SNOW PLOW for my MT180D
- Thread starter PILOON
- Start date
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This pic shows the plow angled to the right.
What I did is essentially create a custom channel to extend the left side.
The push frame is made from 2" X 2" X 1/4" sq tubing and the hinge (rt side) and left extension are 1/2 X 2" with the pins being 3/4" graded bolts.
All ears and pivot stock is 1/2 X 2" with 3/4" pins.
What I did is essentially create a custom channel to extend the left side.
The push frame is made from 2" X 2" X 1/4" sq tubing and the hinge (rt side) and left extension are 1/2 X 2" with the pins being 3/4" graded bolts.
All ears and pivot stock is 1/2 X 2" with 3/4" pins.
Attachments
Tractor attachement rack.
The top is 5/16" 3 x 3 angle stock with the down legs 1/2 x 3" stock.
I cross braced and used 3/8 2 x 2 angle at bottom.
This bracket is attached to the front tractor 'bumper' with 4 1/2 bolts.
Nect pic will show how I transfer the stresses back to the loader frame.
The top is 5/16" 3 x 3 angle stock with the down legs 1/2 x 3" stock.
I cross braced and used 3/8 2 x 2 angle at bottom.
This bracket is attached to the front tractor 'bumper' with 4 1/2 bolts.
Nect pic will show how I transfer the stresses back to the loader frame.
Attachments
Since my tractor has a beefy loader frame, I opted to transfer all the loads back to the main cross member which is factory designed to take much abuse.
The cross member is 1" thick by 2 1/2' solid stock.
I fabricated a channel to 'cup' up against that cross member.
The arms are 1 x 1" x 1/4" wall tube with 3/8" tabs (gussets?) where they bolt to the frt down rig. Bolting is grades 1/2" bolts and the tubes were trimmed so that they but up to the down frame so as to not rely only on bolts.
Notice the cross bracing.
Tricky part was to be sure to clear frt differential and wheels in all possible position combinations.
Since I could jack the frt end up with the loader the task was relativly easy.
While everything is painted, trust me that all was trial fitted before prime and paint.
The cross member is 1" thick by 2 1/2' solid stock.
I fabricated a channel to 'cup' up against that cross member.
The arms are 1 x 1" x 1/4" wall tube with 3/8" tabs (gussets?) where they bolt to the frt down rig. Bolting is grades 1/2" bolts and the tubes were trimmed so that they but up to the down frame so as to not rely only on bolts.
Notice the cross bracing.
Tricky part was to be sure to clear frt differential and wheels in all possible position combinations.
Since I could jack the frt end up with the loader the task was relativly easy.
While everything is painted, trust me that all was trial fitted before prime and paint.
Attachments
beenthere
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2001
- Messages
- 18,616
- Location
- Southern Wisconsin, USA
- Tractor
- JD_4x2_Gator, JD_4300, JD_425, JD_455 AWS, added JD_455, JD_110, JD_X485(sold)
Your plow design and fabrication is looking good, and I'll be anxious to see a pic of the plow on the Mitsubishi.
Maybe I missed it, but how wide is the blade?
Maybe I missed it, but how wide is the blade?
Before I get swamped with ??'s
The blade is 6' wide and 22" high (tractor is 4' wide) so that when angled I wont be compacting my snow banks.
The intent was to clear the light falls with blade and then use the blower for heavier stuff.
There are 5 ribs made from 1/2" stock and the blade is 1/8" from an industriel work bench top.
The cutting edge is 3/8 X 4" galvanized flat from scrap yard.
Blade has 2 x 2 X 5/16 angles top and bottom.
Total costs as follows: (Cdn $)
Bench top $10., Recycled steel $40.00. Curving of the blade by a shop-$35.00, cutting of the 'ribs' (incl stock) $75.00, Bolts
about $25.00 . Springs $12.95 ea
My labor, including painting about 24hrs.
