Steep snow performance of Toolcat 5600?

   / Steep snow performance of Toolcat 5600? #31  
I've never seen a Toolcat in person, I've got to say I enjoy living vicariously through others that have them lol.

Good thread, regularly updated, and it's good to see how well the TC is working for you!
 
   / Steep snow performance of Toolcat 5600? #34  
This is better.

Guided by this discussion, I bought three 6" bolt-on Edge Tamers, and mounted them on the cutting edge of my blower. Each one installs by simply replacing one of the OEM cutting edge mounting bolts with the longer bolt provided with the Edge Tamer. The edge tamer gives the blower a steel ski to ride on and raises the cutting edge ~3/4" off the ground.

I gave it a quick try, clearing a road we hadn't yet opened this winter, blowing through about a foot of frozen, settled snow going uphill. They seem to do their job, allowing me to apply a lot of down-pressure on the blower to cut through the ice, but (mostly) preventing me from blowing dirt. TBD if they take away too much bite in tough conditions, but I think they'll be great.

I need another big storm to truly test these out.

Thanks for the suggestions!

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Seems like a great idea, I just might try using EdgeTamers on my 72 inch rear three point hookup snow blower this winter.
 
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   / Steep snow performance of Toolcat 5600?
  • Thread Starter
#35  
I finally got to put the edge tamers to a significant test yesterday with my first plowing of the season.

I put them on the blower late in the season last year, but didn’t get enough snow to give them a full test.

They work great!

It’s much easier to avoid picking up gravel, dirt, and rocks.

I’m clearing roads and driveways that are uneven surfaces that are a mix of dirt, coarse gravel, pea gravel, and rocks. I still have to be keep the blower high up off the ground in the pea gravel driveways, but for the rest of the surfaces, the edge tamers make it far easier to move snow rather than dirt and rocks, and takes a lot of the guesswork out of it.

The job goes faster, the blower doesn’t clog as often, and it’s easier to leave 1-2” of snow on the ground.
 
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   / Steep snow performance of Toolcat 5600?
  • Thread Starter
#36  
A few upgrades and changes for my mountain Toolcat this season.

I changed the tires and chains this winter to get more grip. Last winter I used Turf tires wrapped with a 2-link-spacing, square-link ladder-style chain. They worked well going straight up and down, but the machine would slide when side-hilling.

The job last year involved plowing a few unavoidable side hills, but this year the job expanded to include a steeper (up to 12 degree / 24% grade) and scarier road that also adds more severe side hill work.

I changed to the Bobcat snow tires (much narrower than the turf tires), and a studded 2-link-spacing ladder chain custom-made from Blue Jay Industrial. Blue Jay is based in Northern Idaho, and they specialize in chains for forestry. These are the most aggressive chains Blue Jay makes.

The difference is stunning. I now have ferocious grip in all orientations, I no longer worry about side hills, I have far more grip than last year’s setup, and I can easily plow roads going uphill that were a struggle last year.

The EdgeTamer skid shoes/skis work well in low-density snow. They take the guess work out of trying to keep the blower’s cutting edge from digging into dirt/gravel on uneven terrain. They make it trivial to leave 1-2” of snow on the ground, and I can work a lot faster. However, with heavy, sloppy, dense snow, the EdgeTamer "skis" ride up on the dense snow and result in leaving more snow on the ground than I want. I ended up removing them to clear ~4" of sloppy 40 degree slush from the roads. I'm going to leave them off for now and try to be more subtle/careful with the stock cutting edge of the blower. I think what I'd ideally want is for the "skis" to have a shorter front and come to an angled-up blade such that they work as currently designed when the blower is roughly level, but can cut into heavy snow if I tip the blower forward for a more aggressive bite.

Thanks to all of you who helped me with the machine setup. As currently set up, this machine is just about perfect for the job.

The only thing I’d ideally add is a plow, in addition to the blower, for when the snow is light and fluffy so that I could use less fuel and move faster. But I don’t currently have space to store an extra attachment, so the blower is my do-it-all snow attachment. The blower solves a lot of problems that plows cannot solve and/or that plows create.

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