SSQA FEL-mounted snow blades

[PA452]

What's the consensus on these? I've always preferred a back blade for clearing snow where I'm at honestly. I know driving through the snow you're about to push off to the side isn't always ideal, but I do find the back blade very versatile since I can pull, push, swing it all the way around, and change the side to side angle to adjust for the crown on a road.

All that said, a power-angle front blade in theory sounds great, except for not having any side to side angle adjustment. But I can also see it just pushing the front end of the tractor up constantly if I tried to float the FEL while pushing.

 

[dstig1]

They don't work well if you rigidly mount it to the FEL. As you note the blade will dig in and lift your FEL and your front end. The FEL is too heavy to float. You need it to be able to float independently of the FEL, typically hanging from a chain top center, and with pivots at the bottom. You can still do it with power angle adjustment, especially if you have a hydraulic 3rd function up front or spare rear remotes that you can run hoses forward from.

 

[deezler]

Yeah, seems a rear 3-pt mounted blade is ultimately more versatile - grading, ditching, crowning a road, etc. But! For pure snow removal or light dozing, it would definitely be nice to have the blade out front and avoid straining your neck so much.

A lot of the SSQA plow blade guys here who have DIY'ed it (search "underhung" or "underslung" for best setups) have actually intentionally allowed some side-to-side slop (pivot?). This allows the blade to follow the ground better and not dig in on either side edge.

 

[RjCorazza]

Paul Short of Specialty Repairs gives a good tutorial on fixed ssqa blades for snow plowing on YouTube. He basically feathers the loader to suit the terrain.
I have no problem running my ssqa blade in this fashion, although it doesn't work real well when the terrain changes rapidly like cresting a hill, or a steep dip at the end of a downhill driveway where it intersects the main road. For those areas I generally float the fel.

I do agree that a plow floating independent of the fel is a better choice, but the rigid mount is still doable.

 

[LouNY]

I have the fixed ssqa blade the under slung would work much better from what I have seen plowing on my gravel driveway.
There are several threads on here with the under slung blades.

The off the shelve ssqa blades stick out so far ahead of you that any irregularities become quite pronounced.
The home built blades that are tucked back in under the loader down tubes are much more compact and likely better then the commerical blades
such as mine.

 

[nybirdman]

"Fixed" blades only work well on paved surfaces.

 

[dstig1]

"Fixed" blades only work well on paved surfaces.

Correction: DEAD FLAT paved surfaces...

Yeah you can do it fixed, but it is far, far easier to use when you float the blade independently from the FEL. And as a couple posters have noted, bring it in as close as you can. The lower pivots can be behind the SSQA plate by running them below it.

If you need to be able to apply serious scraping pressure to the blade too, you can set it up so you dump the loader enough and you engage the blade frame to press it down for scraping ice, for example. And then right back to floating on the chain when you move the FEL back to curl a bit. All depends on how good your fab skills are.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Echo those above regarding floating the blade only.

Look at a truck mounted plow unit as an example. You need to mount it the same way so that the blade and A-frame can float up and down and the blade is hanging from a chain that's used to lift it off the ground by curling the loader upward.

A solid mount puts way too much weight on the blade and the plow assembly. Truck mounted plows don't have down-pressure to scrape ice! That's a recipe for tearing up surfaces and/or your plow assembly. Also very easy to damage curbs and other property that's covered with snow regardless, but the less weight on the plow, the better. The angle-of-attack of the plow blade makes a big difference but you control that by raising or lowering the loader / SSQA plate.

A SSQA plate that has eyes on it so you can pin a plow to it, an arm with hook that extends out about a foot to engage the chain that lets the plow float, is perfect on the front of a tractor. It does stick out pretty far, but you can plow snow as fast as with a pickup truck. And you can angle the blade with 3rd function or rear remotes.

I think a plow up front and a snowblower on the rear is the best combination. The plow is much faster and more efficient. The blower can be used for drifts and for those times where you need to move the piles back farther.

Just my opinion . . .

 

[bdhsfz6]

I've used both front and rear mounted snow blades. The rear mount blades are versatile and more compact but they can't pile snow like a FEL mounted blade though. For general plowing, I prefer the FEL. I can push the banks back when necessary without having to use the rear mount blower to do it.

For plowing gravel or irregular surfaces with a FEL plow, a side to side pivot and float action make the job much easier.

 

[Fallon]

I have the fixed ssqa blade the under slung would work much better from what I have seen plowing on my gravel driveway.
There are several threads on here with the under slung blades.

View attachment 715838

The off the shelve ssqa blades stick out so far ahead of you that any irregularities become quite pronounced.
The home built blades that are tucked back in under the loader down tubes are much more compact and likely better then the commerical blades
such as mine.

I'll 2nd that. My stainless fixed mount Snow Dawg blade works OK. Love the power angle. But miss the blade float from my old small home built manual yellow plow that sold with an old machine. It stuck out way to far & pushed sideways a lot, but float was nice.

I keep planning on flex mounting the plow frame to the SSQA frame & pulling things closer to the tractor. Had that plan since I bought the plow 4ish winters ago but have yet to get to it. So the longer hard mount is OK enough for now I guess.

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