Note that I have no hydraulics as I plan to remouve my loader bucket (4 pins) and simply use a short chain down from the lift mechanism.
Swinging the blade manually to the right won't pose a problem as I have a long drive and that would be only done ocassionally, plus I was getting fedup with the project anyhow.
It was important for me to be able to retain the loader functions as I use it often to break-up and push back snow banks.
This way it is 2 pins for plow and 4 pins for loader vs complete loader remouval, and that's not fun at -25 degs.
A few pins I can handle!.
Now I'm actually anxious for snow!
The blade is 6' wide and 22" high (tractor is 4' wide) so that when angled I wont be compacting my snow banks.
The intent was to clear the light falls with blade and then use the blower for heavier stuff.
There are 5 ribs made from 1/2" stock and the blade is 1/8" from an industriel work bench top.
The cutting edge is 3/8 X 4" galvanized flat from scrap yard.
Blade has 2 x 2 X 5/16 angles top and bottom.
Total costs as follows: (Cdn $)
Bench top $10., Recycled steel $40.00. Curving of the blade by a shop-$35.00, cutting of the 'ribs' (incl stock) $75.00, Bolts
about $25.00 . Springs $12.95 ea
My labor, including painting about 24hrs.
Note that I have no hydraulics as I plan to remouve my loader bucket (4 pins) and simply use a short chain down from the lift mechanism.
Swinging the blade manually to the right won't pose a problem as I have a long drive and that would be only done ocassionally, plus I was getting fedup with the project anyhow.
It was important for me to be able to retain the loader functions as I use it often to break-up and push back snow banks.
This way it is 2 pins for plow and 4 pins for loader vs complete loader remouval, and that's not fun at -25 degs.
A few pins I can handle!.
Now I'm actually anxious for snow!
I probably won't mount 'til end of Oct as I have other tractor duties pending.
A detail I forgot to mention is that the blade 'tilt' point is 8" off of the ground and my 'drop down' rack matches at 8" as well as the loader cross member is about 9".
This is so that I'll have as close to a straight line push as possible thus avoiding the front from 'jacking' and making stearing way too light to be usable.
Mounting the blade on the bucket or alternatively matching the loader bucket pin locations would have resulted in front end jacking due to the high loader arm pivot points.
Pushing snow with the bucket in 'float mode' always resulted in that jacking motion with no steering.
In other words a pile of snow is heavier than the tractor weight on the front wheeles, that combined with the leverage angles just plain lifts the front.
I think I'll be pleased as tests (butting up to a tree) proved my theory. The front stays on the ground and I spin the wheeles rather than jacking.
A detail I forgot to mention is that the blade 'tilt' point is 8" off of the ground and my 'drop down' rack matches at 8" as well as the loader cross member is about 9".
This is so that I'll have as close to a straight line push as possible thus avoiding the front from 'jacking' and making stearing way too light to be usable.
Mounting the blade on the bucket or alternatively matching the loader bucket pin locations would have resulted in front end jacking due to the high loader arm pivot points.
Pushing snow with the bucket in 'float mode' always resulted in that jacking motion with no steering.
In other words a pile of snow is heavier than the tractor weight on the front wheeles, that combined with the leverage angles just plain lifts the front.
I think I'll be pleased as tests (butting up to a tree) proved my theory. The front stays on the ground and I spin the wheeles rather than jacking.
The ACID TEST:
Well we finally got some snow.
That wet heavy stuff, but only 2-3" but it was enough for a decent test run.
I am happy to report that everything went as predicted.
I worked it in the side plow mode moving the snow from left to right therby getting a reasonable pile to push over.
And my manual angle setup works real easy.
Pull the pin ,swing and drop the pin.
Takes seconds to do.
Never did I get lightness on the stearing, I had total control at all times.
I attribute this to the 'straight line push' approach that I used. (keeping the force line parallel to the ground)
Remember that in previous winters I used the bucket as a plow and because of the high lift arm pivot points the tractor would 'jack' itself resulting in no or very light stearing, basically uncontrollable.
