Snow New Blade.... Sound thinking or Justification?

[ron45]

I learned a lot moving the snow that had us snowed in for 3.5 days. I was so impressed with kioti's engineering in this situation. Going out the first day I worried a little about moving snow on a steep switchback with a very long way down and a steep bank on the back up and turn side. It felt like it was designed for this job.

I also noticed I was asking a lot of kioti and every one of it's systems. The bucket seems too small for serious snow removal. I started thinking about a blade. I've seen motor graders work close up and there is nothing better for snow removal. Comparing all the back and forth @2k rps average and long trips sometimes to find a place to safely dump the snow It seemed to me that a good blade [once I learn to use it properly, should add some longevity to my tractor just because of eliminating a large part of the to and fro and all the tight turning. OR am I just blowing smoke to justify my purchase.

The land pride blades are made in Kansas I think, yep Salina just checked. I am not qualified to judge their quality compared to other brands. Does anyone have experience with their machinery? Thank you for your time.

Ron

 

[oldnslo]

Land pride makes good equipment.

Just curious, are talking about a 3PH mount rear blade or something to mount on the FEL? If on the FEL some companiens make snow pushers. These are over sized blades with sides to hold more snow while you driving forward. These allow you to push piles higher since pushing you can lift the snow with these.

 

[Fallon]

Snow is a lot less dense & lighter than dirt, so they make big snow buckets to comensate. A plow is a lot more efficient than a bucket for moving snow though. I love my converted truck plow on my loader.

 

[Piston]

Lot's of us have Landpride equipment, and are mostly very happy with it. I have a few different implements from them, ranging from light duty to heavy duty. I am NOT happy with the light duty landscape rake/blade combo that I have, and I almost never use it. However, that isn't because it's Landpride, it's because I use it for something it wasn't designed for, so it's my fault not theirs

My rear blade is a very heavy duty unit, and I absolutely love it. It does everything I ask of it and I would probably break something on my tractor before breaking something on the blade (which may not necessarily be a good thing). I do use it for snow removal and it's excellent for the smaller amounts of snow we typically get in MA. However, it doesn't compare to a actual snow plow, or a snowblower.
It works well, scrapes as clean as I want it to, and can be offset to get the snow well off the side without me driving off the driveway.

For dedicated use as a snow removal tool, it would not be my first choice, but it does fill the role of many uses and we don't get all that much snow (typically) so it works for me.

My first choice would be a pull behind snowblower if money were no concern, and my second choice would be a dedicated snow blade on the front, or pusher depending on your situation.

My advice, if you do go with a rear blade for snow removal, is to skip over the light duty models and get something with a bit of weight to it. This isn't to say that a lightweight blade won't work (even my lighter weight landscape rake with a flip down grader blade "works", it just doesn't work that well (on anything but light and fluffy 2-3" of snow.)

 

[JMER817]

I have found that a lightweight blade works better in snow for me when plowing a gravel driveway.

 

[LD1]

A light weight and large blade (compared to what you would use for dirt) is WAY better in the snow than a FEL.

A FEL is narrow, and spills snow off both sides once full.It would be alot of back and forth and dumping to clear a long drive, where a 7 or 8' blade on an angle can do it in a down and back pass.

Its alot more efficient to roll the snow off to the side than it is to scoop and dump continuously.

 

[ron45]

Thanks loads Matt, I got six foot blade that weighs 640 lbs. I was concerned about the weight at first but have told by some of the very helpful folks here that my hitch will lift 700lbs if it's no more that 24 inches back from the pins. I am assuming the blade I ordered will mount with in that spec. The seller said I could swap for a lighter blade in the need arises. I hope it doesn't, because that is the first thing I learned about rear blades here. I do have other uses planned for it. I don't have any illusions about making beautiful roads with it. My road is a 1/2 mile of rocky switch backs then something more like dirt the rest of the way. I'm hoping I can peel gravel of the sides of the road and distribute it on the road again and some small ditch digging with the points on either side once I get the hang of using it.

Ron

 

[ron45]

LD1 thanks. You have hit upon my reasoning for getting a blade. Wear and tear and time.

 

[mj007]

I learned a lot moving the snow that had us snowed in for 3.5 days. I was so impressed with kioti's engineering in this situation. Going out the first day I worried a little about moving snow on a steep switchback with a very long way down and a steep bank on the back up and turn side. It felt like it was designed for this job.

I also noticed I was asking a lot of kioti and every one of it's systems. The bucket seems too small for serious snow removal. I started thinking about a blade. I've seen motor graders work close up and there is nothing better for snow removal. Comparing all the back and forth @2k rps average and long trips sometimes to find a place to safely dump the snow It seemed to me that a good blade [once I learn to use it properly, should add some longevity to my tractor just because of eliminating a large part of the to and fro and all the tight turning. OR am I just blowing smoke to justify my purchase.

The land pride blades are made in Kansas I think, yep Salina just checked. I am not qualified to judge their quality compared to other brands. Does anyone have experience with their machinery? Thank you for your time.

Ron

I've got a 5' Land Pride blade that has been used for grading and snow removal and it seems to be good enough for how I use it but for snow a CK 20 will handle a 7' or maybe more depending on the snow (Ours, and probably yours, is pretty dry this time of year and doesn't take much to move it) I also have an old Howse 7' blade that works good for snow plowing. Whatever you get will work best on gravel or dirt driveways with a piece of 2 1/2 pipe slit and fastened to the cutting edge; removable 'wings' one the ends of the blade and/or bucket REALLY helps moving snow ('sugar' snow is nearly impossible to plow without them). I think that your buying a blade for snow plowing is completely justified - Go for it!

