Shoes on a rear blade?

[Fastball]

Hello all...have just put a few loads of fresh gravel down on the driveway. Am somewhat concerned about a lot of it getting pushed around and ending up in the ditch as i plow the drive with a rear blade. I thought about installing snowplow shoes on my rear blade to keep it a half-inch or so above the gravel surface. Anyone else have experience with that?

 

[atsah]

Shoes or a pipe should work..

 

[Einthewoods]

I will not claim to be anywhere close to experienced, but have done one year of snow plowing with my back blade...so this advice is free. :laughing:

The first several snowfalls I swung the blade backwards so that it wouldn't dig into my gravel/dirt drive. Once the ground froze, I swung it back around and never had any trouble with the gravel/dirt moving.

I might get shoes for mine, but for the cost and the way I did it, I haven't had any great reason to.

 

[RNeumann]

The shoes work better if you can make rapid top link adjustments (or curl adjustments on the front). I’m thinking it’s not going to be a great fix until/if your ground fully freezes.
Have you tried running the blade backwards?

 

[Oldoak]

Shoes help but are not the "end all". The weight of the blade will cause the shoes to dig in a little and leave raised ridge trails of lose gravel unless it frozen. The best success I have had is what others have suggested, turn the blade 180 degrees and push with the back of the blade.

 

[Piston]

I have a heavy rear blade that I use for my snow removal (land pride RBT4096) and when I purchased it I did not have skid shoes on it. I had a hard time keeping it at a consistent depth and thought about adding a gauge wheel. I was talked into trying skid shoes first, and that made a world of difference for snow removal.

With the skid shoes set just below the blade edge when the blade is level, I skim the surface easily without gauging into my gravel drive. When I go up the street to do my parents paved driveway, I just lower the 3 point hitch all the way down, this tips the blade forward just enough to get the cutting edge to scrape the pavement. At this point the skid shoes are just barely off the ground and not assisting in anyway.

If I come across a hump or something that needs more clearance (such as pulling snow piles onto my lawn section) I will raise the 3 point hitch up so it angles the blade backwards, essentially picking up the cutting edge off the ground because of the skid shoes.

I do all this with my hydraulic top link in float. I ALWAYS have my top link in float when I'm pulling snow, it makes a world of difference in controlling the depth/angle of attack on the blade. Simply use the 3 point hitch lever for adjustments. If you do not have a hydraulic top link (or the ability to float) you could do this same thing with a short length of chain connected instead of your top link.

 

[oosik]

I have a very heavy rear blade - Rhino 950 @ 1100#. Until my mile long, gravel driveway freezes up hard - I simply reverse the blade and drive forward.

 

[PILOON]

I have a very heavy rear blade - Rhino 950 @ 1100#. Until my mile long, gravel driveway freezes up hard - I simply reverse the blade and drive forward.

Yep you got it.
Compact that snow to create a good base.
Driving back and forth using the tractor weight also does a good job if you overlap the tire tracks.

 

[zzvyb6]

Shoes placed behind the blade could be used with a toplink chain to level your driveway. Large swivel caster wheels would be better. The wheels travel over the smoothed surface which becomes the gauge for the leading edge.

 

[ruffdog]

The first year with fresh gravel will be touchy. Like others have said, running the blade backwards works quite well. Very seldom do I put the shoes unless I feel I need to protect a questionable surface that might be soft.