(Also other TBN posters have discussed the lightness of stearing with all loader mounted plows.)
I was able to plow in all gear ranges and actually even in 2wd.
About the only thing I found was that I should tighten up the dump springs a bit as I did dump a few times more than I thought I should, but that's easy as I provided adjustment range an the tension screws.
In summary the tractor as setup is about as fast as using my GMC 4 x 4 with an 8ft blade and much more manouverable and along with the blower to get rid of the snow banks as they get made should result in a cleaner and wider area.
Using only the plow truck I would get narrower and narrower as winter went on. Then when I'd want to blow away the banks they would be so hard that the blower on the back of the poor MT180 would simply wnat to ride up and over that hard snow.
Now I can push (at a decent rate) the snow into a blowable pile and get rid of it with one pass of the blower.
My basic situation was that the drive is just too long to only blow snow as it needed like 3-4 passes and that in reverse at creeping paces just took forever
The truck would take like 10 mins and the blower over an hour.
Now with the plow/blower combination I can see something reasonable like 15-20 mins. Well at least 1/2 the time of blowing only, plus on small snow falls, blower only is totally eneficient , time wise, when less than say 4" falls.
It works so well that I am now thinking of maybe adding power angling probably by using the FEL dump cylinder valve circuit. That would be a next spring/summer project.
My priority project will be a FEL hydraulic clamp.
Well we finally got some snow.
That wet heavy stuff, but only 2-3" but it was enough for a decent test run.
I am happy to report that everything went as predicted.
I worked it in the side plow mode moving the snow from left to right therby getting a reasonable pile to push over.
And my manual angle setup works real easy.
Pull the pin ,swing and drop the pin.
Takes seconds to do.
Never did I get lightness on the stearing, I had total control at all times.
I attribute this to the 'straight line push' approach that I used. (keeping the force line parallel to the ground)
Remember that in previous winters I used the bucket as a plow and because of the high lift arm pivot points the tractor would 'jack' itself resulting in no or very light stearing, basically uncontrollable.
(Also other TBN posters have discussed the lightness of stearing with all loader mounted plows.)
I was able to plow in all gear ranges and actually even in 2wd.
About the only thing I found was that I should tighten up the dump springs a bit as I did dump a few times more than I thought I should, but that's easy as I provided adjustment range an the tension screws.
In summary the tractor as setup is about as fast as using my GMC 4 x 4 with an 8ft blade and much more manouverable and along with the blower to get rid of the snow banks as they get made should result in a cleaner and wider area.
Using only the plow truck I would get narrower and narrower as winter went on. Then when I'd want to blow away the banks they would be so hard that the blower on the back of the poor MT180 would simply wnat to ride up and over that hard snow.
Now I can push (at a decent rate) the snow into a blowable pile and get rid of it with one pass of the blower.
My basic situation was that the drive is just too long to only blow snow as it needed like 3-4 passes and that in reverse at creeping paces just took forever
The truck would take like 10 mins and the blower over an hour.
Now with the plow/blower combination I can see something reasonable like 15-20 mins. Well at least 1/2 the time of blowing only, plus on small snow falls, blower only is totally eneficient , time wise, when less than say 4" falls.
It works so well that I am now thinking of maybe adding power angling probably by using the FEL dump cylinder valve circuit. That would be a next spring/summer project.
My priority project will be a FEL hydraulic clamp.
PineRidge
Super Member
Looks to me like your good to go for the snow. That plow ought to save you a lot of serious backbreaking shoveling.
Deerlope
Veteran Member
That is a nice looking piece of work. Well built and strong.
A followup:
We had a 16 1/2 dump of snow Friday.
Now, that was a real test.
In the straight push mode I was able to push so much snow and piled it almost 4 ft high!
In the slant mode I did find that the front wanted to go to the side a bit but it was managable. I could actually turn into the pile.
