Looking at new Kubota L3301HST w/ FEL, BH

[s219]

I occasionally wish I got a L3800 over my L3200, but not often. Plowing 12" of snow today with R4 tires I was lugging the engine as much as I was having traction issues.

What gear do you plow in? I do most plowing in M, but last week the snow was heavier and I dropped into L for the initial work.

 

[Fallon]

What gear do you plow in? I do most plowing in M, but last week the snow was heavier and I dropped into L for the initial work.

Medium. Mostly at max RPM & max go pedal if it's smooth enough. I have R4's with the rears loaded, a SSQA truck plow on the front & a back blade on the back. I picked up a pair of rear chains off Craigslist for cheap just after I bought the tractor, but have never put them on to even see if they fit. If I bothered putting them on, I might have enough traction to worry about needing low, but I'm not sure. I often have to drop down to 60% go pedal if I have good traction & am going uphill with a decent load.

Plowing uphill I run into traction issues enough that I think about trying to put on the chains, but not enough for me to actually do it. I have enough steering issues pushing near the limit I'm not sure chains are going to be a huge benefit anyway. Might need front chains as well if I end up chaining up.

 

[varmint]

Sometimes steering with the brake pedals is the way to go when the front wants to go its own way. Be boss!

 

[s219]

Medium. Mostly at max RPM & max go pedal if it's smooth enough. I have R4's with the rears loaded, a SSQA truck plow on the front & a back blade on the back.

Sounds like you should have a "Mr. Plow" logo on the hood! So do you run with both front and rear blades down at the same time? I only have a rear blade (6'), and that's enough to keep my L3200 working if the snow is deep or heavy enough, and sometimes needing low. From an overall standpoint, I can see how running front and rear at the same time may split up the load (i.e., front clears bulk of it and rear neatens up), but just the basic drag on the ground would have to add up. Never mind the L3200 vs. L3800 choice, maybe you should've got a Grand L !!

Last year I plowed in 2WD med gear all the time (driveway is mostly flat). This year, I needed 4WD for the big storm we got last week, and low gear. I was spending so much time feathering the HST treadle in med, I just dropped to low so I could mash it and focus on other parts of the job.

 

[Fallon]

Sometimes steering with the brake pedals is the way to go when the front wants to go its own way. Be boss!

Ya, although when steering stops working I'm pretty close to the limit on traction already, tapping the steering brakes usually stops my forward momentum. The steering brakes are on the right side along with the HST pedal, so I have to ride side saddle to use them, which is uncomfortable.

For now I'm just living with it.

 

[Fallon]

Sounds like you should have a "Mr. Plow" logo on the hood! So do you run with both front and rear blades down at the same time? I only have a rear blade (6'), and that's enough to keep my L3200 working if the snow is deep or heavy enough, and sometimes needing low. From an overall standpoint, I can see how running front and rear at the same time may split up the load (i.e., front clears bulk of it and rear neatens up), but just the basic drag on the ground would have to add up. Never mind the L3200 vs. L3800 choice, maybe you should've got a Grand L !!

Last year I plowed in 2WD med gear all the time (driveway is mostly flat). This year, I needed 4WD for the big storm we got last week, and low gear. I was spending so much time feathering the HST treadle in med, I just dropped to low so I could mash it and focus on other parts of the job.

I got a tractor because I wanted a dam tractor, not necessarily because I had jobs for it (although I have plenty). I keep thinking about doing a side job with tractor work, but not motivated enough yet to dig into the insurance & hassle. For now I'm just helping out neighbors. Upgrading to a Grand, possibly a JD or Kioti with a cab & more bells & whistles is definitely something I've been thinking about, maybe in the next year or 2, we'll see. It was mighty cold in my open station this morning plowing at 10-15 degrees. I got the economy model as we had just bought the house & 5 acres, so the budget was a bit tight at the time. No regrets getting the L3200 at all, it does everything I need except keep me warm/cold in nasty weather & provide me with extra pimped out gadgets to fiddle with (although I've been working on that last one).

