Grading Front Blade Experiences

[ronjhall]

I have a B2910 (same tractor as B7800 with premium features of B3030) with a Curtis 6.5' front blade mounted on the FEL. It has been used since 2000. No problems. Grading dirt is not one of it's good features. Maybe a front mounted blade would work better for dirt. I find that FEL bucket and 3PH attachments work better for moving dirt. Here is a link to my first post on the blade back in 2000. Let it Snow. Pictures at end of thread. I have posted more info since then. If you need more info please ask.

 

[builder2]

I picked up a 7' Western plow for $200.00 and fabbed a quick attach mount out of box tubing from my scrap pile (free) for my FEL.
Welded tabs on the quick attach mount to accept the Western plow pins as if it were truck mounted.
Welded a chain attachment point on the top of the quick attach mount for hooking up the plow lift chain.
This allows you to lift the plow as high as you want to bank snow. I lower the FEL to about 10" off the ground and lift chain allows the plow to follow the ground level. I did not hook up any hydralics to angle the blade, I just use a hitch pin. If the plow starts to cut into dirt, I just lower the FEL a little.
Been using it for 3 years now with no problems. That being said, I do not abuse it by ramming into snow as that could result in damage to the FEL. I would not use this set up on dirt as the FEL and rear blade are much better suited for this task.

Paul
This is all mounted on a JD 5200 2WD and I keep my Woods backhoe on for weight.
Our drive is 1800' long and with this set up cut my plowing snow time down to about 30 minuts compared to 2 to 3 hrs in a heavy snow.

 

[LBrown59]

I have a 60'' Hyd lift and angle front blade with a BX1500 on it and a FEL with a BX23 on it.
Great combination for snow dirt sand gravel slag etc.

 

[lawn_king]

I had a kubota 2019 power angle front blade on my B7500. It was a heavy duty blade with trip springs,it worked great!

 

[JoeL4330]

I don't think a front mounted blade will work very well for grading and I know that a rear mounted blade does work fine for modest snow depths ...mine tilts and angles and you don't need much angle to cast the snow to the side if your speed is moderate. I have a very long, very steep gravel drive and a trick mentioned earlier is to remove the pin on the tilt which, coupled with the 3pt hitch "float" permits the blade to comply with the surface quite nicely.

So, I wouldn't necessarily want the blade on the front unless I had blacktop that I wanted to scrape down to.

Another trick mentioned for gravel drives is to use a landscape rake instead of a backblade ...free tilt, angled, etc. Supposed to do an amazingly good job. I think my next upgrade will be to a York rake that also has a flip-up/down blade and gauge wheels, which should be the cat's meow for modest snows and my gravel drive (and, of course, great for grading). If I want to make big piles, I can always use the FEL.

With that rake-blade setup, though, I might then explore a front-mount 3pt adapter for it w. quick attach (chain for the top link for compliance) because if that works I can keep my rear-mounted blower on--a double-ended threat ...and chains on all fours, of course.

 

[AMR]

I have the 72" front mount blade with subframe for my B3030, it did a great job this winter, I couldn't imagine anything much better or quicker for the kind of slop we got here in CT this year. I had a 60" on my BX23 that worked well also. I didn't find with either that the hydraulic angle was too limiting.

 

[tandttravis]

Gotcha, can you post some pics of your plow setup? I have a B-26 as well

 

[gotcha]

Gotcha, can you post some pics of your plow setup? I have a B-26 as well

I tried to answer your request for the picture, but I can not locate the one I took when I got it from the fabricators so you will have to wait until I get it back from having it sand blasted and powder coated. This may take a bit as it is a gratis job and being done as the individual has the time. I will post the picture just as soon as I get it back. The Gotcha Man

 

[David Cockey]

I was thinking front blade before we bought our BX2350 this winter. But instead I decided to try a rear blade and a FEL. With a record snowfall this winter (over 70") and 25 hours of snow removal later I'm no longer interested in a front blade. The rear blade works very well in almost all conditions, and the FEL got a lot more use than I anticipated. I wouldn't want to have to deal with snow again without the FEL.

Generally I plow the drive going forward with the rear blade angled to throw snow to the right. Parking areas are plowed both going forward and rearward. The FEL was used to pile snow up, move the piles back, and cut the snow banks back. It was also used to push snow with it "float" position. Took a little bit of practice to find the right angle for the bucket so that it didn't dig into the ground but also didn't ride over the snow. Driving repeatedly over the snow can be problem in the wrong conditions. Then I flip the blade around and plow blade first.

 

[ELMO67]

Well, I have an L3010 with rear chains and a 72'' Landpride rear blade that I have used to plow my 1300' + 500sq. ft. driveway for the 6 1/2 years. It works "ok" for most occasions, but with a snow depth over 10", no matter what angle, a lot of snow rolls back over the blade. It usually takes 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours to plow my driveway (a couple of hills) and I plow out to approximately 12' wide. I don't have any rear lights, and as most of you know with a front bucket the headlights are almost worthless. This year, after procrastinating for the last few years, I decided to get a factory front blade and quick hitch assy. Kubota doesn't make a quick hitch to fit the L3010 anymore, so after a LOT of searching, I found a new, never installed subframe, and a very slightly used 72" front blade for an AWESOME price from Emerich Sales in New York ( Thanks again Jim and Gary!). Anyway, it was a lot of work to install this, I had to strip and paint all the brackets Kubota orange, make a bracket to relocate the control valve to the loader subframe, and modify the hydraulic hoses so they would work with both the front plow and the loader. IT WAS WORTH IT!!! I can now plow uphill, not get off the tractor to change blade angle, see where I am going in the dark with what have turned out to be good headlights, not have a stiff neck when I'm done ( never really realized I was uncomfortable before), AND I can finished the job in 1 1/2 hours with a smile on my face. Now as far as dirt work, the blade also has two brackets that can be pinned in place to keep the blade from tripping. I have just started cutting in an access drive on my property and I am absolutely AMAZED at how much power this thing has to dig. It really seems like a 4 wheel dozer, it flat out DIGS! Well, can you tell I'm pleased? I wish that I'd done this from the start, but there is no way I could have gotten this setup as inexpensively as I ended up doing.