First time plowing the driveway with tractor, had the Snow Edge mounted on bucket.

[GeneV]

Yeh cool man, I'm new to loaders too, it was just me and my trusty garden tractor up until a few months ago.

 

[shovelmike]

Posts showing snow edge in use that I saw showed the bucket in dump position, which puts the cylinders at risk. If I can find a good snow edge which works with only reasonable bucket position I would like to try one.

 

[GeneV]

One thing about the snow edge I wanna throw out though, it uses screws to mount on the bucket, like when you mount forks. But whereas my forks have a puck on the screw tip to spread out the surface area contacting the bucket, the snow edge is just the screw tips clamping on the bucket. I was worried that's gonna dimple the bucket, called them about it, but they assured me that the little tabs that fit underneath the bucket support the bottom of it where the screws would meet, keeping the bucket floor from dimpling.

That's not quite the case though, at least not with my bucket. Mine evidently has a thicker wear edge on it, so that the tabs underneath don't come in contact with the bucket floor, there's around 1/8" gap. See pic:


Consequently, yes it does dimple the bucket, you could kinda see it on that pic if you look carefully. Whether you care or not on yours, that's up to you. I don't care much, I accept my bucket will get dinged here and there from the abuse I put it through. But, just putting out a fyi.

 

[Amvcane]

Gene,
You could just put an 1/8” shim in that space to to adapt the device to your bucket and avoid dimpling.

 

[GeneV]

Gene,
You could just put an 1/8” shim in that space to to adapt the device to your bucket and avoid dimpling.

Yessir, that's what I was thinking too, although it would be a bit of a pain to slip shims in there while trying to mount the blade. I didn't see that gap when I mounted the blade, only noticed the bottom side of the bucket when I flipped it to let it drain when I parked the tractor.

 

[LD48750]

I'd be afraid that working my new tractor HARD like plowing snow might dull the paint.
What do you do to protect from that & it getting cold?

 

[RjCorazza]

Here's a vid I made. I guess I had the bucket set at closer to a 45 deg angle.

I used a snow edge on my previous L3410, and liked it. I always used it with the bottom of the bucket parallel to the pavement, mostly so the edge would wear flat and consistently. Another consideration is damaging the fel cylinders if you hit something with the snow edge... Cylinders are more prone to damage when using the bucket angled like that.

 

[GeneV]

Again with the cylinders. Guys, I already addressed the cylinders thing several times on this thread. So just wondering, are you disagreeing with my theory (which is fine, I'd be glad to hear the opposing opinion), or are just responding to the opening post on this thread? If it's you just responding to the first post, why not read the whole thread eh?

 

[GeneV]

I'd be afraid that working my new tractor HARD like plowing snow might dull the paint.
What do you do to protect from that & it getting cold?

I try not to look at the tractor directly, or stare at it for too long, and definitely not while smirking....I'm afraid Miss Massey might think I'm objectifying it.

 

[CobyRupert]

...I think some loss of steering is really the drawback to the snow blade. because that ridge is constantly loading up with snow, it's forcing some snow buildup under the bucket, hence raising the front enough to loose some steering control. There's no loss of traction in the back tires, I'm not spinning out in back, hence adding ballast to the back won't help that. Adding ballast to front might, but I don't need it personally, I'm not worried about it. I gotta perfect my technique, but so far I notice a quick way to recover steering is to pop outta float and raise the bucket a little.

Again with the cylinders. Guys, I already addressed the cylinders thing several times on this thread. So just wondering, are you disagreeing with my theory (which is fine, I'd be glad to hear the opposing opinion), or are just responding to the opening post on this thread? If it's you just responding to the first post, why not read the whole thread eh?

If you're in float and losing steering it's because the resistance the bucket (and/or it's edge, doesn't matter) is getting is great enough that the tractor and FEL "folds" at the loader arms pivot pins raising (or taking weight off of) front tires. That is: The back tires push forward, the bucket wants to stay, so front tires raise up. The resistance the bucket (and/or edge) meets is great because: Your either pushing a lot of heavy wet snow that's heavy enough to raise front end, or caused by having the bucket tilted too far forward crating more drag than if bucket edge was more parallel with the driveway, or by the addition of the edge.

When looking at the picture that shows edge from side: As snow piles on, seems like the snow would push (lever) the edge more into the driveway, creating more slide resistance and stress on cylinders. What is the purpose of the 3" curb under the edge? Why not remove it? I'd originally assumed the "snow edge" was just an "edge" (the yellow part, not the grey part).

....also.. "Epstien didn't kill himself & tilted buckets bend cylinders!" Sorry...couldn't resist

 

[RjCorazza]

Again with the cylinders. Guys, I already addressed the cylinders thing several times on this thread. So just wondering, are you disagreeing with my theory (which is fine, I'd be glad to hear the opposing opinion), or are just responding to the opening post on this thread? If it's you just responding to the first post, why not read the whole thread eh?

Yes, disagreeing. It's a bad practice, and in your case unnecessary.

 

[ruffdog]

I would be more apt to keep the bucket nearly level to use the entire width of the plastic edge. It would take much longer to wear out instead of all the pressure up on the front corner. Just my :2cents: on how I would want to extend the life of this snow edge.

 

[GeneV]

If you're in float and losing steering it's because the resistance the bucket (and/or it's edge, doesn't matter) is getting is great enough that the tractor and FEL "folds" at the loader arms pivot pins raising (or taking weight off of) front tires. That is: The back tires push forward, the bucket wants to stay, so front tires raise up. The resistance the bucket (and/or edge) meets is great because: Your either pushing a lot of heavy wet snow that's heavy enough to raise front end, or caused by having the bucket tilted too far forward crating more drag than if bucket edge was more parallel with the driveway, or by the addition of the edge.

When looking at the picture that shows edge from side: As snow piles on, seems like the snow would push (lever) the edge more into the driveway, creating more slide resistance and stress on cylinders. What is the purpose of the 3" curb under the edge? Why not remove it? I'd originally assumed the "snow edge" was just an "edge" (the yellow part, not the grey part).

....also.. "Epstien didn't kill himself & tilted buckets bend cylinders!" Sorry...couldn't resist

He did tho! :laughing:

The curb thingie actually is the edge. The idea is that there's lots of it to wear down before you get down to the metal bracket (yellow part).

I plowed again with it, a couple inches of wet snow. It did great, I'm getting the technique down on how to lessen windrows, which really speeds up the process. I played around with bucket angles as well. With bucket level and in float, it doesn't scrape down to the asphalt as well. Maybe if there was more snow and the bucket filled up with it, adding weight, it would help that. In float with bucket angled down works great. I had a good time plowing with it, was fun.