Front Blades on 4100

[TxBillyed]

I am looking at a 54In front blade for my 4100. The dealer quoted a great price however he did not have all the information on tilt angle and hook up. Does anyone have one and can give me some more information. The dealer talked about an additional kit for $450 buck for the hydraulically controled balde?/w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif

Bill

 

[Benson]

Bill,
I have the JD 54 inch front blade. What do you need to know? I have plowed with it the past 3 winters. I have no complaints other than to wish it was a foot wider.

John

 

[MikeCT]

total cost for the 54" blade with the Quik-Tatch hitch and angle runs between $800 & $900 complete.

 

[garchib]

John,
I have been debating getting the 54" plow for my 4100 HST, instead of an FEL for reasons of cost.
Due to the fact the FEL would be used minimally by me other than for snow, I thought that the blade
my be a more cost effective answer.

I live in New England and have turf tires. How is your 4100 configured to use the 54" blade for snow ?

Also, do you ever use the blade for dirt work ?

Thanks, Gavin

 

[Benson]

Gavin,

My 4100 is gear drive, with R4 tires. Our driveway is gravel and about 800 feet long. We have had fairly mild winters since I have had the 4100, but so far it has been fine. I think chains will make a big difference if you have many hills. If snow is heavy, I plow only down hill and have no problems. I usually end up plowing early in the morning when time is important, and the angled plow is much quicker than the FEL.

I have used the plow for light dirt moving (cutting swails, etc.), but the light weight of the tractor limits what can be done. Most of the dirt work I did, I would hit the area with a tiller first, then move it with the blade. I added the FEL and toothbar this spring, and the uses for the tractor have multiplied.

If you are in an area of New England with tons of snow (we only average 50 inches or so a year in western PA), a blower might be more effective (to throw it away from the drive).

Hope this helps

John

 

[MikePA]

The problem with using a blade, or a FEL, for plowing snow is finding a place to put all the snow. I used my FEL for clearing our driveway at the house and the barn this past winter and it worked fine, but we don't get as much snow as you do in NE. If I lived in NE and had to choose between a FEL and a front blade for moving snow, I'd chose the FEL. At least with the FEL, you can move the snow if the piles get too tall. However, if you have plenty of room to push the snow, go for the blade.

 

[Nuru]

Yep, mine cost approx $1000 bucks when I bought it. For plowing snow, as long as you have somewhere to push it, it works great.

 

[Nuru]

Mike; a lot of the tractor owners in NE in my area use a blade or the FEL, when they want to change, most go to a snowblower. The FEI can be a lot of back and forth work from what I have observed. I use the blade and yes, as long as you have some where to push the snow, it really works well!

 

[MikePA]

I agree, Nuru. For those areas that get a lot of snow, the snowblower is the best choice. I had a front blade for my Wheel Horse and the first year I had it we got a blizzard and every spare location around our driveway had snow pushed in it. I even pushed snow across the street onto the berm, which resulted in a firm, but nice, reprimand from the township snowplow driver. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I went and bought a walk behind snow blower the next year, which is an alternative to a 3ph snowblower at a half to a third of the price.

 

[Nuru]

Mike, I am still holding out. I did not have to use weights or chains yet, but I am slowly building a set of home made weight brackets for my universal weight I retired earlier this year.

 

[keeney]

I have used all three to remove snow - FEL, Blade, and Blower.

The blade is by far the quickest, most comfortable way to move the snow, assuming as others have mentioned you have a place to put the snow. It doesn't have to be a big place, but the ideal spot is if you can just run it off one end or the other of the drive. I do agree with the other poster in wishing my 54" blade was more like 66" or 72"...

The snowblower can put the snow the furthest away and can deal with really heavy snow, but it always blows on your face, etc. Also, it has no other use other than moving snow - mine has only been used twice in the past year and it takes up a lot of room in the garage. The blade and the FEL are more versatile. If you do get the snowblower, you already have 80% of the parts to mount the blade, so you might as well get the blade as well.

The FEL can move snow, but is the slowest method. However, if you have ANY other dirt moving in mind, the FEL is the way to go.

I run turfs without chains to plow or blow snow on a paved driveway with some moderate slope in spots.

For dirt moving with the FEL, I add chains over the rear turfs and wish I had the option to put chains on the front as well. I am thinking of getting another set of wheels with Ags for the front.

- Rick

 

[Nuru]

Keeney; I agree, that the blade is the quickest, and yes a wider blade would be cool, might require some weights on the tires though as the amount of snow weight will rise with the extra inches. The jump to 72" might be fun! I am still debating the acquisition of a FEL. I have some Dirt work to do and I have mulch placement work, but beyond that, I kinda don't need the FEL for anything else, howver, if the right abmount of extra funds come along, or I find someone willing to unload their used, ..etc. I am seriously considering a dirt scoop at this time, as a stop gap for the loader.

 

[garchib]

Thanks to John and everyone for the advice....I may
go one more winter and just use my push snowblower, but
with a new baby and a toddler, I try to get every job
done as quickly as possible and the snowblower takes
a LONG time due to the size of my driveway.
Thanks to everyone who answered my post, Gavin

 

[TxBillyed]

Well thanks for the input. I was looking at using the blade to move dirt but for 1K in cost and the fact of the HP on the 4100, I think I'll skip it. Thanks for all the info. Lving in Texas I don't have real snow problems, maybe one or two days a year. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

Bill

 

[kokopelli2]

keeny,
why dont you just make or get wings for your plow? take a look at the meyer site. they make wings to widen their plows. one might fit yours. i think they are about $150 a set. ther are very simple though...you should be able to get a metal shop to make them for you for a better price. i have them on plow for my truck and use a 6footer on my kubota b2410.