Snow plow on FEL

[ray66v]

I have been plowing with a FEL snow plow for many years. I think it is the ideal universal snow removal weapon.

Any problems with using one are due to either design flaws, or operator error.

Yes, some stick out real far. But, they don't have to. It depends on how much fabricating you're capable of, and or willing to do. If you're going to mount it to the FEL bucket, it's probably going to stick out a long way. So, I chose to fabricate a dedicated mount, to allow for it to mount directly to the loader arms.

Yes, it needs to be able to float. A truck mounted plow floats via hinges on the bottom, and a chain on top that also allows you to lift it when it reaches it's limit. This is a popular way to float a FEL plow. But, it's not the only way. The bottom hinges can have stops, so the plow will lift when you raise it up. Again it depends on how much work you want to do on the build.

A snow plow that is rigidly mounted, is not going to perform well. It needs trip springs, and the plow also needs to have a few degrees of rotation, to be able to follow the terrain. This means the outer edges need to be able to raise or lower, to an extent, independent of the tractor. Otherwise, you can lose contact with the ground when there is a grade change. This rotation can be achieved as simply as building some slop in the mounts.

As far as the plow causing the tractor to turn when pushing snow, that's operator error. The turning forces are due to the angle you have on the plow. Reduce the angle, and the turning forces will be reduced. A plow does not need to be fully angled to function. It will work just fine at half that, and the turning forces on the tractor will have little to no effect on it. I push a 6' plow with a subcompact tractor, and it goes straight regardless of the amount of snow.

As far as loader arm damage, you risk that every time you use your front end loader. If you can't avoid things that could damage it, and don't use some good judgment, you're going to have issues regardless of whether you have a FEL plow or not. Loader arms are designed to have forces applied to them. This is what what happens when you push the front end loader bucket into the ground.

Don't plow at high speeds, and you're going to limit the forces applied to your rig, in the event something unforeseen happens. Between that, and the trip springs, your FEL arms should not be seeing as much force as they would if you were digging with the FEL bucket.

 

[Fxfymn413]

Don't plow at high speeds, and you're going to limit the forces applied to your rig, in the event something unforeseen happens.

All that is great if you are not doing a large area. I plow a mile long private road and several long driveways which require speed to cast the snow far enough out to allow room for the next storm and to reduce the work load on the machine.

I disagree with your statement that operator error is what makes the machine turn. I can make the machine go straight by not angling the blade at all, but I cannot get any production by doing that. Reducing the plow angle will not work for me as I want to move as much snow as possible with each pass without spilling it out the other end.

 

[LouNY]

All that is great if you are not doing a large area. I plow a mile long private road and several long driveways which require speed to cast the snow far enough out to allow room for the next storm and to reduce the work load on the machine.

I disagree with your statement that operator error is what makes the machine turn. I can make the machine go straight by not angling the blade at all, but I cannot get any production by doing that. Reducing the plow angle will not work for me as I want to move as much snow as possible with each pass without spilling it out the other end.

If you want speed use a truck, a tractor is not going to have the HP to run fast when plowing snow.
Unless you want to use a 150 HP tractor and go fast to break things.
I plow at 2 1/2 to 5 mph with by FEL mounted blade, the snow will curl out past the end of the blade
but it certainly isn't flying off like it will on a truck at 25+mph.

 

[ray66v]

All that is great if you are not doing a large area. I plow a mile long private road and several long driveways which require speed to cast the snow far enough out to allow room for the next storm and to reduce the work load on the machine.

I disagree with your statement that operator error is what makes the machine turn. I can make the machine go straight by not angling the blade at all, but I cannot get any production by doing that. Reducing the plow angle will not work for me as I want to move as much snow as possible with each pass without spilling it out the other end.

Feel free to plow at high speeds if you like. Whatever rig you use, it's much more likely to get damaged when you do it. That's was my point.

Everyone disagrees with the angle of the plow is causing the turning. Then they try it. The clue is, that the tractor doesn't turn until you angled the plow.

Having the plow angled less, doesn't automatically reduce production. Whether it's angled 40 degrees or 25, the snow is still going to that side. And, having the plow angled less, does in fact, present a wider surface in the direction of travel, which means you are technically clearing a wider area with each pass.

 

[5030]

If you want speed use a truck, a tractor is not going to have the HP to run fast when plowing snow.
Unless you want to use a 150 HP tractor and go fast to break things.
I plow at 2 1/2 to 5 mph with by FEL mounted blade, the snow will curl out past the end of the blade
but it certainly isn't flying off like it will on a truck at 25+mph.

It's a solid mile from the farm to the pavement and I plow it with mine all the time. The trick to avoid 'plow steer' when plowing the road is to chain up the front wheels (like Lou does).

I have my blower on the back for additional weight and for those drifted spots where the snow comes over the top of the plow.

I have to say plowing is much more fuel efficient (uses a lot less), than using the blower, which is a power eater. Being retired, snow moving is no longer a high priority for me anymore but pulling wayward people out of the ditch (with a snatch strap) is and it's somewhat profitable too.

 

[Bobrown14]

I use a snow PUSHER on my FEL. Drop the pusher and go float the FEL so the pusher glides over the blacktop driveway. I'd prolly gouge the driveway with a plow.

We got 90" of snow last winter. So got a decent workout a few nights on an 1/3 mile long drive on a slight hill. You cant wait for the snow to stop once its like 6" deep the push back up the hill on the return trip gets a little tough.

Plow WITH the storm if its a bigun.

 

[Fxfymn413]

If you want speed use a truck, a tractor is not going to have the HP to run fast when plowing snow.
Unless you want to use a 150 HP tractor and go fast to break things.
I plow at 2 1/2 to 5 mph with by FEL mounted blade, the snow will curl out past the end of the blade
but it certainly isn't flying off like it will on a truck at 25+mph.

Each to their own. Not to belabor this, but the 4060 does 20 mph and there is a definite difference in how the snow rolls off of the blade at a higher speed. I use a direct mount, with a 9 foot commercial blade, which is no different than a truck mount. I have been pushing snow with one type of rig or another since I was 16 (I'm 71) and have never had an issue caused by speed when plowing.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I've used FEL plows on all 7 of my Kubota's for over 40 years to plow 1.25 miles of private road. I did manage to break the FEL arm welds on the B7100 HST but I was using a 7' Western plow at the time which generated a bit too much side pressure on the small machine.

In my case, plow shoes are a must with chains on the front tires. To prevent side slippage or gain traction, I just lift the plow a bit to put more pressure on the front tires. The only thing I didn't like was plowing at -10 degrees during a storm on an open station tractor. Under those conditions, I would sometimes plow with the pickup.

My current rig is an L6060 HSTC with an 8' Land Pride blade. I find the ability to pile snow with the FEL to be very handy

The cabbed tractor is so comfortable during inclement weather that I sold the pickup plow.

FEL plowing takes a bit of practice but, due to the increased maneuverability, it saves considerable time over plowing with a truck.

 

[ArlyA]

Some of use ever use a 6ft blade on a ATV! Love the darn thing. Can't got fast with it, but it pretty much retired our snow blower. We really do get snow here.

 

[PHIL850]

Can someone running a snow plow on their loader provide feedback on how well it works? I have an L2250 with FEL and am contemplating mounting a snow plow from my skid loader on it. The plow works great on the skid loader, but that's all I use it for. I'm thinking about selling the SL and fitting the plow to the tractor. Thoughts?

Works great on my little Deere 850