Skid pads??? Needed? Necessary?

[garc]

Nice adjustable wheel design, garc. I'll keep it in mind if I don't like the skids I built.

Only used it once in our first 6" of wet snow and it worked very well ! First time with a rear blade as well. Bought the 369 pounder to keep the same balance my box scraper gives me. The casters keep it one inch off the ground when it's longitudinally level (lateral is on hydraulic float), I can tilt longitudinally with hydraulics for on the go blade height adjustment and not a mark* on my 1000+ feet of gravel driveways. *Caught the odd high spot which is as it should be .

 

[sw03]

Wahooo! Got it done.

I cannot express my thanks enough to all those who suggested the pipe on the front of the blade. I had a big ol' scrap of 1 1/2 sched 40 so that is what I used. Ran it through the table saw, it cut just fine. One slit was not enough, couldn't get it on nor keep it on. Ran it through again, side stepping 1/2 ".

Perfect. Fits like a glove. Here's to hoping it stays put. What a wonderful idea. Thanks again to everybody. Can't say I am anxious to try it, but I feel better prepared for the inevitable.

Good...I am gonna try it for a 200 ft concrete driveway I have...If it last for one year...great....Cheap and works not to kill it and the FEL.

 

[varmint]

I snowplow about 800' of a well-packed crushed asphalt lane (basically gravel from ground -up asphalt paving, so it compacts pretty well, especially in the summer heat!) using a 5' heavy duty rear blade, and I still had trouble with digging in... float the blade, but I have some weight on top of it, since I don't want it riding up over the packed snow. I had to add some skid shoes, which are about 4" x 8" with up-turned edges, but they tend to dig ruts in looser material. If they are set about 1 1/2" below the blade, everything works pretty well, but it ain't ideal. I liked the idea of a pipe edge, but I am thinking the blade would really just ride over the snow instead of plowing.

 

[varmint]

Ah- I went back and read this thread from the beginning... Schedule 40 PVC- that's a hoot, and I would guess it won't last more than a couple hundred feet. You can slit steel pipe on a table saw... you can, if you have a steel cutting blade, good hearing protection, good eye protection, and somebody else's saw. It's a nasty job, and the steel chips don't do the saw's internals much good. Maybe a grinder?

 

[garc]

Looks like post 49 got corrupted so here it is again

I blew out the pneumatic tires after one season so now I am running steel wheels successfully

You'll have to make your own mounting bracket as I did but much simpler than mine since it doesn't need to be adjustable, just tilt your blade to adjust blade edge ground clearance. Weld on a horizontal plate with a vertical support strut and you are done. Set the caster height to give 1" blade edge clearance with the blade vertical. The wheels (STY103-***-SS-T) came from Algood Casters in BC Canada, page 24. Word of caution: raise the blade before backing up or you will bend the caster assembly.

 

[Lefty7]

I concur- Although I don't have a kubota blade, but used a truck plow. It really helps the blade NOT to scalp the lawn when pushing the snow back over the driveway and prevent scraping of blacktop. However, once the ground freezes up enough, I don't take them off, I just set it higher so blade is touching ground more and it helps in the icy, harden areas.

I agree with radioman, but am using a truck, not a tractor. Been doing plowing this way since '77. I leave 'em on. They're not just helpful, they're absolutely necessary when I'm clearing the back part of my property, which is just mowed turf. Occasional traffic through there makes ruts in a variety if depths, widths and sizes, and my old Meyers plow feet float me over them. Without them, I'd be hitting the ruts and tripping the plow a lot and would bust something. Been there. Prefer to move the snow but leave the dirt.

Of course, the height adjustment is critical, especially when you're on crushed stone. I did lots of long country driveways for $ for 14 years, and in spring some folks would complain a little about the rock kicked off the side, sometimes into their lawn. I always tried to lift the blade just a touch on an upgrade, in an effort to minimize this. (I know, it's a pain come mowing season; I have to deal with it myself.) It's the difference between plowing, (pushing it around on the surface) and snow-blowing, (lifting it and throwing it). In some conditions, like a wet heavy snow, or when the snow is melting with warm temps, the snow acts just like glue, and will yank up the top, loose stones with the plow pass no matter what you do.

I always thought that a truck or tractor with directed lasers out front would be a big improvement.