'Feet' on rear blade

[oldpilgrim]

Does any one have 'feet' on their rear blade?

I resurfaced my driveway with crushed dense pack stone just before winter. Spread it, rolled it and vibator packed it and it gave a good hard surface. With the freeze and that cycles we have about daily, after our first snow, I used my rear blade and I ended up moving too much gravel as it snowed on a freshly thawed surface.

Second storm, the ground was frozen and it worked great. Last year all the snow came on top of frozen ground and it worked great.

I thought this year, I'd put some feet on the blade to keep it from letting the blade go down too deep when the ground is soft. I bought some plow feet from TSC and made some mounts to bolt on the blade. Finished it this afternoon, just in time, as we're expecting rain and snow tonite and tomorrow.

After I bolted them on, I took it out onto the driveway, not frozen, as we've had 2-3 days in the high 50's.

I set the blade down on the feet, the blade about 1 inch from the driveway and moved the tractor a little, leaving two 'furrows' where the feet set on the stone.

Who has feet on their blade? What's your experience with them?

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I think that you will have better luck with them if you can get them dished some. Mine are about 1/2" if I remember correctly.

 

[Navasot]

You didn't have any issue with it digging into the ground? bet will be much better when the ground is frozen though

 

[Billrog]

You may need skis Op . I have an area with crushed rock and the only thing that works for me there is pushing with the plow backwards over it.

 

[oldpilgrim]

they are dished about 1/2"

Buyers S.A.M. Snowplow Aftermarket Manufacturing Plow Shoe - For Life Out Here

They will be better when the ground is frozen. I actually don't need them then. That's the reason I put them on, for use on thawed ground, but I'm not sure they're going to work the way I was hoping.

I thought of skis, but they are very narrow and I was afraid they would leave 'skid marks', much like these round feet seem to.

 

[oldpilgrim]

they are dished about 1/2"

Buyers S.A.M. Snowplow Aftermarket Manufacturing Plow Shoe - For Life Out Here

They will be better when the ground is frozen. I actually don't need them then. That's the reason I put them on, for use on thawed ground, but I'm not sure they're going to work the way I was hoping.

I thought of skis, but they are very narrow and I was afraid they would leave 'skid marks', much like these round feet seem to.

 

[Navasot]

Ahhh I see what your sayin... need something like the tooth off a rockrake that has a bit of give to it.. cut it down and flip it around backwards... may still be to tough in soft thawed ground

 

[MtnViewRanch]

they are dished about 1/2"

Buyers S.A.M. Snowplow Aftermarket Manufacturing Plow Shoe - For Life Out Here

They will be better when the ground is frozen. I actually don't need them then. That's the reason I put them on, for use on thawed ground, but I'm not sure they're going to work the way I was hoping.

I thought of skis, but they are very narrow and I was afraid they would leave 'skid marks', much like these round feet seem to.

Well, they look flat to me. :confused2: If the ground is soft, it's going to leave marks, not much you can do.

 

[DFB]

2 long grooves are better than gouging out 6 feet I say!

Its tough year here in the Northeast. The weather's been wet and warm and the ground is still soft. I have had mud season twice already :laughing:

I have only plowed one time this year and that was the week after Christmas. I didn't even want to either, knowing how soft the ground was but it was wet heavy snow and the immediate forecast was for well below freezing temperatures for several days after so I saddled up and did the deed.

Weren't a pretty sight :confused2:

Shoes should be a help, I used to push a lot of snow with 6 ft wide worksaver blade from the old CT store on the back of my tractor and I wanted the shoes the offered they were folded steel and slotted for adjustment. Never did get them but the best thing I ever did was get a hydraulic top link and used that to quickly adjust the blade angle even as I was moving

Loose material is tough...reversing the blade sometimes helps.

 

[GPintheMitten]

You need to reverse the blade on soft drives.

Like this. )O=o going this way =>

 

[Egon]

Replace the feet with wheels.

 

[oldpilgrim]

Replace the feet with wheels.

I'll have to think about that idea..................

You need to reverse the blade on soft drives.

Like this. )O=o going this way =>

Yeah, I do sometimes, but other times I get wrapped up in trying to solve a problem, if you know what I mean. Nice diagram

 

[GPintheMitten]

I know what you mean.

 

[s219]

Put a pipe over the cutting edge (you can search on TBN -- it's a popular suggestion). I have tried a few things, but like the pipe best of all. It lets me scrape down through the snow without digging into the gravel. Here's a pic of the pipe edge I made:

 

[devildog1]

You need bigger shoes, the ones I have on my RB3584 Back Blade are mushroom shaped and do not dig in when ground is frozen, whether pushing snow on lawn or gravel but when ground not frozen just the heavy weight of the blade is enough to cause shoes/skids to dig in.
DevilDog

 

[oldpilgrim]

Same here.

They dig in when unfrozen but when frozen, I don't even need them. I made them to use hoping they would not dig in on unfrozen ground.

 

[devildog1]

Yep for sure, it was about 48 degrees here in West Charlton, N.Y. Lawn is all soft and spongy, can't push any snow on lawn now but then again there is no snow on the ground,Lol.
DevilDog

 

[ruffdog]

These are the shoes I made for my Rhino blade. They work great.

 

[oldpilgrim]

Do they dig in to thawed gravel? Those are pretty much exactly what I have.

 

[ruffdog]

Do they dig in to thawed gravel? Those are pretty much exactly what I have.

If it is real gooey like when the frost is coming out, I try not to plow at all. If it is a solid and firm gravel (just not froze yet), they don't dig in. They work great moving big piles back during mid winter across the yard (froze). Early in the year when the turf is still soft, the shoes still may dig here or there.