I run with both down sometimes. It does load the tractor a bit more, but doesn't provide too much benefit unless the front isn't cutting that well. My rear 72" blade has skid shoes set 1" below the blade & has hydraulic angle on it. The plow is a manual adjust, so I have to get off to angle it. In theory the the skid shoes help prevent the plow from eating gravel, but in reality both plows eat equal amounts of gravel on my 2 neighbors drives, but not that much on my drive or the main road. It's handy to have 2 depending on which way I'm pointing & weather or not I want to get off to angle the front. The rear blade is a bit heavier I think or at least seems to cut a bit better if needed. Here in Colorado (nearish Denver) out temperature fluctuates so much we have issues with soft gravel. It will be in the mid 60's the day before it snows, so the gravel isn't frozen up solid when I'm plowing often. Plowing yesterday netted a lot of gravel, today with a high of 20, not as much as things finally froze up. I'm thinking about putting a metal pipe on the bottom of one to avoid cutting gravel on the neighbors drive.

I built the front for just over $200, $100 for a lighter truck (probably Jeep) plow at an estate sale & $100 for 2 SSQA plates & a 3pt Quick Hitch. Got some skid shoes for the front, but the plow has 3/4" holes & the standard shoes have a 1" shank, need to do some mods to get them on. I think the plow is a 7', but don't remember.

I was concerned with the front so far out there it would have a lot of leverage to push me around, but in practice it's not that much of an issue. The front does push me around a bit, but maybe 20% more than the rear tops & its a bigger blade. It's easier to do a tight corner with the rear plow though, The front plow does decrease my ability to steer a fair bit at times.




You can see the 2' of snow that was drifted up against my shop door & my driveway is just behind the trees.


Interesting hearing others talking about low range & what not. I might get motivated to try to throw on my chains before we get the next snow here we are suppose to get on Wednesday.

 

[varmint]

I have been plowing (the little I've done so far this winter) in M on my L3400 with a real 78" hyd. front plow. I run chains on my rear turfs, mostly because I have them, and I have a 5-600 lb. rear ballast box. On gravel I have to keep the plow slightly elevated, or it wants to dive into the frozen gravel and trips. I am going to try dropping the shoes a bit- now they are just under the blade. I keep the engine at 2200 rpm or so. On pavement, everything is fine with the blade on float and travelling on its skid shoes. Cuts a nice 6' path when its fully angled. No cab- I feel your pain when its cold.

 

[s219]

Here in Colorado (nearish Denver) out temperature fluctuates so much we have issues with soft gravel. It will be in the mid 60's the day before it snows, so the gravel isn't frozen up solid when I'm plowing often. Plowing yesterday netted a lot of gravel, today with a high of 20, not as much as things finally froze up. I'm thinking about putting a metal pipe on the bottom of one to avoid cutting gravel on the neighbors drive.

Same temperature issues here with my gravel drive (don't think I have ever plowed on frozen driveway). Last year I put a PVC pipe over the blade's cutting edge, and it worked well -- less than a shovelful of gravel got dragged into the street over two major storms. But the PVC wore quickly -- I went through one per storm. This year I replaced the cutting edge with a strip of horse stall mat, and that works pretty good, but it seems to "chatter" at higher speeds and is not as good on my concrete parking pad. So I think for next season, I will put the metal cutting edge back on and fabricate a pipe or round bar to fit over the edge. That should work as well as the PVC did but last longer.

 

[Fallon]

Same temperature issues here with my gravel drive (don't think I have ever plowed on frozen driveway). Last year I put a PVC pipe over the blade's cutting edge, and it worked well -- less than a shovelful of gravel got dragged into the street over two major storms. But the PVC wore quickly -- I went through one per storm. This year I replaced the cutting edge with a strip of horse stall mat, and that works pretty good, but it seems to "chatter" at higher speeds and is not as good on my concrete parking pad. So I think for next season, I will put the metal cutting edge back on and fabricate a pipe or round bar to fit over the edge. That should work as well as the PVC did but last longer.

Tried that with some black ABS, it lasted 5 minutes. Thought about welding some tabs on some steel pipe, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I have 20' of concrete and lots of gravel.

 

[gsganzer]

Ended up pulling the trigger on a new L3800 with FEL, back hoe and land Pride PHD. It should suit my needs for a good long time. Should take delivery next week.