 

[mj007]

I have found that a lightweight blade works better in snow for me when plowing a gravel driveway.

Yep - before I put a pipe over the cutting edge I ran with the blade turned around and used the backside for snow on gravel. My old Howse 7' isn't all that heavy (I'd guess about 400-450 lbs.) so sometimes I would add one or two Case VA rear wheel weights (90 lbs. each) to the blade, which helped considerably. I am certain that a front blade would be needed for deeper/drifted snow, as it is though, the FEL will do the initial break-through and allow the rear blade to work. I know that if I had the kind of snowfall that some of you guys get it would be a wholly-different kind of deal!

 

[LD1]

When you mentioned 700# @ 24" I was concerned as I am not familiar with the lk3054, so I had to look it up.

A 640# 6' blade seems to me like a perfect match given tractor weight. Should cut nicely in dirt. And you can lift way more than 700# and way farther back than only 24". In reality,you can probably lift double that at 3' back. No concerns at all with your setup

 

[2458n]

If you are using the blade behind the tractor do not forget the fact that you are going to be using it at a pretty aggressive angle. May need a wider blade then you might think. I have a hill for a driveway myself. You plow snow downhill. Even with 4 wheel you just drive to the top and come back down plowing with the blade. Front loaders with a 20 ft. snow box have all the mall snow removal jobs now. One loader, two trucks with plow and salters, do quick work. A box blade mounted to your front bucket makes a nice sub for a commercial one. You can push more snow and go higher. Boxed ends really make a difference.

 

[LD1]

Boxes are nice for large areas or lots. But angled plows are far superior for a drive.

There is a reason they don't plow roads with boxes

 

[LD1]

Boxes are nice for large areas or lots. But angled plows are far superior for a drive.

There is a reason they don't plow roads with boxes

 

[Piston]

Thanks loads Matt, I got six foot blade that weighs 640 lbs. I was concerned about the weight at first but have told by some of the very helpful folks here that my hitch will lift 700lbs if it's no more that 24 inches back from the pins. I am assuming the blade I ordered will mount with in that spec. The seller said I could swap for a lighter blade in the need arises. I hope it doesn't, because that is the first thing I learned about rear blades here. I do have other uses planned for it. I don't have any illusions about making beautiful roads with it. My road is a 1/2 mile of rocky switch backs then something more like dirt the rest of the way. I'm hoping I can peel gravel of the sides of the road and distribute it on the road again and some small ditch digging with the points on either side once I get the hang of using it.

Ron

I think you'll be really happy that you went with something heavy like that, it does make a huge difference. Which model did you get? Any hydraulics for it?

 

[cat fever]

I have a Land Pride rear scrapper and have been happy with it. It is the lighter model but does what I need it to do.

I have not needed it for snow removal yet, but as you can see from the picture it keeps my little run off ditch clear.

I used it to level off my leach line area, worked great.

 

[LD1]

I have a Land Pride rear scrapper and have been happy with it. It is the lighter model but does what I need it to do.
View attachment 453770
I have not needed it for snow removal yet, but as you can see from the picture it keeps my little run off ditch clear.
View attachment 453772View attachment 453774
I used it to level off my leach line area, worked great.

I would be really careful with that blade. Your tractor is probably 8000# + loaded tires if you have them loaded. And big R1's, you have the ability to destroy that blade.

Lucky its a light 300 pounder and dont dig in much at all. But if you snag something.....

It would be great for snow, but if I were you, I'd either sell it while its still in good shape and get something bigger, or keep it for snow only and get something bigger. You should be in at least a 35 series blade. Or similar from another MFG.

 

[murphy1244]

I use a light duty 84" Land pride turned backwards and snow just rolls right of it on my gravel road.

 

[JoelD]

I ha e lk3054tlb- love my tractor
I've owned bulldozer, plow trucks, walk behind snowblowers garden tractors with front mount snow blowers shovels you name it.

I currently run a rear mount snowblower and front loader on the lk during the winter.

Nothing beats a snowblower for repeated heavy snows

Plow truck ends up with large snow banks on either side and end of driveway

Loader fills up too fast

Bulldozer is slow and I end up with same large snowbank problem as plow truck

Snowblower eliminates banks ca. Do driveway in two passes and gets me almost down to pavement with final clean up by loader

Loader breaks any banks from snow plows and allows me to move snow around

I think that a rear mount pull snowblower would likely be best but not sure if I'd pack snow as I drive over it?

Really like having blower and loader available to use at the same time

Joel

 

[Piston]

I ha e lk3054tlb- love my tractor
I think that a rear mount pull snowblower would likely be best but not sure if I'd pack snow as I drive over it?

Really like having blower and loader available to use at the same time

Joel

I imagine it would be the same as a rear blade, I never had an issue with packed snow with my heavier rear blade (125lbs per foot), but I did have issues with the lightweight blade (60lbs per foot) riding up on hard wet snow after I drove over it. Most inverted rear blowers weigh considerably more than 100lbs per foot since they are geared more towards the commercial snow removal business, so I don't think you'd have much of an issue with it.

I'm kicking myself for not buying a 6.5' rear pull that I found a "deal" on over the summer two years ago!