wvpolekat
Platinum Member
As others have said, it is about speed. At slow speeds, the snow will pile up in front of the blade, even with it angled. I run a 6 foot blade behind my Kubota and plow in high range, RPMs to the governor and the go pedal to the floor. I still want more speed to throw the snow. With the right kind of snow, I can get it to fly about a foot from the end of the blade. This is usually wet, slushy snow. The dry, fluffy snow tends to kind of "poof" off the end of the blade. The heavy wet snow is the stuff you can watch curl off the blade, but doesn't go far.
I have mixed feelings about replacing the lift links with chain. The advantage there to me would be able to lift the blade higher by shortening them. I have problems with the blade dragging when I come off the driveway into the road and that may help with that.
Setting how aggressive it cuts is a matter of trial and error as well as what you want to accomplish. If you are trying to get down to pavement, you will need it fairly aggressive to cut the packed stuff at the bottom.
I should also note that plowing uses MUCH more fuel than any other tractor duty. With a full blade, pulling a moderate hill I lose about half my ground speed and you can hear the little Kubota giving it all it has and the black smoke is rolling from the exhaust.
I plow a private road that is about 1/3 of a mile with several elevation changes and curves. I do try to focus more on the curves for the exact reason you give, safety. I have never ventured out on the public road we are off, but would not hesitate to do it if things got bad enough. They stop plowing/treating about 1/2-3/4 mile from my road until about 2-3 days after snow. The big problem I see is that with our 6' blades, we can't get the snow off the edge of a 16-20' wide road. So, you would only clear a path unless you made 4 passes or kept changing your blade angle to windrow in one direction.
Some safety items to keep in mind:
When your blade hits a heavy pile of snow while angled, 2 things can happen. 1) It can push the side of the tractor over. 2) That pile can become a fulcrum and you will pivot around it, usually ending up pointed into the ditch or in it.
LIGHTS! Lots of them. Whenever I get out on even my private road, I have every light on the tractor going. 2 55w lights forward, 1 55w light back and the hazards. I want to make sure people can see me. Snow kills visibility quick.
If you are out in a blowing snow, goggles are almost a must. Unless you have a cab of course. Good gloves are also worth their weight in gold. Beyond that, I wear insulated overalls, a medium coat and a hat. Generally don't give much thought to footwear, usually just a pair of uninsulated pull on boots.
One last thing. The blade and/or bucket are useless parking/emergency brakes on ice. I took an exciting ride down my driveway. Dropped both when I started to slide with little to no effect. I have found that dropping the rear blade can be somewhat effective at keeping you pointed downhill though. I now have a large snow bank built up at the bottom of my driveway as an emergency stop to keep me from going over the hill, but haven't tested it.
I have mixed feelings about replacing the lift links with chain. The advantage there to me would be able to lift the blade higher by shortening them. I have problems with the blade dragging when I come off the driveway into the road and that may help with that.
Setting how aggressive it cuts is a matter of trial and error as well as what you want to accomplish. If you are trying to get down to pavement, you will need it fairly aggressive to cut the packed stuff at the bottom.
I should also note that plowing uses MUCH more fuel than any other tractor duty. With a full blade, pulling a moderate hill I lose about half my ground speed and you can hear the little Kubota giving it all it has and the black smoke is rolling from the exhaust.
I plow a private road that is about 1/3 of a mile with several elevation changes and curves. I do try to focus more on the curves for the exact reason you give, safety. I have never ventured out on the public road we are off, but would not hesitate to do it if things got bad enough. They stop plowing/treating about 1/2-3/4 mile from my road until about 2-3 days after snow. The big problem I see is that with our 6' blades, we can't get the snow off the edge of a 16-20' wide road. So, you would only clear a path unless you made 4 passes or kept changing your blade angle to windrow in one direction.
Some safety items to keep in mind:
When your blade hits a heavy pile of snow while angled, 2 things can happen. 1) It can push the side of the tractor over. 2) That pile can become a fulcrum and you will pivot around it, usually ending up pointed into the ditch or in it.
LIGHTS! Lots of them. Whenever I get out on even my private road, I have every light on the tractor going. 2 55w lights forward, 1 55w light back and the hazards. I want to make sure people can see me. Snow kills visibility quick.
If you are out in a blowing snow, goggles are almost a must. Unless you have a cab of course. Good gloves are also worth their weight in gold. Beyond that, I wear insulated overalls, a medium coat and a hat. Generally don't give much thought to footwear, usually just a pair of uninsulated pull on boots.
One last thing. The blade and/or bucket are useless parking/emergency brakes on ice. I took an exciting ride down my driveway. Dropped both when I started to slide with little to no effect. I have found that dropping the rear blade can be somewhat effective at keeping you pointed downhill though. I now have a large snow bank built up at the bottom of my driveway as an emergency stop to keep me from going over the hill, but haven't tested it.
