Snow plow- solid connection or chain suspension??

[Red Horse]

Attached is a shot of my 7' Fisher. I'm thinking of eliminating the lifting chain and replacing it with a solid steel connection so I have down pressure vs floating blade.

Any opinions out there? I plow on asphalt, asphalt millings, and gravel.

 

[bcp]

This question reminded me of the old cable-operated dozer blades. The only down force was gravity, but that was helped by having heavy blades. This still allowed a buried boulder to raise the blade vs stalling the dozer or breaking something.

I wonder if you could raise the blade weight to improve cutting while still retaining the safety of the chain connection. But, the springs of the snowplow blade may be safety enough.

Bruce

 

[MossRoad]

I have a solid plow on my FEL arms. No trip mechanisms like a pickup truck type plow and no chain to lift it. Hydraulic down pressure is nice for scraping. However, if you EVER hit something solid at any speed greater than a crawl, a solid plow can really knock the *@#%$!^%!! out of you and your machine. Even if you have a trip mechanism for forward trip, it still won't lift completely over the obstruction.

 

[mrmikey]

I go with weight if you can rather than solid, one good hit and you're going to know it....Mike

 

[Thomas]

I would stay away from solid connection,plowing ground that's not frozen could be lot of joy stick operation also extra work come spring cleaning etc.
As other said,good wham you'll know it and could cost $$'s plus stress on loader arms.

 

[kennyd]

Another vote foe letting it float

 

[NHbotanut]

I have a Curtis Snowplow for my tractor which is a solid connection. It depends on what you are plowing. If you have a paved driveway, then no problem plowing or scrapping the snow and ice. I have a long gravel driveway and yes, you have to learn to feather the joystick when plowing before the ground freezes but you learn pretty quick on how to handle it. You definitely want the trip springs. I would want to plow without them.

 

[zzvyb6]

Another reason to get it off the loader and onto the main frame. If you solid mount the blade, you risk bending and twisting the loader framework. I find down force is necessary to chomp through the solid snow on my driveway (where cars and trucks have it packed down). But, I use the loader hydraulics and the float position is the ideal way to run the plow on these 3 types of surfaces. I find it also desirable to run a high plow angle to keep from digging in, humping and grooving the roadway(s). I even plow a path through my fields for the dogs and golf carts to traverse after a big snow. Not worth risking a busticated loader frame. And you still need the trip mechanism for that once a season rock hit.

 

[nybirdman]

It will be a lot safer to "float" it.If it's rigid you have the weight of the FEL and plow unless you are constantly adjusting height.

 

[ovrszd]

Understand that if you make it solid how are you going to keep it in contact with the ground or pavement??? To keep it in contact you will have to run your FEL in "float".

Now the shoes on the blade will have to carry not only the weight of the blade and the downforce of the material it's moving, but also the weight of the FEL assembly. Not good. I built one that way. Just haven't gotten around to cutting it apart and converting it to float on chains yet.

For a snow blade, the looser the assembly and more float you can build into it, the better it will work. The professionals can't be wrong. A brand new Meyer blade "flops" on it's assembly. That's how it survives.

 

[rayclar]

If the chain type is built proper you can still have down pressure??

 

[71bronco]

When I built mine I ran the attachment points for the plow behind and under the SSQA plate. This way the plow doesn't stick out in front so far and I can use downpressure if I need to.

Jeff

Edit- Rayclar beat me to it. I did mine almost the same.

 

[Red Horse]

Guys,
Thx for all the comments and opinions. I hear you all on the "shock" issue. My thought process is I am usually plowing in float position-at least once the frost is in the ground. Plus my Fisher has the spring loaded cutting edge-and the cutting edge is a well worn poly. I also have a cross connection valve so if I'm angled and hit something, I have relief.

I actually am going to have to take it off the blade and cut 1/2" off it as the ends are rounded. Being poly, it also doesn't cut as well as a steel edge would. Attached is a better shot of my set up.

I guess I'll sleep on this for a bit

 

[ovrszd]

Red Horse,

If I understand the pic correctly your blade is lifted by the chain?? If so, then you could set the FEL frame at a given height, with the blade on the ground and the chain slightly slack and have the blade float effect?? Looks great to me!!!

 

[MNBobcat]

I'm building one for my skidsteer. It will be suspended by a chain so that it will float if it hits something. However, I'm going to build it so that I can have down pressure too. Consider if the chain were 10 inches long. And if you had an 8 inch long vertical square tubing that would contact the blade mount when you lowered the arms. Raise the arms 2 inches and the vertical tube would no longer contact and the chains would suspend the blade. Drop the blade 2 inches and when the vertical arm hits you could then continue dropping the arms to put as much down pressure on the blade as you want. Hard to describe via words but maybe when I build it I can share some photos. The numbers I used were only for conveying the concept. I'll design it with more than 2 inches of float.

 

[MossRoad]

I'm building one for my skidsteer. It will be suspended by a chain so that it will float if it hits something. However, I'm going to build it so that I can have down pressure too. Consider if the chain were 10 inches long. And if you had an 8 inch long vertical square tubing that would contact the blade mount when you lowered the arms. Raise the arms 2 inches and the vertical tube would no longer contact and the chains would suspend the blade. Drop the blade 2 inches and when the vertical arm hits you could then continue dropping the arms to put as much down pressure on the blade as you want. Hard to describe via words but maybe when I build it I can share some photos. The numbers I used were only for conveying the concept. I'll design it with more than 2 inches of float.

No, that explanation makes perfect sense. You'll only have 2" of float, or less, depending on undulation of the surface being plowed, but its better than full solid, that's for sure. :thumbsup:

 

[Red Horse]

No, that explanation makes perfect sense. You'll only have 2" of float, or less, depending on undulation of the surface being plowed, but its better than full solid, that's for sure. :thumbsup:

Agree! MNBobcat-Genius solution-best of all worlds. My biggest reason for doing this is to backblade away from doors! You get enough heavy snow and blade weight alone doesn't do it. Or I would raise loader arms while rolling dump cylinders forward so blade ends up flat on grade, while reversing-same story-heavy snow, ice and it skips over.

 

[PILOON]

Take my word for it.
You absolutely want FLOAT for general use especially at speed. Also some sort of trip be it whole blade flip or cutting edge flip back.
The only time you want a rigid or fixed blade is to bulldoze or in snow to cut back a hard packed accumulation and then you will need to go really slow or risk damage.

 

[Red Horse]

Take my word for it.
You absolutely want FLOAT for general use especially at speed. Also some sort of trip be it whole blade flip or cutting edge flip back.
The only time you want a rigid or fixed blade is to bulldoze or in snow to cut back a hard packed accumulation and then you will need to go really slow or risk damage.

No argument-and I think I noted that I do plow in float position-but MNBobcats suggestion is a great compromise-- I will be plowing with a loose chain and in float. But when I'm cleaning infront of my doors- or trying to get hardpacked snow broken loose- I can put some weight on it-either pushing or backblading.

 

[MossRoad]

As mentioned, I have a solid setup. I've bent the corners of my plow blade a bit over the years. My tractor is only 1500#, but man does it hurt if you hit something solid at 3-4 MPH. WHAM!!! It rattles your teeth. Can't be good for the equipment.