Ford 3000 and 2 foot of snow (long)

[BobReeves]

We are not prepared for snow like this in Oklahoma and I have been snowed in for 10 days. Did manage to get the wife out on the one day we could get down the drive between snow storms, she is staying in Tulsa with her sister so she can get to work.

Anyway, I have a Ford 3000 with a bucket and box blade but so far it has all but been worthless. No loaded tires or chains and even with the BB on the back it just spins the tires trying to back up with the bucket full of snow. I used it to just run up and down the 600 foot gravel drive so we could get one car out after the first round had melted a bit.

It's really too late for what's on the ground now but would like to be more prepared in the future. Should I go buy a rear blade and maybe try to find some chains. I really don't like the idea of filled tires but finding wheel weights might be a problem..

I have (laying out back) a 6 foot blade off a trencher that I acquired with some junk I bought. Thinking of making brackets and attaching it to my loader arms with maybe a hydraulic angle set-up. Only reservation is how to keep it from moving more gravel than snow..

Open to any and all suggestions..

 

[djradz]

What kind of tires? Ags should work extremely well.

 

[Jerry/MT]

We are not prepared for snow like this in Oklahoma and I have been snowed in for 10 days. Did manage to get the wife out on the one day we could get down the drive between snow storms, she is staying in Tulsa with her sister so she can get to work.

Anyway, I have a Ford 3000 with a bucket and box blade but so far it has all but been worthless. No loaded tires or chains and even with the BB on the back it just spins the tires trying to back up with the bucket full of snow. I used it to just run up and down the 600 foot gravel drive so we could get one car out after the first round had melted a bit.

It's really too late for what's on the ground now but would like to be more prepared in the future. Should I go buy a rear blade and maybe try to find some chains. I really don't like the idea of filled tires but finding wheel weights might be a problem..

I have (laying out back) a 6 foot blade off a trencher that I acquired with some junk I bought. Thinking of making brackets and attaching it to my loader arms with maybe a hydraulic angle set-up. Only reservation is how to keep it from moving more gravel than snow..

Open to any and all suggestions..

I made the attachment to my back blade back in 1988 and use it to move snow off my gravel driveways. I used a 2 inch schedule 40 pipe and a 3/8" x 6" plate the width of the back blade in length. I slit the pipe and slipped it over the blade and welded the whole works up. I drilled holes in the plate to match the back blade. In the summer I mount the grader blade on the blade and in the winter I put my homemade snow edge on. The large radius of the pipe minimizes the moving gravel. You can do this with a front blade or a rear blade. The key item is the large radius of the pipe.

You are going to have to weight your back tires and get some good duo-grip chains to do what you want to do (see www.tirechains.com).

 

[BobReeves]

What kind of tires? Ags should work extremely well.

Yep just ol normal ags, not worth a hood on the ice under the snow.

 

[k0ua]

We are not prepared for snow like this in Oklahoma and I have been snowed in for 10 days. Did manage to get the wife out on the one day we could get down the drive between snow storms, she is staying in Tulsa with her sister so she can get to work.

Anyway, I have a Ford 3000 with a bucket and box blade but so far it has all but been worthless. No loaded tires or chains and even with the BB on the back it just spins the tires trying to back up with the bucket full of snow. I used it to just run up and down the 600 foot gravel drive so we could get one car out after the first round had melted a bit.

It's really too late for what's on the ground now but would like to be more prepared in the future. Should I go buy a rear blade and maybe try to find some chains. I really don't like the idea of filled tires but finding wheel weights might be a problem..

I have (laying out back) a 6 foot blade off a trencher that I acquired with some junk I bought. Thinking of making brackets and attaching it to my loader arms with maybe a hydraulic angle set-up. Only reservation is how to keep it from moving more gravel than snow..

Open to any and all suggestions..

You dont mention whether your 3000 is 2WD or 4WD, I think they made some of both, but I think the 2WD was more common, but it sounds like you have kinda answered your own question, in that you need a lot more weight in the back and since your drive is gravel, chains would make a world of difference. be carefull with the front homemade blade, if you werent planning putting trip springs on the frame. perhaps you could find an old truck snow plow to modify with the trip springs already on it. for your loader. You probably will move some gravel off the drive, you just have to go slow and "feather" the loader to not dig too deep. But if you cannot get going at all, you have got to get some more bite, either with weight, or chains or both. Hopefully we are about done with snow this time.. I am sure looking forward to the melting this weekend.

James K0UA

 

[MMagis]

Yep, you need weight and certainly chains. I can tell you from experience that 2' of snow is no picnic with a rear blade. You probably won't be able to get all 2' in one pass, as it gets to be too heavy for the tractor.

 

[Ford tractor]

Should I go buy a rear blade and maybe try to find some chains. I really don't like the idea of filled tires but finding wheel weights might be a problem..

I have (laying out back) a 6 foot blade off a trencher that I acquired with some junk I bought. Thinking of making brackets and attaching it to my loader arms with maybe a hydraulic angle set-up. Only reservation is how to keep it from moving more gravel than snow..

Open to any and all suggestions..

2wd tractor and no loaded tires, probably no wheel weights, just a blade? You need to fill the tires and probably find some wheel weights too. Really need more weight to use that FEL.

The back blade when angled needs to be wider than the wheels by 6-12 inches. You probably can get by with a 7' blade,but a 6' is too narrow. If you are going to muck about with gravel, you need to make some skid shoes to limit the height.

Here's a tip from the snow belt. You push snow off to the side, you don't lift it and haul it around. I have trouble with a 4wd tractor,filled tires and a back blade, using a 2wd with no weight no chains is tough.

 

[wolc123]

Your biggest problem is weight distribution. Any 2wd tractor with front loader is severely handicapped in the traction department. If you load the rear tires with calcium solution and add a heavier rear implement, you should be able to do all right pushing snow even without chains as long as there is still plenty of tread on your R1 rears. If you dont want to load the tires, you could probably do a lot better by taking the whole loader off, which would correct the weight distribution/traction issue, and just use the rear blade to move snow. My little 10 hp farmall cub now has loaded rear R1's, no chains, and does a good job pushing snow with a light, narrow blade up front and nothing else on the back. The tractor does a lot better pushing snow now than it did previous years when I had wore-out R1's with chains. In my opinion, any 2wd tractor with a loader should have loaded rear tires, even if it aint used on snow.

 

[TripleR]

Not the same thing, but we have Ford 600 Series with and without loaded tires and the difference in traction is amazing.

 

[milkman636]

Your biggest problem is weight distribution. Any 2wd tractor with front loader is severely handicapped in the traction department. If you load the rear tires with calcium solution and add a heavier rear implement, you should be able to do all right pushing snow even without chains as long as there is still plenty of tread on your R1 rears. If you dont want to load the tires, you could probably do a lot better by taking the whole loader off, which would correct the weight distribution/traction issue............................................... In my opinion, any 2wd tractor with a loader should have loaded rear tires, even if it aint used on snow.

wolc123 is right.