Remember now that with 16+ inches that snow would come over the top and I was pushing a huge mess in front.
I found that I could push as well as with my truck, but just less in width. (truck has 8"blade)
The neat trick that worked wery well was that I'd peel snow from both sides of the drive into the center and then make one s l o w pass with the blower hence totally getting rid of the stuff rather than building up snow banks that eventually close in the driveway.
Up here, by Feb our drives end up half width with huge banks that are no longer manageable.
I deffinately have proven to my satisfaction that the low level straight line push is the only way to go.
No jacking up the front end and no noticeable loss of stearing control.
As a matter of fact I did most plowing in HI range, 1st and 2nd gear and in 2 wd mode!--meaning that I was operating as much as about 10mph. Not bad at all! (19hp tractor)
Sure, I'll admit a few mods req'd. Minor; I had to lengthen the lift chain linkage as it interfered with a loader arm and also had to beef up the blade ilt return stoppers as I underestimated the brute force those springs hammered back after a blade dump.
All in all a deffinate success for a DIY project.
Remember, Cost was $220 and 20 htrs. A new Fisher plow sells in the $5000. range around here.
El cheepo's (WallyMart and Cosco) do offer manual plows at about $1200, but nowhere as strong as my DIY nor fitted for a tractor.
We had a 16 1/2 dump of snow Friday.
Now, that was a real test.
In the straight push mode I was able to push so much snow and piled it almost 4 ft high!
In the slant mode I did find that the front wanted to go to the side a bit but it was managable. I could actually turn into the pile.
Remember now that with 16+ inches that snow would come over the top and I was pushing a huge mess in front.
I found that I could push as well as with my truck, but just less in width. (truck has 8"blade)
The neat trick that worked wery well was that I'd peel snow from both sides of the drive into the center and then make one s l o w pass with the blower hence totally getting rid of the stuff rather than building up snow banks that eventually close in the driveway.
Up here, by Feb our drives end up half width with huge banks that are no longer manageable.
I deffinately have proven to my satisfaction that the low level straight line push is the only way to go.
No jacking up the front end and no noticeable loss of stearing control.
As a matter of fact I did most plowing in HI range, 1st and 2nd gear and in 2 wd mode!--meaning that I was operating as much as about 10mph. Not bad at all! (19hp tractor)
Sure, I'll admit a few mods req'd. Minor; I had to lengthen the lift chain linkage as it interfered with a loader arm and also had to beef up the blade ilt return stoppers as I underestimated the brute force those springs hammered back after a blade dump.
All in all a deffinate success for a DIY project.
Remember, Cost was $220 and 20 htrs. A new Fisher plow sells in the $5000. range around here.
El cheepo's (WallyMart and Cosco) do offer manual plows at about $1200, but nowhere as strong as my DIY nor fitted for a tractor.
sandman2234
Super Member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2005
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- 6,687
- Location
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Tractor
- JD2555 and a few Allis Chalmers and now one Kubota
Kind of looks a little chilly up there. At what temperature do you go inside and sit by the fireplace?
Snow is something I have never had to deal with, except to drive an 18 wheeler in.
As a 16 year old, I left home on a dirtbike for a 1000 mile trip on an inch of ice(took 5 days). A trip I won't forget. Getting up every morning to go play in the snow like you guys do might bring on nightmares.
Guess I will go find me some sunscreen.
David from jax
Snow is something I have never had to deal with, except to drive an 18 wheeler in.
As a 16 year old, I left home on a dirtbike for a 1000 mile trip on an inch of ice(took 5 days). A trip I won't forget. Getting up every morning to go play in the snow like you guys do might bring on nightmares.
Guess I will go find me some sunscreen.
David from jax
Bit of an update:
My snowbanks at the road are about 4' high and 5' wide at the base as the result of a heavy snow season and the city constantly attempting to keep the road wide.
