Snow Using a FEL to plow snow?

[akman]

Just added a home made anti scratch plate to my LA402 FEL. Went to a local mushroom farm where they have a lot of used conveyor belts. Cut the belt to width and drilled several holes to mount it to the loader. Attached the belt to the lip and folded it under the bucket, wrapping it width wise to the back of the bucket where it is attached using more bolts.

The bottom of the bucket from the lip to the rear and up the back about three inches is now totally covered with very heavy duty fiber reinforced rubber. Tested it out on some "leftovers" and worked great !

Cost was $0. After using old 2 cycle Mini Toro to do 5500 square foot driveway last week, I can't wait for the next storm!

After spending $$$ for the new driveway and seal job last year, the wife will be happy, and now I have another use for my Kubota in the winter months.

 

[rdbrumfield]

have em use teaspoons, # 2 shovels make good weapons.

 

[chuckles]

Here's my approach.

I use a rear blade for anything under 6", and the FEL in float to clean the dirt driveway surface up. The RB has standoffs to keep from moving dirt too, but it leaves about 1" of snow behind (that slips under the blade), so a little clean up is usually in order. This is all with a L3710. I also have a DR Mower that has the snowblower attachment. The DR works great in the deep and dry stuff, and since my driveway has plantings that the wife is sensitive about getting chewed up, I blow the bulk of the stuff way out of the way when its over 6" deep.

 

[skent]

I use a rear blade for most (under 8") snow moving. I use the loader in drifts (gets deep in one section of the driveway). This fall I made a bucket extension to increase the capacity of my 7 cubic foot bucket to somewhere near 15 cubic feet. Made it out of left over metal and it just bolts to the bucket. (light duty only - snow and mulch)

First snowfall (last week) it worked like a charm. Holds lots more snow.

 

[Thomas]

About how much rear ballast for the extra bucket attachment..or rear ballast not needed.

 

[skent]

I have Liquid in the rears (24 gallons total), and 150 pounds of barbell weights (6 X 25 bolted to the rears) and a 6' Rear blade.

Should be enough.

 

[crawdad]

i used the FEL to clear my driveway leaving it an inch or two off the blacktop...
then i got out my old craftsman 12hp w/plow and chains and cleared up the remaining...
worked like a charm
another reason never to get rid of anything once its paid for..thats what i tell my better half
an angled plow would be nice though,
but its also nice picking up the snow and being able to move it around
theres positive and negative to any kind of set up
if you still have your old tractor maybe finding a small plow for it might work for you...
i have 2 snowblowers gathering some dust,cant see a reason to get rid of them yet.
if we really get dumped on i think the snowblowers are the better tool to shoot it away
anything beats a shovel though....right?
take care and merry christmas
let it snow,let it snow,let it snow
scott

 

[skent]

We have a 23 year old Sears tractor with a brand new 36" snow blower on the front. Let me explain. . . .a friend of mine bought a discontinued blower attachment from the local sears back in 1981. He was going to adapt it to fit his Wheel Horse. One of those projects that never got done. I was helping him move and we came across it in his basement, still in the box. He agreed to let me have it if I helped him move. What a deal!!!! The thing was designed for my tractor. Brought it home and (even has the belts) everything was there. Works like a charm. But I found that the Kubota with rear blade is faster. In the event we get a lots of the white stuff and I run out of places to push it, I can use the blower.

The bucket extension attachment for the loader has two skids that will keep the lip of the buchet 1" off the gravel, so the stones stay in the driveway.

Our biggest problem though is in this area our events usually start as rain (up from the south) and change over to sleet and then to snow. So the rain 'base' ends up being Ice.

I usually keep 10 ton of stone beside the pole barn to 'spread' with the loader over the Ice base. Gives needed traction till the thaw.

 

[wdn]

Yesterday I cleared from 12" to 15" deep of snow from my blacktop driveway, using just the FEL alone. It's a 400' driveway plus a traffic circle in front of the house and a parking area in front of the garage that is big enough to park 10 cars. It took about 2.5 hours to clear it all down to the black pavement. For comparison, with 6" of snow it only takes me 45 minutes to plow.

I was using 4WD low range for most of it, and one of the few times I had the throttle wide open since I bought the BX2200. Also one of the rare occaisions where I have had to use the differential lock to get moving.


This time I did not use float position, it would bog down. Instead I raised the FEL a couple inches off the ground and made two passes. I spent quite a bit of time pushing back the huge mounds of snow that I dug off the driveway.

With that depth of snow you can't just plow it in the normal manner, it is a combination of plowing & digging.