Snow chains for plowing with a rear blade

[nyone]

On my tractor I have VERY limited fender clearance, I bought these Aquiline MPC (Multi Purpose Chains)
View attachment 1702154

I have used these on limited clearance machines too. They are about 1/2 the price of the tallons. They grip really well in all seasons. There hardened links also. If I remember they where about 15-20% more than the cheap chinese 4 link ladder style chains.

If I had to buy new chains again I would buy theses. My tc40 tractor was so popular I was able to find a hardly used front and rear 4link ladder set for really cheap.

 

[fishhead]

FWIW I got a full set of OFA EKO chains from Windy Ridge and found them (Windy Ridge) very easy to work with. These Scandinavian chains were not noticably more expensive than the China-made ones.
No review yet; haven't really needed them so far.

I also got some OFA's from windy ridge and have been quite happy - good grip, great ride, longer lasting than ladders

 

[fishhead]

And it’s the method recommended by the manufacturer of my chains.

mine as well

 

[In.the.Piñons]

We had our first big dump of the season. About 12" over 24 hours and I plowed twice.

The tractor with rear chains did great, though it wasn't very icy. No issues on the steep hill.

But I don't think the ground around here freezes enough to float the rear blade. Even with my oversized skid shoes, it just wanted to sink into the soft ground. I ended up having to use the 3pt position control lever to set the blade height. It achieved a good result, but I had to adjust it a lot, given my hilly terrain. It took me 4 hours to plow about 2 miles. But that included dealing with a downed tree. I'm sure with a bit more practice I could get it done in under 3 hours or less. I'm thinking about covering the blade with plastic pipe so I can maybe use the float that way?

 

[nyone]

Generaly I dont let the plow touch the stone on the driveway until its packed down. Unless you have big hills or like moving all the gravel back into the road in the spring.

 

[LouNY]

I use my back blade often, if the snow is shallow on a non frozen driveway often I'll spin the blade around and with it angle pull it backwards through the snow ---( it will act much like a squeegee and move most of the snow without digging in.
Otherwise going slow and tweaking the position control can do it.
At times I've been able to float the loader keep the bucket curled back just the tiniest bit from level and push quite a bit, it does seem to dig in all of a sudden just as soon as I quit watching like a hawk.

 

[Runner]

We had our first big dump of the season. About 12" over 24 hours and I plowed twice.

The tractor with rear chains did great, though it wasn't very icy. No issues on the steep hill.

But I don't think the ground around here freezes enough to float the rear blade. Even with my oversized skid shoes, it just wanted to sink into the soft ground. I ended up having to use the 3pt position control lever to set the blade height. It achieved a good result, but I had to adjust it a lot, given my hilly terrain. It took me 4 hours to plow about 2 miles. But that included dealing with a downed tree. I'm sure with a bit more practice I could get it done in under 3 hours or less. I'm thinking about covering the blade with plastic pipe so I can maybe use the float that way?View attachment 1931372

One way to prevent the rear blade from digging into the gravel is to put gauge wheels on it. Should be quite a few posts on TBN showing different designs people have come up with. One popular method is to use trailer jacks because they are easily adjustable. That is how I did mine many years ago.

They don't look great because I sort of threw them together as an experiment, but they worked so well, I just started using them and never bothered to paint them up nice. May have to run them through the sandblaster some day...

 

[In.the.Piñons]

Generaly I dont let the plow touch the stone on the driveway until its packed down. Unless you have big hills or like moving all the gravel back into the road in the spring.

Our daytime high temps average above freezing and we also get a lot of sun. So the snow never really gets a chance to form a base over the duration of winter. Instead we get a cold spell where it snows and then it slowly melts over the next 3-4 weeks.

 

[In.the.Piñons]

I use my back blade often, if the snow is shallow on a non frozen driveway often I'll spin the blade around and with it angle pull it backwards through the snow ---( it will act much like a squeegee and move most of the snow without digging in.
Otherwise going slow and tweaking the position control can do it.
At times I've been able to float the loader keep the bucket curled back just the tiniest bit from level and push quite a bit, it does seem to dig in all of a sudden just as soon as I quit watching like a hawk.

I did try swinging the bade around 180 deg. That did work well for scraping off the snow, but the back of my blade is not smooth and it just collected a huge pile of snow.

 

[In.the.Piñons]

One way to prevent the rear blade from digging into the gravel is to put gauge wheels on it. Should be quite a few posts on TBN showing different designs people have come up with. One popular method is to use trailer jacks because they are easily adjustable. That is how I did mine many years ago.

They don't look great because I sort of threw them together as an experiment, but they worked so well, I just started using them and never bothered to paint them up nice. May have to run them through the sandblaster some day...

View attachment 1932867

That does look like an interesting solution. My blade did come with a gauge wheel, but I took it off. It's only one wheel and it's not directly behind the blade like you have, but maybe I should try it in the snow? Trouble is I only have two rear remotes and would need to install a diverter.