Putting a 2.75" hardened steel pipe on rear blade for plowing in soft conditions?

In.the.Piñons · 2025-09-27T15:45:36-0400

I have a few miles of gravel road that I need to plow - conditions are often soft. It's full of ups and downs, like a roller coaster, so being able to float my rear blade would make life a LOT easier. Turning the blade around does not work well because the rear of the blade is full of uneven edges due to all the reinforcing, so it just gathers snow.

It's a very heavy attachment, probably close to 1,600lbs and I'm hoping the pipe will allow the blade to "glide" over the gravel without digging in and messing it up too much.

CalG · 2025-09-27T15:50:15-0400

It's done all the time, but where does one get "hardened pipe"?

Regular steel pipe would prove the concept.
Weld on a few tabs for mounting to the blade with bolts. Splitting pipe is a foolish effort.

Some "home owners" have tried split PVC and CPVC. It breaks!

In.the.Piñons · 2025-09-27T16:17:01-0400

CalG said:
It's done all the time, but where does one get "hardened pipe"?

Regular steel pipe would prove the concept.
Weld on a few tabs for mounting to the blade with bolts. Splitting pipe is a foolish effort.

Some "home owners" have tried split PVC and CPVC. It breaks!

I have a local guy that gets it from the oil fields. Cost me $35 for 9ft length 1/4" thick, 2 & 3/4" dia. J55 tool grade steel, schedule 80.

Shawn T. W. · 2025-09-27T16:42:05-0400

Would it be possible to add gauge wheels to the back, so you could adjust the height?

In.the.Piñons · 2025-09-27T18:10:29-0400

Shawn T. W. said:
Would it be possible to add gauge wheels to the back, so you could adjust the height?

The blade came with a hydraulic gauge wheel, but it sits back about 3-4ft behind the blade. It didn't seem to work very well with my roller coaster roads, but then again I was new to tractoring back then. I could see gauge wheels that are right next to the blade working better, but that's a lot more of a project than fitting a pipe to the blade.

Shawn T. W. · 2025-09-27T18:19:57-0400

Farther back the better, I'd think ... Think about a big road grader, there blade is in the middle between there v e r y long stretched out wheelbase.

I'd may take awhile to get the road smooth, but once smooth, the snow removal will be so much easier/faster, and much better for general driving ...

My driveway is only about 1000' long, it was rough when I bought it, but my land plane smoothed it out, not I can easily drive over 25 mph if I want to, usually less than 10, because I'm not in a hurry ...

Just killing weeds, as it was already smooth, two passes up, and now on my second pass back down ...