Now I wanted to punch holes into the banks so that when the plow passes he would unload there rather than in my drive.
I added a small mod (remouvable chain restrictor to over ride the trip springs action) that allows me to 'bulldose' without the trip springs dumping the blade.
Well was I surprised when I attacked that packed pile of snow!
You'd think that my little 20hp MT was actually a small bulldozer!
Using 2nd low gear and feathering the lift as I pushed I could actually bull over that 4' pile of compacted snow.
Because of the low mounting and straight line push I never lost traction and still had fair stearing control, and that is with 6' of blade.
Last winter I tried same thing with the 4' FEL and would merely have the front lift off the ground and loose total stearing control.
I now have to make the dump defeat over ride into a 'more estethic installation.'
Also I did a very detailed inspection of all attachements, pivots and welds to find that nothing has bent, twisted or otherwise 'let go'.
I have accumulated approximately 50 hours with the setup so far.
Most of the plowing done has been in 2nd high with perfect stearing control.
(unless the leading corner in angle mode catches hard icy snow bank, as would be expected with any plow)
Extreemly pleased.
My snowbanks at the road are about 4' high and 5' wide at the base as the result of a heavy snow season and the city constantly attempting to keep the road wide.
Now I wanted to punch holes into the banks so that when the plow passes he would unload there rather than in my drive.
I added a small mod (remouvable chain restrictor to over ride the trip springs action) that allows me to 'bulldose' without the trip springs dumping the blade.
Well was I surprised when I attacked that packed pile of snow!
You'd think that my little 20hp MT was actually a small bulldozer!
Using 2nd low gear and feathering the lift as I pushed I could actually bull over that 4' pile of compacted snow.
Because of the low mounting and straight line push I never lost traction and still had fair stearing control, and that is with 6' of blade.
Last winter I tried same thing with the 4' FEL and would merely have the front lift off the ground and loose total stearing control.
I now have to make the dump defeat over ride into a 'more estethic installation.'
Also I did a very detailed inspection of all attachements, pivots and welds to find that nothing has bent, twisted or otherwise 'let go'.
I have accumulated approximately 50 hours with the setup so far.
Most of the plowing done has been in 2nd high with perfect stearing control.
(unless the leading corner in angle mode catches hard icy snow bank, as would be expected with any plow)
Extreemly pleased.
Follow up after 2 seasons of usage.
Other than some wear (anticipated as I did not have bushing stock) at the pivoting points, everything passed a vigorous inspection at re installation this fall.
We just had 30 or so cms of that white stuff and cleanup was a snap as everything acted as it should.
Did help that the snow was the fluffy kind.
As I get older and lazier I am contemplating adding hydraulics to angle my blade. ' A Next summer project'. (after I add power steering!) did I say older and lazier?
Other than some wear (anticipated as I did not have bushing stock) at the pivoting points, everything passed a vigorous inspection at re installation this fall.
We just had 30 or so cms of that white stuff and cleanup was a snap as everything acted as it should.
Did help that the snow was the fluffy kind.
As I get older and lazier I am contemplating adding hydraulics to angle my blade. ' A Next summer project'. (after I add power steering!) did I say older and lazier?
An update (5 yrs later)
Still in the original as built format (other than adding bushings at angle pivot point) and really showing no signs of distress anywhere.
Never did add hydraulic angle function, just too lazy and too many more urgent projects.
Would I do it again--Big YES and exactly the same.
Still in the original as built format (other than adding bushings at angle pivot point) and really showing no signs of distress anywhere.
Never did add hydraulic angle function, just too lazy and too many more urgent projects.
Would I do it again--Big YES and exactly the same.
rgs03833
Silver Member
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2011
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- 249
- Location
- Haverhill, MA
- Tractor
- MTD 660, 690 - John Deere 60, 70, 108, 2 of 111, 111h, STX38
From all your pix, you did a Great Job! Also good to hear, that 5 years later it's still good. Sound like it's all worth it to you then.
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