Meyer Snowplow adapted to QA?

[Adiredneck]

Last winter, a relative of a good friend decided he was going to sell his Kubota L3400. He had bought a set of double-ring chains for it that were like new, and he had bought an old 6' meyers snowplow and made the plow frame mount with pins to a q/a plate for the FEL. He had no use for the items and I was mostly interested in the chains, but the Q/A blank and plow were all nice for $350.00.

I used the plow setup once last year on an early spring snowstorm. It works OK, but it sticks out way too far for me. The angle cylinders came with the package, but they aren't hooked up, there is a pin that holds the blade straight. The plow also trips way too easy.

I don't really "need" to angle the plow, although I will be adding a set of remotes to my tractor and it would be nice. I have used my tractor FEL to plow for the last 3 years.

I can:
1) Cut off the frame and weld the q/a directly to the blade with no trip.

2) Weld the q/a to the (shortened frame), and utilize the trip springs and fix the angle cylinders to give me about 1 foot of angle.

3) Look around for a Fisher plow that has a blade-only trip system.

Has anyone else adapted a Meyers plow on their FEL?

 

[kennyd]

There are LOTS of threads about QA FEL snowplows! Search my friend...

Removing the trip springs is a BAD idea.

 

[Builder]

Last winter, a relative of a good friend decided he was going to sell his Kubota L3400. He had bought a set of double-ring chains for it that were like new, and he had bought an old 6' meyers snowplow and made the plow frame mount with pins to a q/a plate for the FEL. He had no use for the items and I was mostly interested in the chains, but the Q/A blank and plow were all nice for $350.00.

I used the plow setup once last year on an early spring snowstorm. It works OK, but it sticks out way too far for me. The angle cylinders came with the package, but they aren't hooked up, there is a pin that holds the blade straight. The plow also trips way too easy.

I don't really "need" to angle the plow, although I will be adding a set of remotes to my tractor and it would be nice. I have used my tractor FEL to plow for the last 3 years.

I can:
1) Cut off the frame and weld the q/a directly to the blade with no trip.

No. You have no trip should you strike something. You'll probably get ejected off your seat or damage your tractor.

2) Weld the q/a to the (shortened frame), and utilize the trip springs and fix the angle cylinders to give me about 1 foot of angle.

Yes, but will you really shorten the plow frame all that much? What will you get 18" shorter? Might not be worth the trouble. I have the plow mounted to the QA plate with removeable pins and I like the way I can see the plow. I can also utilize the mounting plate for other uses (moving trailer around).

3) Look around for a Fisher plow that has a blade-only trip system.

Pretty expensive and it's really not much better than a moldboard spring plow.

If you really want the cat's meow, there's a really sweet plow made by Caterpillar. It has a trip moldboard and the angling rams are installed parallel to the plow for angling and it's all welded up to a QA plate. It's really made for a skid steer but will work just as good on a compact. I saw a used one on fleabay last year for ~ $2,000. pricey, but really nice and all of about 18" total depth.

 

[Jeepnford]

Here's one I built last year,but we didn't have enough snow to get much use. The thing that seems to cause the most disagreement is whether to let the plow float on the chain or use the loader float.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/138632-yet-another-snow-plow.html

 

[aczlan]

I used the plow setup once last year on an early spring snowstorm. It works OK, but it sticks out way too far for me. The angle cylinders came with the package, but they aren't hooked up, there is a pin that holds the blade straight. The plow also trips way too easy.

How are the springs? You should be able to tighten the springs up to make it harder to trip, if you don't know how it works the Myers website should have a manual you can download to read up on the subject. Weak or loose springs will cause the blade to trip excessively.

2) Weld the q/a to the (shortened frame), and utilize the trip springs and fix the angle cylinders to give me about 1 foot of angle.

An excellent thread to read on the subject of adapting a plow for a loader is this one: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/customization/131136-snow-plow-adapted-front-end.html 4shorts does some very nice looking fab work and takes lots of pictures to document his projects.

Aaron Z

 

[Adiredneck]

4shorts Built a nice setup. I see his plow has 4 trip springs compared to my 2springs (my plow is shorter). My trip springs are maxed out, so they're probably quite tired at this point.

Looking at 4shorts design, I think I will go that route. I like how much tighter his plow is to the FEL, Mine sticks out about 4' from the FEL QA and made it kind of awkward to maneuver around in tight spots.

 

[Builder]

I really like 4 shorts set-up too. I like the shortening of the plow frame and I don't want to take anything away from his work except one little thing: I don't like the rams under the mounting plate. They look really close to the ground and succeptable to damage.

I know I'm going to get whupped-up on for suggesting that, and his is a better set up than mine, but I wouldn't feel secure about the rams being that close to the hardtop and I like having my QA plate free for other uses.

Might be able to cure this with skid shoes on the back.

Flame suit zipped, Kevlar vest on and high top steel toe boots with metataursal protectors tied.

 

[Duffster]

Last winter, a relative of a good friend decided he was going to sell his Kubota L3400. He had bought a set of double-ring chains for it that were like new, and he had bought an old 6' meyers snowplow and made the plow frame mount with pins to a q/a plate for the FEL. He had no use for the items and I was mostly interested in the chains, but the Q/A blank and plow were all nice for $350.00.

I used the plow setup once last year on an early spring snowstorm. It works OK, but it sticks out way too far for me. The angle cylinders came with the package, but they aren't hooked up, there is a pin that holds the blade straight. The plow also trips way too easy.

I don't really "need" to angle the plow, although I will be adding a set of remotes to my tractor and it would be nice. I have used my tractor FEL to plow for the last 3 years.

I can:
1) Cut off the frame and weld the q/a directly to the blade with no trip.

2) Weld the q/a to the (shortened frame), and utilize the trip springs and fix the angle cylinders to give me about 1 foot of angle.

3) Look around for a Fisher plow that has a blade-only trip system.

Has anyone else adapted a Meyers plow on their FEL?

Do you have one of those special Meyer plows with the cross over relief valve built into the cylinders?

j/k just a little inside joke

 

[Builder]

Do you have one of those special Meyer plows with the cross over relief valve built into the cylinders?

j/k just a little inside joke

I never said the cross over relief was built into the cylinders. I said it was built into the plow hydraulics or the tractor . That could mean the lift pump on the plow or the hydraulic system on the tractor.

At least get the inside joke right.

j/k.

 

[Duffster]

I never said the cross over relief was built into the cylinders. I said it was built into the plow hydraulics or the tractor . That could mean the lift pump on the plow or the hydraulic system on the tractor.

At least get the inside joke right.

j/k.

, but the cylinders do have relief in them when