. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I do have to get off and clean out the spot often. It gets so hard... a pick and a hammer have a hard time breaking out the ice. I attached a photo of the location and fitting.

I just wanted to see if anyone else has seen this, if not... be on the lookout!

 

[beenthere]

Not having that problem with my 54" blade, and I think it is pretty much the same as yours. Maybe there is a way to cover the area to stop the snow from sticking there. If it gets in unfrozen and then freezes in place, seems to be a matter of time - over which it could be cleaned out rather than left to freeze. Not sure if I could duplicate the problem, but will have it in mind as I don't want the broken fitting.
Maybe you can come up with a better design?

 

[JD2210MAN]

Even now that I know to watch it, it has still loaded up during plowing. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I do get off an clean it out. Angling the blade to the left really packs it in there HARD and fast. There is no way to turn the cylinder and get the hose fittings in a different spot, that I can see. If I were to cut out the steel in front of the cylinder (steel bracing in the Quick Hitch frame), the snow would just fall out the front. There would never again be an issue after cutting that out BUT how much strength would be lost? You can see in the picture attached where the cylinder mounts. Just to the left is the brace that holds the snow in. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I have to get it back into the garage and look at it.
Maybe the 54" blade does not put too much force there.
I have a lot of road and driveway.

 

[ctc1111]

The same thing happend to me with my 54 blade. I usualy take the blade off the quick hitch when the storms over so i can pull the dune buggy out without a problem becusase they're parked next to eachother, when i do this some of the snow will come out. But all around i don't like that blade at all. Nothing about it. The snow comes over the top becuase its to short, and won't lift high enough. The snow gets stuck in it. And its lift height is so low that i get stuck in the snowbank because all the snow gets stuck behind it. The other day i went to put my blade back on the Quick Hitch that was already on the tractor and the left spring loaded pin was snapped in two. I no idea how this would have happend because the thing is a half inch thick and I rarley use the blade and have only had it for less than a month, so its not like it has seen any heavy work besides a couple inches of powdery snow. I'm gunna sell it or do something with it and get a 5' Curtis front end loader mounted plow. I will beable to lift higher, stack higher, not have all these iceing jamming problems aswell, and it will come off a lot faster so i can change to the bucket.

 

[beenthere]

I would have to agree it is not a very big blade (54" and not very high). That is why for real snow pushing I have a full size 7' Western plow. But the smaller CUT's might not handle one that big, but certainly would handle a bigger one than the 54".
My X485 has the 54" on it, and with care, it will handle the snow a bit at a time (and better than a shovel too). I don't use the 54" for the long drive or big snows.

 

[JD2210MAN]

beenthere,
I was wondering how a 54" blade would fit on an 4300. I did not realize you had an X485 also. That makes a little more sense. YES, It is much better than a shovel, until I get a blower for it. I have a 2-stage blower on my 19 hp Craftsman but since we did not have much snow this year, I never needed it. The evening the fitting broke on my 2210, I went and started the Craftsman (It started on the 1st try after sitting since November) but it is frozen to the ground. It will not budge. So my neighbors could get out that night, I had to run to JD and get the new fitting (I have extras on hand now). /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[JD2210MAN]

ctc1111,

Deere said that the blade would lift 10"... that's BS, 6" to 8" if you are lucky. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif I was going to weld on new tabs for the lift cylinder but the blade support would hit the Quick-Hitch when angled and lifted all the way. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif The old 318's lift about 18". I don't know why Deere does not make a blade for the (s)CUT's. The amount of snow we can push with the 2210 is much more than the little blade can do. It is like plowing with a popsicle stick. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif If I had a normal winter here in Vermont, I would have never had much use for it. After all, I have to plow several times during the storm, to keep up with it. If I was just doing a driveway, things would be different but the neighbors are counting on me. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
I attached a satellite photo of my road. I colored my road and driveway in yellow. My house is on the left and I plow the upper and lower driveway at the house it's self. That is where I do a lot of back dragging. (You can see Interstate 91 on the right side of the picture).

During plowing, I do a lot of angling back and forth. I try to plow all the snow off to the right side of my road so the water melts away from the road (down hill). My dealer did say that the blades are not a big seller. Now we know why.

I would want to see the loader mounted plow in action before I could justify another. I am afraid the 2210 is not heavy enough and the front wheels will lift off the ground when trying to push into a bank. You would have to take it out of float or the loader would fold (lifting the tires off the ground)? Has anyone any input that owns one? I know when I have my loader in Float, and curl the bucket to smooth out earth (wile pushing forward) the front tires come up as the loader folds. Out of float this of course does not happen.

 

[dj1701]

Anthony,
I have a 4115. I ordered the 54" blade and quick hitch so I could plow snow. When I installed it on my tractor, it looked way to small. I sold the blade on e-bay and kept the hitch. My friend fabricated a 7' Western blade cut to 60" onto the hitch. I have been plowing for two years with no problems. My tractor is never in a heated building, and to this day no problems with ice buildup.

Dave

 

[JD2210MAN]

60" blade... My good friend was going to build me a Stainless 60" blade. But knowing the company he was working for, was closing, he had to find a new job fast (he has twins due any day). So, my blade is on the back burner this year. Is everything closing? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Anyway, with a taller blade, you would not have tons of snow falling over the moldboard. After digging out this last storm... I now think it is caused more buy the tons of snow falling over the plow (when pushing into a snow bank) than back dragging. Also, the 4115 is about 4" taller than the 2210 and that would also help keep snow out of there.

Dave, are you the one who posted pictures of the blades step by step rebuild. I remember seeing a post about that sort of thing. I can't find it to see if that was yours. On second thought, that may have been a FEL configuration.

 

[dj1701]

Anthony,
No that was not me your thinking of. I took some measurements, and told my friend what I wanted, and he did the rest. I went with 60" cause at full angle it will still cover the width of the tractor when I plow. The extra weight helps keep the blade down when in float mode. I think John Deere got lazy when it came to my size tractor. They should have designed a plow to fit, not just used the smaller one they had on hand. Of course if I was in charge, you would see a bunch of improvements. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Dave