Snow removal with a 3 pt blade

bjorn773 · Mar 13, 2016

I just recently bought my tractor. One of the reasons I wanted it is for snow removal. I have a FEL, but that doesn't seem real practical for snow removal. My driveway is relatively short. I'm thinking about a 3 pt blade. I see them on CL all the time in 5 to 6 foot range. It seems like that might work well. I could back up to my garage and drag the snow down the drive, angling it off to the side. I have a plow for my truck that I thought about retrofitting to the tractor. Seems like a lot of effort if a 3 pt blade and FEL combo could do the same thing. I don't use the plow on the truck because it won't fit in the garage with the blade mounted and I'm too lazy to put it on, plow and take it off. I'm open to advise and opinions. The tractor is a L2250.

GPintheMitten · Mar 13, 2016

Sure a 3 point rear blade will plow snow. Try it asis but if you have traction problems you can add rear chains.

But egad man, how hard is it to put the truck plow on

Billrog · Mar 13, 2016

I find the 3 point blade very handy for in front of the garage and other door ways plus I plow a few miles of driveway and bush rds. with a 7'.

varmint · Mar 13, 2016

One method would be to back out, with a 3-point blade angled to push the snow off to the side, and so forth. Of course, going forward works as well, but then you are driving over the snow, which might not be a problem. A paved driveway will be much easier to clear than gravel. You can use the bucket to move piles of snow. I did it that way for years, but on a much larger scale.

bjorn773 · Mar 13, 2016

GPintheMitten said:
Sure a 3 point rear blade will plow snow. Try it asis but if you have traction problems you can add rear chains.

But egad man, how hard is it to put the truck plow on

It's not hard, but it lives in front of my wife's car in the garage. Pull hers out, driving over the snow, pull the truck out over the snow, put the plow on, plow for 10 minutes, take the plow off and move all the vehicles back. Just getting on the tractor seems easier.

motownbrowne · Mar 13, 2016

A three point blade is how I do my snow removal. I left the blade on my TC29 this winter and it worked great! Because it has R4s, the traction isn't amazing. Once we got more than 4-5" on the ground, it wanted to push the tractor sideways. We had one big snow storm this winter where we got about 10". Rather than wait until the end I just hopped on the TC twice during the storm and once afterwards. During the snow I only spent about 20 minutes each time to do our drive and our neighbors (I was flying around pretty quick) and about an hour doing the final cleanup, which included pushing back some banks.

It's no problem moving the snow after it's driven on, as in driving forwards with the blade.

A cheap light duty blade will work well for snow.

chim · Mar 13, 2016

A rear blade works pretty well. Our driveway is about 100 yards long and I plow for some nearby neighbors. It's all I had for 10 years on my Ford 1210 and I got by. Next 10 years I had a B7500 with a rear blade and FEL. Much better for deeper stuff. A year after getting the L3200 I found a 64" Pronovost that needed some cosmetic help. Since building the cab and getting the blower it can't snow too much for me.

The Deerslayer · Mar 13, 2016

I use the rear blade for snow that is 6 inches or less, blower for anything more generally. If you have a gravel driveway, turn the the blade around as it will not dig as much. I used a blade and FEL for many years with great success on a fairly long driveway. Once we got a few blizzards with 20 inch snowfalls, I made the decision to buy a 3 pt blower...and a good decision it was!

s219 · Mar 13, 2016

Works great for me.

Wannabe Tractor Man · Mar 13, 2016

I've plowed with a 3 pt plow for 5 years now and it's great. I live in New England and we get a lot of snow. Here's what I learned over the years. Make sure your plow is at least a foot wider than the tractor. This way, when the plow is angled, you still can plow the width of the tractor. Make sure the plow has adjustable skid shoes or you will beat your asphalt to death. If the ground is not fully frozen and you need to plow, adjust the skid shoes so the plow is not touching or you will dig everything up. Otherwise, be prepared to drive in reverse a lot, mount a work light pointing to the back of the tractor and you'll be all set.

bjorn773 · Mar 13, 2016

I've been using a small walk behind blower. Its time consuming. The drive is short and black top so the back blade seems like the simplest solution. Retrofitting the truck plow would be a fun project, but probably not one I actually have time to pull off. I even toyed with mounting the plow on the fel with ssqa, but not sure this tractor can handle that.

GPintheMitten · Mar 13, 2016

I think I would just store the truck plow outside so it was easy on and easy off.

dodge man · Mar 14, 2016

The rear blade works well for me as long as the snow isn't very deep. It also won't push it very far off the driveway if you get repeated snows, this is a problem. I back drag with my FEL to get the snow away from the garage doors.

radair · Mar 14, 2016

I'd just use the bucket/FEL. My old house had a 150' long paved driveway and i would just go diagonally and push it off, not dumping the bucket on every pass. My new place has a 1/4 mile long gravel drive and although i have a 5' snowblower on the 3-pt, i occasionally plow it with the FEL if we have a small wet storm. One pass out and one back and it's pretty much done.

nybirdman · Mar 14, 2016

I use a combination of front FEL mounted plow and rear blade;works well.You can get by with just the rear blade and FEL.A full size truck plow "may" be too much for that sized tractor;something along the size of a six footer on the front should work.

Thomas · Mar 14, 2016

It well do the job,but if its a BIG storm may want to keep ahead.

thatguy · Mar 17, 2016

i added a strip of horse stall mat to the bottom edge (DIY post here somewhere on TBN, I used a 9" piece - 3" exposed, 3" where it mounts, and 3" to be used later when the first edge wears out) and that really cuts down on moving gravels with the rear blade.. Also on a paved drive it helps to squeegee off the water so it doesnt refreeze..

Now that I have the mat at the bottom I am debating whether i need to pull against the rear of the blade (as mentioned above) or not

Brian

Chilly807 · Mar 18, 2016

I use a combination of rear blade and FEL. Up to about 12" of snow the rear blade alone works well, above that and it's time to use the FEL. I do most of the heavy clearing with the FEL then use the rear blade to clean up what's left. With loaded R1's and ice chains it still pushes the back of the tractor over with heavy deep snow.

If your rear wheel outside width is 5 feet, look for a 7 foot blade. It will allow you to "wing" the snow back clear of your tire path. I have hydraulic angle on mine, saves a lot of on-off the tractor to change angles.

Sean

thatguy · Mar 18, 2016

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...194021-snow-plowing-gravel-drive-problem.html

to keep the edge from being bend (and ultimately breaking possible) - on the back of the blade is an ledge that i rest on a cinder block

brian